Bonjour French Market Friends,
This week is the Fete des Citrons® (Festival of Lemons) in Menton. In the Wintertime in the 1800s 
Royalty and the wealthiest people of Europe would descend on the town of Menton, which is located on the Mediterranean coast of France, between Monte Carlo and the Italian border, because of its mild winter microclimate. They built beautiful villas with gardens full of flowers and fruits around the town. In the early 1900s Menton was the largest producer of lemons in Europe as they flourished in this mild climate. The Municipality decided to create a unique festival to celebrate their lemon produce and to provide the visitors’ entertainment, with parades along the seafront. This week in Menton the annual event is welcoming over 200,000 visitors over a 2 week period. The festival has extended to include a wide range of gastronomy, art and music. (Image copyright Ville de Menton)
Menton’s 3-star Michelin restaurant Mirazur’s Head chef Mauro Colegreco explains that the lemons grown around Menton have an exceptional aroma and sweet taste, due to the variations in temperatures. This is just one example of the uniqueness of each special product grown in specific regions. (Image courtesy Mirazur restaurant)
Whilst we cannot get the Menton lemons here, we do have our own regional fresh produce specialities 
including organic lemons. This month was the start of the Evita fig season, grown on Osdrift Farm, around the Breede River area. This is a family run business. During the 3 month season their 60 packers hand pick 11 million figs from the 25,000 Persian fig trees. We received our first batch last week and they sold out. We will continue to bring in fresh figs each week until the end of the season. (Image courtesy Dans fig farm collection)
Blue cheese pairs well with the sweet flavour of figs. We have received 4 wheels of awa
rd winning Clawsons Stilton from England, this Stilton has a crumbly texture and intense flavour. In England, to preserve the Stilton when it gets too crumbly, some port is added to the cheese, this creates an amazing combination of flavours. Another strong flavoured sheep’s milk blue cheese from France is Roquefort. This unique softer textured cheese pairs well with a sweet wine such as Sauternes, a white wine made from semillon grapes in Bordeaux. We also have Bleu d’Auvergne and Fourme d’Ambert which are more subtle blue cheeses.
We have finally received new stock of the Elle et Vire salted butter, this is very popular due to the 
richness of the butter and the unique flavour which is typical of the French butter culture. In our white bloomy rind cheeses, we have plenty of Brie de Meaux, this classic French cheese originating from the region of Brie to the east of Paris. It is soft in the centre with a light crust that adds plenty of flavour. From Normandie we have plenty of Camembert, whilst Camembert and Brie may look similar there is a distinctive difference in flavour between an authentic Brie de Meaux and Camembert from Normandie. This is due to the different cows’ milk. You are we
lcome to taste then to see the difference. Another popular Brie is our Brie with a layer of truffle cream, the brie is gentle in flavour and the truffle flavoured creamy layer is addictive. Alternatively try our St Julien, this is a cream cheese made with layers of walnut, it is really beautiful
This week we received new stock of St Paulin; this is a medium textured cheese with a light orange crust. It has flavour but is not too pungent, similar in style to a Port Salut. Come in and try some.
In our Pan
try range we have added some new products from Holland and Germany as we were often requested to bring in these products. The most requested is Horseradish sauce, this popular sauce is a favourite spread on beef. Another sauce we have received is Piccalilly, this is a yellow-coloured pickle made with cauliflower, gherkins, baby onions and mustard. It is savoury and piquant, great as an accompaniment to a salad or cold meat.
In our frozen range we have received a new stock of macarons from Belgium. They come in packs of 12 with 6 different flavours. They are practical to have in the freezer for the surprise guests who turn up for tea.
For this week’s recipe I decided to share a recipe made with lemons in celebration of the Fete des Citrons®. This is a simple recipe of fried salmon with a sauce made with lemon, capers and fresh basil tossed in French butter. For wine pairing I would suggest serving with a Louis Latour Macon Lugny. See recipe below.
I hope you have a relaxing weekend and enjoy our hot sunny weather.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team