Hello French Market friends,
This week in New York at the Met Gala, where all the high end Fashion industry and stars meet, the event theme honoured Karl Lagerfeld, the great designer of French fashion house Chanel. Stars came dressed in costumes copying the unmistakeable personal style of Lagerfeld. There were several nods to his favourite cat Choupette, including the actor Jared Leto arriving in a full Choupette look alike cat costume. (Image courtesy of Evan Agostini/AP) Choupette’s agent, Lucas Berullier from My Pet Agency, said that while he thought Leto’s outfit was “definitely good”, it was not Choupette’s favourite look from the evening. This was a great fashion event and proceeds went to the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.
On the other side of the Ocean in Britain, this week has seen the preperations for the coronation of King Charles III. Apart from the pageantry in London, across the nation, there will be celebrations in every village. Often these include lengthy tablesof food, prepared by members of the community and shared by all. I have many fond memories of celebrations of the late Queen’s jubilees, with my Aunt in our village on the edge of Dartmoor. The village street was decorated with colourful bunting and Union Jack flags hung from every possible pole. In the communal gardens, tables were set out and laden with food. It often rained but this did not stop the celebrations, it added to the fun as we all sheltered under umbrellas and awnings dripping with rain.
Several of my clients have already been in this week, to order platters of cheese and other treats, to share with their guests this weekend while they all watch and celebrate the Coronation from the tip of Africa.
In addition to a wonderful selection of cheese that is fit for a king’s table, we also have a stock of Pol Roger Champagne which was the preferred champagne of Winston Churchill and a perfect champagne to toast the newly crowned king of the United Kingdom.
For my recipe this week, I decided to make a winter warming soup based on the traditional French onion soup but with an added twist in the flavour, with croutons spread with Roquefort. See recipe below.
I hope you enjoy your weekend and if you are watching the Coronation make sure you have plenty of delicious French snacks and Champagne to toast their Royal Highnesses.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team