Bonjour French Market Friends,
This week France continued to swelter in the extreme heatwave with record 
temperatures in their 40Cs. The majority of the country was on red alert today, everyone was impacted, even the hospitals where people were being treated for heatstroke, as the majority of buildings are not constructed for extreme heat and are not air-conditioned. The Prime Minister Lecornu described the situation as a national catastrophe as medical and public services were inundate
d with calls for help from people suffering from heat stroke. This is apparently the worst heat wave recorded in France.
On a lighter note, back here in CPT, South Africans celebrated the Bafana Bafana win last night which puts them into the next round of the Football World Cup.
We are flying in a shipment of cheese today from Paris. This will hopefully clear tomorrow or Monday. We have all the usual suspects – Epoisses, Munster, Camemberts, Bries, little goats’ cheeses, aged Mimolette, individual mini Delice, and lots of salt crystal butter and unsalted butter from Normandie.
In addition, we are bringing in, for the very first time, some beautiful butter biscuits from Brittany and some Comte cheese biscuits. I can’t wait to taste them
!
In our dry goods range we have restocked with Lentilles vertes du Puy AOP, and green lentils, Flageolets vert, white and pink coco beans. These are all great ingredients for a long, slow cooked winter casse
role dish.
We stocked up on more of the special Malphigi Balsamic “Gold” vinegar from Modena which has been aged for 15 years. The maturation gives an intense flavour to the vinegar. We continue to receive fresh black winter truffles grown in S Africa. At present they are quite small pieces, and they have an intense aroma.
For my recipe this week I am sharing an unusual recipe for a savour
y Mille Feuille style pastry made with Comte and onion chutney, created by chef and teacher Matt Landmark. The top and base are made with flaky pastry, the base is topped with a layer of onion ch
utney, then a custard layer made with Comte is spread on top, then a layer of flaky pastry is placed on the top, and Comte is grated over the pastry.
I suggest pair with a glass of wooded Chardonnay such as our Louis Latour Pouligny Montrachet 2019 which has been aged up to 10 months in oak barrels, of which 15% are new. This beautiful wine has flavours of grilled almonds and vanilla and is available in our store.
I wish you a great weekend, peaceful and full of good food and wine.
Regards
Suzanne and The French Market Team