French Market News26Oct23-Boks Paris-Epoisses-SmallTerrines-Grn Asparagus-Apricots-Peaches-CreamEclairs-FrenchMarket recipe 2023 38Sables fleur du sel

Published on: 28 October 2023

This weekend in Paris sees the climax of the World Cup Rugby 2023, with the Bokke meeting New Zealand at the Stade de France. The build up to this exciting finale has seen some brilliant rugby matches and Saturday night’s match promises to be a clash of two great rugby nations. For Siya Kolisi this will be a bittersweet moment as he leaves South Africa to join the French Rugby club Racing 92, after the Tournament. Siya said that he is very excited to join the club after the World Cup, as he considers them a visionary club that he has always admired. Their societal projects correspond to Siya’s mission and personal values.

Back here in Cape Town, everyone is preparing to watch the match on Saturday evening at the Alliance Francaise du Cap. We will be watching on the big screen and serving French wine so that you can feel as if you are watching at the Stade de France. The atmosphere will be great, as we all support the Boks in the defence of their World Champions title.

In our shop this week, we have received a new stock of French cheese. We have some pungent, creamy Epoisses from Burgundy that has been washed in the Marc de Bourgogne, the brandy made in  Burgundy. We have a range of raw milk camemberts. Lots of delicious unpasteurised Brie de Meaux and the gentler flavoured and soft, Brie Maubert. We have raclette in slices, wheels of Morbier, Tomme de Savoie, St Nectaire and Reblochon, points of 16 months matured Comte and raw-milk Emmental. There is goats Buche de Chevre and little fresh Crottins de Chevre, also sheep’s milk cheese Ossau Iraty. We have cheeses to suit all the different palates.

We have small new pates this week from Henaff. These come in a practical 78g tin and are ideal for picnics and outdoor entertainment. There is pork liver pate, country pork terrine and duck liver mousse. We also have a new stock of duck rillettes and pork rillettes.

In our seafood range we have received a new stock of squid ink and caviar from Madagascar. We also have stock of wild salmon pink roe, black lumpfish roe and Cantabrian white anchovies.

Fresh produce in this week includes a huge quantity of fresh porcinis that have just started to push their caps up through the forest floors. We also have the first of the soft fruits apricots, peaches, and nectarines. We have freshly picked green asparagus and more stock of broad beans. The last of the artichokes arrived this week, then the season is over. We keep reordering eggs from the farm outside of Worcester and they are selling out so quickly. The fresh Italian black autumn truffles are doing well, they have such a beautiful aroma. We have had several orders and our clients have been really excited to get them. Please remember to preorder if you would like fresh truffles.

Our new cake range continues to entice people into our little shop. This week I have a small stock of fresh cream filled eclairs, I ordered some specially for a client the other day, she wanted to serve them to friends, however she told me that they couldn’t resist sampling some on their way home so their friends never got to taste them. The quality of the ingredients combined with the skills of Cedric, the French pâtissier, make such a difference to the taste and appearance. It is amazing how quickly the word is spreading about our cakes, they are just flying out the door, so do let me know if you wish me to reserve some for you, to avoid missing out on them!

One of the famous chocolate producers of France is Valrhona and we stock their cocoa powder. This week’s recipe is simple butter biscuits, called sables in France, flavoured with Valrhona cocoa powder and salt crystals (fleur du Sel) from Guerande which we also stock. The hard salt crystals give a little crunchiness to the biscuits. They are easy to make and taste great. I recommend pairing them with a glass of Cognac.

I hope you have a good weekend with your friends and family enjoy the final rugby match, best of luck to the Bokke.

Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team

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