Hello French Market friends,
Truffle flavoured products have become some of the most sought-after requests by our clients. The current fresh truffle season in Europe is the summer truffle (Tuber aestivium) which has started early this year. The Summer truffles do look similar to the Black winter truffle, 
on the outside their skin is dark brown, but on the inside their colour is light beige or cream and they have a slight hazelnut, buttery flavour. However, these truffles are far milder in flavour compared to the more famous Black and White winter truffles. This is why they are used mainly for decoration, freshly sliced over dishes which have also been flavoured with a small amount of black truffle oil. We bring in fresh summer truffles from Italy on a pre order basis. The current rate is R39 per gramme. Please contact me if you would
like more information.
In our cheese range, one of the most popular cheeses is the French Brie with truffle cream. This is a gentle, creamy brie which has a central layer of cream and summer truffle. As you taste the cheese the truffle flavour is unmistakeable and a delight to truffle lovers.
We have just received a new stock of the popular Truffle flavoured chips made by Torres in Spain. These chips are made from premium potatoes and flavoured with summer truffles. Serve them with cocktails or just munch them as soon as you get hold of them, they are quite addictive.
In our frozen section we stock an Italian truffle and mushroom filled mezzeluna, all you do is pop the pasta in boiling water for a few minutes and then serve accompanied by a cream sauce or melted butter.
In our dry goods range we stock truffle salt, truffle oil, truffle paste, truffle honey and truffle sauces. For these cooler autumn evenings our range of truffle flavoured cream sauces enhance even the simplest meal. You can serve these sauces with a lightly cooked slice of chicken, or you can add them to sliced mushrooms and serve with pasta.
In our
fresh produce range this week we have some beautiful orange fleshed sweet potatoes. These are one of the richest natural sources of beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A when you consume it, and very healthy for you. They are easy to cook in boiling water until soft, mash them with butter or olive oil and serve as an alternative to traditional mashed potato. We have our last stock of fresh figs coming in tomorrow, after that the season will be over.
For this week’s recipe I decided to make a quick and easy dessert with some of our fresh dragon fruit and readymade frozen pastry tartlet cases. The simplest way to use the tartlets is to bake them blind in the oven for 10 minutes, then line them with some strawberry jam, top with fresh sliced dragon fruit and thick yoghurt. You can decorate with some dragon fruit granita. See recipe below. Pairing suggestion with a glass of light sparkling wine such as our Italian Prosecco.
We hope you have a great weekend, and we wish our Muslim friends a happy celebration of Eid this weekend.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team