Bonjour French Market Friends,
Preside
nt Macron and the majority of the G20 leaders arrived to a warm Welcome from our President in JNB this weekend. President Macron visited the French Embassy where a dinner was held in his honour. He was shown around by Head of Household, Alexis Ramon, who always contacts me for cheese supplies when the Embassy comes to CPT. Somehow my invite to that dinner got lost in the post.
Which is just as well, as my company was asked to provide the entire catering service for the Beaujolais Nouveau celebration in Cape Town at the French School in Seapoint by the FSACCI, the French Chamber of Commerce. After tasting the Beaujolais Nouveau 2025 which is a very fresh, young wine, the 200 guests waded their way through a Buffet Campagnard with traditional platters of French cheese, charcuterie, mini savoury tartlets, followed by trays of chocolate and cream filled eclairs, mini cannele and tartlets filled with Valrhona chocolate. I have a small but amazing team that supports me in this work and I was very proud of what we achieved. If you ever need this French style of self serve finger buffet catering please ask me for quote.
The second big event in our calendar in Cape Town took place at the City Hall last night with the honouring of Bernhard Gueller as Conductor Laureate for
Life of The Cape Town Philharmonic orchestra. This was announced to thunderous applause, by Louis Heyneman, CEO and Artistic Director of the CPO who said Maestro Gueller has been the driving force behind the CPO. We then listened to a brilliant performance of Mahler’s 5th Symphony. The audience erupted in a standing ovation to this great and complex work. What I love about Cape Town events is that no matter where I go, I bump into my clients and have a chat, this is such a warm and friendly city. (Image courtesy Capetown Philharmonic FB).
We have lots of cheese in store at present including the Truffle Cream Brie, and about 500kg arrive early December. If you are planning some events do remember to pre-order from us so that we can reserve your favourite cheeses for you. We are also expecting to receive the crunchy salt crystal butter, hopefully on Monday. 
This is my favourite butter from Paysan Breton. It has taken so long to get this stock, I ordered a lot and will keep it frozen so that it lasts. And apparently my French cider that I expected in August may be arriving early December. Let me know if you want to order some.
Although we do not celebrate Thanksgiving here, I note there are lots of “Black Friday Specials” so I’m offering 25% off our Triple Cream Delice up to next Friday 28th – its soft creamy and delicious and I have a lot in stock.
Our Italian Christmas cakes Panettone and Pandoro are selling quickly as shoppers prepare early for their Christmas gifts. We also have some Baci chocolate Advent calendars left, these are the best present for the kids as they love opening up a new door each day and finding a chocolate inside. We are now at the end of our white asparagus season and will not get more in after current batch. We are getting lots of fresh porcini in from the SAPI pine forests near Kokstad. Do reserve in advance as the sell out quickly.
For my recipe
this week I am sharing my favourite traditional Christmas Pudding recipe. It should be made well before Christmas, so the flavours develop. Most important is a good Cognac, try some of our Cognac Frapin 1270. It is smooth and has a great depth of flavour, you can also have a swig or two of the Cognac as you prepare the pudding. Pairing is easy – a glass or 3 of Cognac.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend – hopefully the wind will calm down soon, it is so strong it is blowing rooves off, which is very worrying.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team