Bonjour French Market Friends,
Taking place in Paris, this week is the Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2025-26 Collection Fashion week. This is where 
the designers from the top fashion Houses, at the pinnacle of their careers, display their unique and trend setting designs for the next season. Haute couture is all about the combination of the designers’ vision translated into a work of art by using the finest materials and many hours work by skilled craftsmen and women, who create the colours and textures of the fabrics, to the lace mak
ers, the button makers and all the skilled artisans.
A perfect example of the ultimate style of the House of Dior was in Princess Kate’s elegant rose-pink outfit that she wore to greet President Macron on his state visit to England this week. (Image courtesy Facebook Kate Middleton) Brigitte Macron was also chic in her outfits designed by haute couture house Luis Vuitton. For the State banquet at Windsor Castle that evening, even guest Sir Mick Jagger managed to look elegant in a black dinner suit. The enjoyment of this Entente Cordiale between the two nations, was helped by the dinner menu created with the help of famous French chef Raymond Blanc.
I am not sure if the Macron’s had time to catch some tennis taking place this week at 
Wimbledon, as they have to be back in Paris for the Fete de la Bastille, the French National Day on 14July. This day is the celebration of the Fall of the infamous La Bastille prison during the French Revolution. In Paris the President reviews the troops as they march along the Champs Elysees. Around the country fireworks and festivals are held to celebrate this National Day.
Back here in mid-winter in Cape Town, we are also preparing for Bastille Day parties with our cheese flying around the country to various French events. We have received all our stock, and our shelves are full. This week we received wheels of Raclette and Morbier. We
have a quarter wheel of raw milk French Emmental which I could hardly lift up, it weighs 18kgs, trying to cut this into manageable pieces was quite a challenge. In the raw milk, hand crafted Emmental, the holes are large and vary in size. The difference in flavour between a pasteurised Emmental and raw milk one is significant, with more depth and complexity. We also have new stock of Tomme de Savoie,
a raw milk cheese aged for 6 months, we have Tomme Crayeuse from the Haute Savoie which has a more delicate flavour and lighter texture. We have loads of ripe St Nectaire so that’s on special this week.
I suggest you invite your friends around to celebrate Bastille Day with a big French cheese board, fresh baguettes a
nd lots of French wine available from our shop. A new wine we received this week is the Louis Latour Pernand Vergelesses Rouge 2020, a Pinot Noir from the Cote de Beaune in Burgundy. This wine has been aged for 10 to 12 months in French oak vats. There is an aroma of blackcurrant and red currant which pairs well with mature cheeses. (Image courtesy Olivier Vanpé, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1122443)
Currently in season are the fresh black winter truffles grown around the Karoo. Please remember to preorder if you are interested, as we only hold stock on preorder as there are limited stocks. Another type of truffle altogether, that we just received in the shop is the chocolate and rum flavoured truffle sweets, they are so delicious.
The Jerusalem artichokes are back in season, these
are also called Topinambours in French, possibly derived from the name of a Brazilian tribe that visited Paris. Widely grown in North America they were introduced to France in the 1600s. Apparently, they are popular in recipes for diabetics as they contain Inulin which converts to fructose instead of glucose. I decided to do a really simple recipe 
roasting sliced Jerusalem Artichokes with garlic served with a side dip of mayonnaise. It is delicious and so easy to make. See recipe below. I suggest pairing with the Gustave Lorentz Riesling from Alsace available from our shop.
Enjoy your weekend, and the Boks vs Italy match in PE on Saturday, much as I want the Boks to win, I always support Italy as they try so hard.
Joyeuse Fete de la Bastille!
Regards