Bonjour French Market Friends,
In France tomorrow, the bells of the country churches will stay silent from Good Friday until Easter Sunday morning as traditionally the bells “fly’ to Rome to be blessed. They then return laden with gifts for children, which they drop into the childrens’ gardens, then ring out in celebration on Easter Sunday.
Here in Cape Town, traditionally on Easter Sunday when my children were small, we would have an Easter egg hunt in the garden, followed by painting eggs for breakfast. I don’t think we will ever qualify as artists, as more paint got on the children than on the eggs, but the variety of art enlivened the Easter breakfast table. Remember that we stock real free-range eggs at our shop. Your special breakfast pleasure can be increased by serving some of our range of baked-at-home croissants from France, topped with traditional Bonne Maman jams.
For your convenience we are open every day this weekend, on Easter Friday and Saturday from 9 – 5pm, Easter Sunday and Monday from 9-2pm.
We have been busy preparing for this long weekend’s celebrations. You can just about create your entire Easter meal from our shop, as we have stocked up on a plenty of treats for you to enjoy with your friends and families.
For your cheese platters, we have about 100kgs of cheese in stock, there is loads of French cheese including individual Camemberts from Normandie, creamy Vacherousse, brie layered with truffle cream, Beaufort d’Ete from the Alps, Manchego from Spain, Gorgonzola from Italy plus many other cheeses.
After a long absence we have received a small stock of duck liver mousse from France, this rich liver pate is ideally served on slices of freshly baked baguette.
We have received some fresh black Uncinato truffles from the mountain regions in La Norcia in Italy. These truffles have a deep aroma and weigh approximately 26 grammes, they will make the most amazing dish served with fresh pasta and a cream sauce.
We have Baerii caviar from Madagascar, raised in freshwater lakes high in the mountains. We received smoked salmon prepared by Labeyrie in France, try this served on some of our Labeyrie blinis. We have also received pink salmon roe, wild caught in the North Pacific. This salmon roe is also called Keta, one of my clients who originated from that region, where he ate a lot of salmon roe, was highly complimentary of our product, he said it was the best he had tasted outside of his home region.
For Easter Sunday lunch I suggest serving some roast lamb. Lamb shanks are ideal for a small main course. This week’s recipe is roast lamb shank, stuffed with garlic and rosemary and baked with fresh figs. This is very easy to make, after slow cooking the meat, take the baked figs, meat juices, rosemary and garlic and blend them into a thick fig paste and spread this over the top of the meat. The rest of the paste can be served as a side accompaniment with roast potatoes. See recipe below, this recipe could also be slow cooked over a braai. I recommend pairing this flavoursome dish with a glass, or two, of Chateau du Raux, Cru Bourgeois, from the Haut-Medoc region of Bordeaux. This 2016 vintage is made from equal quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes. The wine has an intense red colour and complex aromas of spice and fruits, with a smooth feeling in the mouth and balanced tannins. It is produced from grapes grown in the Chateau du Raux vineyards which date back to the 1879. The vineyard is located between Pauillac and Margaux in the Graves area of Cussac-Fort-Medoc.
Our French baker has completed the kitchen renovations, and we have a wonderful selection of French Patisserie to round off your Festive meals including Chocolate hazelnut cakes, layered Opera Cakes, Paris Brest pastries, Megeve dark chocolate cakes, Fraisier strawberry cakes, praline cakes and macarons.
I wish you Joyeuses Pacques, Happy Peaceful Easter full of special meals shared with your families and friends.
Regards,
Suzanne and The French Market Team