Bonjour French Market Friends,
The main news in France this week is that the right-wing leader Marine Le Pen was banned for 5 years from 
office and given a 4-year prison sentence, due to her funding her political party staff in France with EUR4million from EU funds that should have been used on costs of employees working at the EU Parliament. The head Judge, Bénédicte de Perthuis, said the judgement was necessary because nobody was entitled to “immunity in violation of the rule of law”. Whilst she will appeal, this judgement means that she cannot run in the 2027 Elections which has caused a major disruption for the right wing who currently have a majority in Parliament. Back here in Cape Town the majority of Politicians found an agreement point on the budget, with an increase on Vat of 0.5% on 1st May, hopefully the GNU will survive.
Good news is that on Saturday is the famous 2 Oceans 56km Marathon with 14000 athletes competing with a
time limit of 7hours.This is the most beautiful road race in the world, and takes place starting from the Southern Suburbs down towards the Indian Ocean, then across the peninsula to the Atlantic Ocean, up along Chappies then through Constantia to return to Rondebosch , and on Sunday we have 17000 runners competing in the Half Marathon. Plus, there are 2 trail runs, and a special Friendship run for friends and family members ea
rly tomorrow morning around the Greenpoint Stadium. (Image courtesy Africa Marathons).
Our city is filling up with a lot of very healthy people. We can recommend lots of sustaining food on the route with our Crème de Marrons (sweetened chestnut paste) from the Ardeche. It comes in easy to pack tubes that fit in your pocket. This high energy sustenance is used by many sports people in France.
From Burgundy this week we have received small traditional stone ware mustard jars and 3 new types of the famous Dijon mustards from Edmon Fallot. This classic mustard maker is the last company to use a flint stone ground mill which produces a fine ground mustard with plenty of flavour because the flint stone stops the seeds from heating up during the grinding process. One new mustard is their classic Dijon mustard flavoured with 
Yuzu from Japan, a small citrus fruit with a flavour between lime and lemon, it adds a freshness and tang to the mustard, the mustard has a distinctive lemon colour. The
second new mustard is flavoured with Pinot Noir. This mustard is made with a blending of the Pinot noir grape must from Burgundy and mustard seeds. The mustard is a distinctive dark red colour. The third new mustard is flavoured with Saffron from Iran, which gives the mustard a unique taste. This mustard has a distinctive golden amber colour. Apart from enjoying the mustards with hot and cold dishes, the different colours can turn your serving plate into an artist’s palette. These make great gifts as well as they are unique in colour and flavour.
In our cheese range this week I can recommend some of our delicious Brie with a thick layer of truffle cream running through it. It tastes amazing. Also, in the truffle cheese range we have the Tomme au truffe from the mountains, dried black truffle pieces are combined in this dense textured wheel of cheese. Melting cheese is back in fashion now th
at summer is ending and the evening start cooling down, this is a good time to enjoy a Tartiflette made with a Reblochon sliced over the top of potatoes, garlic and bacon and baked in the oven.
In our fresh produce range, we have plenty of the beautiful Evita figs from the Figary,
fresh turmeric and ginger, garlic, sweet potatoes, apples pears, oranges and pineapples.
In our meat range we have tubs of French duck liver mousse, locally made coarse texture pork terrine, and a range of meat preserves such as rillettes, pates and terrines made in Fran
ce.
In our locally made produce we have freshly baked madeleines, palmiers (pigs’ ears), cheese straws, almond meringues and the most gorgeous individual classic patisseries. These are really difficult to resist. (Imagine the temptation when you look at th
em every day and want to eat them all up. It’s a tough life selling these French Patisseries)
My recipe today is a flaky pastry tart layered with Dijon traditional mustard, tomatoes, herbes de Provence and Cantal cheese. Its tasty and perfect for a cooler autumn meal. Pair this with a J. Moreau unwooded chardonnay from Chablis available from our shop.
I wish all the runners (including Tanaka who is working in our shop tomorrow) best of luck with the Marathon. Have an amazing race and enjoy yourselves as you run through our beautiful Peninsula.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team