Bonjour French Market Friends,
Last Sunday, the City of Paris put on a memorable closing ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics, with Actor Tom Cruise literally dropping in and creating all the buzz around the transfer of the Olympic flag on the back of his motorbike to the City of Los 
Angeles for the Olympics in 2028. A prerecorded film showed Tom racing across to the USA up to the Hollywood sign, where he decorated it with the Olympic 2028 colours. I liked the fact that he didn’t want a stunt man to replace him as he jumped off the roof of the Stadium, this enhanced his performance. The record online viewership will have grown attention and future tourism to the beautiful City of Paris.
This week the majority of French city dwellers are enjoying the hot sunny weather in the French countryside. The wine farmers are checking their vineyards carefully, after the rain and hail earlier this year caused mildew, thus affecting the budding grapes, so wine volumes are expected to be lower this harvest which will start in a couple of weeks’ time. The cows are happily chewing the fresh summer grass and herbs that give such richness and taste to their milk and makes the best cheese in the world.
This week we have received a new stock of cheese from France. The unique Crottins de Chavignol AOC are small, hard balls made from unpasteurised goat’s milk, specifically from the town of Chavignol in the Sancerre region of the Loire, where the cheese has been made in the same manner since the 1500s. The taste is quite intense and develops as the cheese ages.
We also received the Buche de St Maure, a soft goat’s cheese log dusted with ash, that is a complete contrast in texture and taste to the Crottin and we received the larger fresh goat’s buche. I suggest serve these with freshly baked bread to enjoy the natural flavour.
Cheese pairing is always recommended with a wine from the same region. The Sancerre wine is made from sauvignon blanc grapes grown in Sancerre region of the Loire valley. This is a great pairing for goats’ cheese. We have the Comte Lafond Sancerre produced by Baron de la Doucette winery. It is excellent, quite different to the local Sauvignon blancs, very subtle and smooth.
From Normandie we received a new stock of Camemberts 150gr made with raw milk. These authentic Camembert cheeses are crafted in the same way as the original method developed since the French Revolution, when a priest fleeing from persecution in the Brie region, taught Marie Harel, the local farmers wife who sheltered him, how to make white bloomy rind cheese. It tastes very different from Brie due to the Normandie local breed of cows and coastal pastures. You can tell by the difference in the flavour, when you taste them and compare to other cheese.
I have brought in a new range of Wilkin Sons fruit preserves from Tiptree in Essex. The Wilkin family has been farming there since the 1800s. They pride themselves on the quality of the fruit that they grow on their farms which produce
s great flavoured preserves. The Founder Arthur was definitely an entrepreneur, he built up his production creating work for local employees and getting the jams delivered to the big cities via the growing steam rail network that was linking small villages like Tiptree, to cities and ports. He ended up exporting on steamboats all the way to Australia. It was challenging but they continued to grow into a highly reputable long-term business and give much support back into their local community. I brought in products that can be paired with our cheese or eaten at breakfast time on our freshly baked croissants. From traditional thick cut marmalade to red onion chutneys and cranberry jellies, plus a reduced sugar blackcurrant jam. Come in and explore.
In our seafood range we have a new stock of small tins of Ortiz white tuna. White tuna is fished in the Bay of Biscay and has a fine flavour, smooth texture and white flesh. Ortiz fishermen catch the fish by line, using fresh bait therefore Ortiz white tuna is perceived as one of the best tinned tuna because of the quality of the texture and taste.
Now the Olympics are over, a favourite occupation during cold and wet Sunday afternoons, is to sit near a hot fire and to play
scrabble or bridge with some good friends. I find that a home-made soup is ideal to serve my guests as I do not have to fuss with the recipe when I am playing. Everything can be made in advance and the soup can be served whenever it suits. A velouté is a creamy soup. This easy cauliflower soup recipe is delicious, all you do is chop up the ingredients and pop them in a pot and simmer for a while. The addition of Herbes de Provence gives a fragrant, herby aroma to the soup. I like to add fried croutons and grated Cantal over the soup, this makes a filling and warm meal. Pair this creamy soup with a J Moreau Chablis from our shop.
I hope you enjoy your weekend, its looking beautiful today but rain is forecasted tomorrow. Stay warm inside and enjoy some hot soup.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team