Bonjour French Market Friends,
This Sunday we will be celebrating Mother’s Day in South Africa; this is a time to spoil that really special 
person in your family. Here are a few of my ideas to spoil your Mama for that day. Bake some of our frozen French croissants for breakfast and serve them with mini jars of Wilkins marmalade. Make a special lunch with a platter of our French cheese and terrines served with some of our crispy French baguettes. Finish the meal with some chocolate
patisserie made by Cedric, Master French pâtissier. Of course, you can accompany all these treats with a bottle of French bubbles from Champagne. We have a range of Champagnes from Schroeder Schiller, Pol Roger, Bollinger, right up to my favourite Champagne Cristal by Louis Roederer. Your Mother will be thrilled with such treats. In the evening make a traditional Saffer braai with home made beef burgers served on some fresh porcini and truffle zest.
We have received a new stock of the very popular Elle et Vire French butter rolls. These butters are made 
near the north coast of France where the pastures are deep, and the grass is abundant. This gives the cows’ milk a rich flavour and high fat content. There is nothing better than spreading a thick slice of this butter on a freshly baked baguette. We have the salted and unsalted butters in stock.
New in stock this week, from a farm in South Africa, we have received Renosterbos, a firm textured goat’s cheese made with 100% full cream milk. The goats are free ranging on the nearby mountains and eat the local fynbos, which gives the cheese a rich and unique flavour. This cheese compares well with the quality of French goat’s cheese from the Loire region. We also have a new stock of Buche de chevre and fresh crottins de chevre from France. Another new cheddar cheese has come from Wales, the Colliery Cheddar, it has a rich flavour and crumbly texture.
In our dry goods range we have received several new products from France including Umami paste. Produced by GlobeXplore, this Umami paste is a blend of seaweed, soja sauce, apple vinegar and mushrooms. This sauce enhances the flavour when added to stews and soups, it can also replace the use of salt.
Back in stock this week is one of our most popular meat products, the Duck liver mousse from St Orens in the Les Landes. This mousse has a rich creamy texture and lots of flavour, serve on some fresh baguettes or a lightly toasted sweet bread such as brioche.
Now that our weather is starting to cool down, warming evening meals made with melted cheese are most appealing. One of the features I love of French Alpine cheese is the way they change taste when they are melted, for example Raclette and Emmental. The aroma, as the cheese is toasted, fills the air with a very homely and mouth-watering smell. There are many recipes with melted cheese, such as Fondue where grated mountain cheese is melted with some wine and Kirsch and served with chunks of bread. Raclette is one of the most popular dishes in Winter where raclette cheese is melted in front of the fire then scraped on to your plate. Another way to serve a mountain cheese is to place a slice of cheese such as Emmental on top of a steak or burger and grill it until the cheese goes golden brown.
One of the most popular ways of cooking in South Africa is to cook outdoors over a braai (barbeque). A favourite braai recipe of mine is a beef burger, this is translated in French literally and phonetically as a ground Beef steak “Bifstek Hache” topped with melted cheese and served on a wild porcini mushroom cap in place of a bread bun. It is far tastier, healthier and lighter to digest. With large Porcinis currently in season, here is a really easy recipe, Beef burger on a base of porcinis. This is a combination of good quality mince beef, fresh thyme from the garden, crisp fried bacon, a dusting of Truffle zest, plus a thick slice of grilled Emmental on top of the burger, served with a side dish of crunchy cornichons (gherkins).
I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day and enjoy the rest of the weekend. I’m currently sitting up in the sky, typing away, as I wing my way to Europe to look for more products. My team in the shop will take good care of you. Don’t hesitate to message me via Whatsapp or email if you need me, I will be available most of the time.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team