Bonjour French Market Friends,
As the devastating Hurricane Milton swept through Florida this week, the evidence of climate change is growing and has a major impact on agricultural countries su
ch as France, which was hit by the tail end of Storm Kirk, causing record rainfall and flooding across the north of the country and winds up to 120kms in the Southern Alps. In Paris images taken inside one of the buildings of the Assemblée Nationale (French Parliament) were posted on TIKTOK and other media, by several MPs showing flood water in corridors, water falling from the ceilings and streaming down the walls from the heavy rainstorm.
Lighter news this week from France is that the Treasure hunt for La Chouette 
d’Or (the Golden Owl statuette) valued at Euros150k was finally solved after 31 years. This hunt was created by Max Valentin in a book with 11 complex clues, illustrated by Michel Becker. The replica of the owl was buried in a specific 
spot, the actual golden owl statuette is securely stored. Tens of thousands of French “treasure hunters” have partaken in the hunt which has been followed online and in print plus a TV documentary. The name of the winner is still to be announced.
Back here in Cape Town our tourist season has started wi
th a bang as several airlines including Air France return with direct flights. On a visit to Simonstown and the Penguins recently, I could hear all the different accents around us, the Penguins showed off their fluffy chicks, and the whales obliged by thrashing their huge tails in the bay. It is great to see these good signs for our economy.
Air France will also be bringing in our cheese direct to Cape Town departing today, so we should have our full range in next week. This weekend we have 
plenty of Brie de Meaux and Camembert from Normandie. Morbier from the Jura, Comte from the France Comte, Cantal Entre Deux, Bleu and Fourme d’Ambert from the Auvergne, Roquefort from Occitania, Emmental from the Vosges, Buche de chevre from the Loire Atlantique, Tete de Moine, Le Gruyere and Appenzeller from Switzerland. Come in and taste.
In our meat range we have the rich and dense pure duck Mousse de Canard from France, a coarse textured country style pork terrine, sliced salami Milano, and Prosciutto crudo from Italy and saucisson sec style thin salamis. We have a range of small jars of terrines from France made with goose, duck, and pork products.
In our sauces and savoury range, we have pasta sauces to pair with our frozen pastas from Italy. Pickled baby onions, olives, and artichoke spread made from the fresh artichokes in the shop.
In our biscuits and cake range we have the beautiful, traditional French cakes freshly baked, madeleines, palmiers, canneles, pain d’epice, stroopwafels, cheese biscuits and cheese straws, nougats, and choc rum truffles.
In our seafood range we have white and brown anchovies, Caviar from Italy, Ortiz tuna, pink Salmon roe, black lumpfish roe from the northern Pacific. Remember that we can order fresh oysters for you, we need about 48 hours notice.
In our alcohol range we have a wide stock of French wines and liquors, this week we received a new stock of the Frapin Cognac 1270, this is smooth with plenty of flavour, a beautiful example of a classic Cognac.
There are certain unique foods produced in France which I love. One of these 
is the green lentil from Puy, which have just come back in stock. There was a shortage in France for quite some time, again due to climate change. These are my favourite lentils because they have a lovely peppery flavour, they don’t go mushy when cooked plus they are rich in protein. Their uniqueness comes from the valley where they have been grown since pre-Roman times, Le-Puy-en-Velay in the Haute Loire, which has a microclimate with low humidity due to the surrounding old volcanoes. They are naturally cultivated without extra watering or fertilisers. Unlike other lentils their skin is very thin due to the lack of humidity, so they do not need to be soaked
beforehand. Smaller than most lentils, their colour is a dark green to steel blue due to anthocyanin, a pigment, which is also present in blueberries and red grapes. Because their uniqueness is due to their origin, they are certified both AOC and AOP. There are lots of recipes for Puy Lentils, both hot and cold. This week, I am sharing a simple country dish of lentilles de Puy with fresh herbs, topped with grated parmesan (we have an 18 months matured Parmigiano Reggiano in stock) and medium soft-boiled eggs (oeufs mollet) (Don’t ask me about the basket of 20 eggs I dropped on the floor this week).
Hope you have a great weekend, and we look forward to seeing you in our shop soon.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team