Bonjour French Market Friends,
Le Foot! Is the name of the game today, as the French national football team landed in Boston for the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and were mobbed by their fans. Their opening match will be against Senegal on Tuesday evening. Our Alliance Francaise du Cap at 155 Loop Street will be screening the match on their big screen at 21h30. So if you want to get into the mood of this global spectacle come along and enjoy the match surrounded by enthusiastic Frenchies. South Africa is meeting Mexico today, hopefully they will make us proud.
Tuesday is also a Public holiday in South Africa so our shop will be open from 9 – 2pm.
I was requested by the American International School to talk about French cheesemaking to a group of their learners. It was quite an experience and I held it at the Alliance Francaise. It was stressful, as it’s a long time since my corporate days of creating Powerpoint presentations and public speaking. I finished the presentation with a tasting of 7 key styles of cheese. Naturally, there were a lot of comments about the cheese smell but hopefully the learners will have learnt a bit about French cheese. Do let me know if you wo
uld like me to do a French cheese presentation and tasting to a group of your friends.
In our cheese selection we have a wide range to offer you, including the beautiful 
Tomme Crayeuse from Haute Savoie. This cheese was created by Max Schmidhauser of Fromagerie Schmidhauser in 1967. Their cows graze high in the Savoie mountains on deep grass and herbs which creates creamy milk. The cheese is matured in an old quarry. The cheese has a dry crust and a chalky centre, and the flavour is medium and develops a complex taste.
This week we received several new stocks produced in Europe. From Germany we have received organic Tomato juice in 1 litre boxes. Pour some into a highball glass with ice and stir in some Lea and Perrins sauce to make a delicious and healthy tomato cocktail.
We have tubes of triple concentrated tomato paste. This is made by dehydrating tomato juice which creates a thick paste with an intense flavour. Use in sauces, stews and casseroles.
We have new stock of the cocktail sized silverskin onions. These are popular added to cold meat platters such as sliced salami and paired with our French crunchy cornichons. We have jars of white asparagus spears which can be served in a salad or heated up and covered with a Hollandaise sauce.
We have a new stock of Grissini breadsticks dusted with sea salt. They are crisp and crunchy and ideal to accompany a plate of cheese if you don’t have fresh bread.
From Austria we have received gift boxes of bean shaped chocolates filled with brandy, these are perfect as a sweet treat to end a meal.
In our fresh produce section, we have received a small stock of cocktail sized chocolate tartlets. They are so good, you can taste the butter in the pastry and the chocolate filling is delicious. They make a perfect mouthful to round off a cocktail party.
For our recipe this week I am sharing an easy tartlet recipe with pear, ginger and chocolate filling. Serve with a glass of Tribaut Scloesser Brut Champagne.
I wish a fun weekend enjoying Le Foot!
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team