FRENCH MARKET RECIPES
French Market Recipe 2026 27 Tarte au poireau, lardons et raclette
For my recipe this week I am sharing a savoury tart which is ideal for a winter warming dish. This tart combines leeks, lardons (little chunks of bacon) and slices of Raclette. It is easy to make, warm and filling. I suggest pair with a Pinot Blanc from Alsace.
French Market Recipe 2026 26 Mille Feuile au Comte by Matt Landmark Comte custard slice
For my recipe this week I am sharing an unusual recipe for a savoury 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 chutney, 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.
French Market Recipe 2026 25 Fondue fromages des montagnes Melted mountain cheese fondue
In our shop we get a lot of requests for cheese to make a Fondue, this is really easy to make. Ideally you use 3 different, firm textured and matured mountain cheese, ideally Comte, Emmental and Gruyere and add some wine. Fondue is a great family meal; the melted cheese is eaten by dipping small chunks of fresh baguette into it. The fun part is the game traditionally played, where the first person to lose their piece of bread into the fondue has to pay a forfeit or is given an amusing task to fulfil.
French Market Recipe 2026 24 Les tartelettes aux poires, gingembre et chocolat Pear, ginger and chocolate tartlets
In our fresh produce section, we have received a small stock of cocktail sized chocolate tartlets. They are so good, you can taste the butter in the pastry and the chocolate filling is delicious. They make a perfect mouthful to round off a cocktail party. For our recipe this week, I am sharing an easy tartlet recipe with pear, ginger and chocolate filling. Best served with a glass of Tribaut Scloesser Brut Champagne or even a pear spirit.
French Market Recipe 2026 24 Aligots de l’Auvergne
Another cheese that we stock, which is used to make a favourite for a winter dish, is Cantal Entre Deux from Aubrac in the Auvergne. This dish is called Aligot and is a great winter warming meal. Really easy to make, it is a combination of Cantal, mashed potato and garlic. I suggest topping with some grilled sausages (or boerewors) and pairing with a light red wine such as the Gamay from Chateau de Broully in Beaujolais.
French Market Recipe 2026 23 Vols aux vents au saumon Vols aux vents with salmon filling
One of my favourite starters is vol-aux-vents (fly-in-the-wind). These light, puff pastry cases were first written about in France in the 1800s. They are usually served filled with a creamy savoury filling. We stock two sizes of ready made vols-aux-vents from Holland. One is a mini size, ideal to serve at cocktails as an aperitif. The larger size is ideal as a starter or light main course. Often they are filled with a creamy Bechamel sauce containing a variety of ingredients such as chicken, fish or mushrooms. They are also practical for using up small pieces of left overs mixed in a sauce or mayonnaise. In my recipe this week I am sharing a filling for Vol-au-Vents with local Cape salmon and fresh thyme, topped with grilled Comte.
French Market Recipe 2026 21 Tagliatelle de la maison, sauce carciofi Fresh Tagliatelle with artichoke cream sauce
If you wish to make your own pasta, we do stock the 00 flour from Italy, that you need for pasta, because it makes a soft dough which is easy to stretch. With our runners in town loading up on carbs, for this week’s recipe I decided to share a recipe for homemade pasta served with this new artichoke sauce from Italy. Making fresh pasta is not as hard as one thinks. It just takes a little time, the effort is definitely worth it, and the feeling of achievement makes it feel worthwhile.
French Market Recipe 2026 21 Tarte de poireaux et lardons à la Raclette Leek, bacon and Raclette tart
For our recipe this week I have included a recipe for a warming tart made with lardons (chunky pieces of bacon), leeks and slices of raclette. Pairing is challenging but I think you will find that a light Beaujolais could work. Try it with our Chateau de Pierreux Beaujolais, or alternatively a Marc Bredief Chenin from the Loire valley.
French Market Recipe 2026 20 Soupe de Lentilles de Puy aux légumes Puy lentil and vegetable soup
On a chilly day I enjoy a simple vegetable broth which warms me and fills me up. One of my favourites is made with Puy Lentils. These green lentils are grown in the Valley of Puy. They are small and dark green. Their skin is thin because the climate is unique in this valley. Surrounded by ancient volcanoes, the prevailing wind drops rain clouds on the slopes of the mountains therefore the valley gets little rainfall. The volcanic soil gives the lentils a unique minerally taste. Puy Lentils do not have to be soaked in advance due to their thin skins. They are very good for you and make a healthy broth. This week’s recipe is really easy to make and can be made the day before so all you have to do is to heat it up. Serve topped with a layer of toasted Emmental, some chunks of a crisp baguette and a glass of Pavillon St Pierre, a blend of Shiraz and Grenache from the Cote de Rhone.
French Market Recipe 2026 19 Parmentier au Confit de Canard Cottage pie with Confit of duck
With the chilly weather clients are looking for heartwarming meals. As soon as the temperature drops the French rush in and buy Raclette to melt at home and serve with boiled potatoes and cornichons (small crunchy and salty gherkins). Another favourite is Confit de Canard, cooked duck legs in duck fat. This duck fat preserves the duck and is amazing for making crispy, brown, roast potatoes as duck fat heats up higher than other fats. See recipe below for an easy to make and rich, warming dish of Confit Parmentier (duck meat topped with mashed potato). Pair this with a Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot blend Petite Sirene from the Bordeaux region.
French Market Recipe 2026 18 Hamburger flavoured with Lea & Perrins Sauce and sliced Emmental
In our dry goods range we have received some products from the UK. There is a new stock of Lea and Perrins Worcestshire sauce. This unique sauce has been made to the same recipe for many years. It is frequently used in a fresh tomato drink, it is also used to flavour savoury dishes. This week’s recipe is burgers made with Lea & Perrins Sauce, which adds a great tang to the taste of the burgers.
French Market Recipe 2026 17 Gratin d’Appenzeller aux legumes Vegetable bake with grated Appenzeller
For this week’s recipe I am sharing a recipe for a Gratin (grated cheese bake) vegetable bake made with Appenzeller cheese. This is warm filling dish for a cooler Autumn Day, serve it with a braaied steak or on its own as a vegetarian dish. Pair with a glass of La Petite Sirene a cabernet sauvignon blend from Bordeaux region made by the technical team of Chateau Giscours.
French Market Recipe 2026 16 L’Agneau au romarin en croute Lamb and rosemary pie
For this week’s recipe I decided to share a fragrant lamb pie. My favourite accompaniments to lamb are rosemary, garlic, and red wine; by combining these in a pie one captures all the flavours. I used a large lamb shank and marinated the meat for 24 hours to get the best flavour. Once the pie is cooked, a delicious fragrance escapes, as you cut into the crusty pastry. The pie went beautifully with some garlic potatoes and a good bottle of red wine. This is a warming dish to have on a cooler evening, and it is easy to make.
French Market Recipe 2026 14 L’agneau roti au Calvados
For this week’s recipe I decided to share a tasty roast lamb dish based on a recipe from Normandie, the sauce is made with Calvados (apple brandy) which gives it a fragrant taste. I suggest pairing with a Southern Rhone wine, the Pavillon St Pierre a blend of grenache and Shiraz, or a glass of Calvados.
French Market Recipe 2026 13 Petit dessert aux myrtilles et framboises
In Cape Town we have lots of fresh berries in season right now, so today’s recipe is an easy dessert of fresh berries, meringue base and yoghurt. We stock amazing fresh meringues, sometimes these crumble. In this easy recipe I used broken meringue pieces topped with yoghurt and decorated with blueberries and raspberries. This is such an easy and quick recipe (if you have a meringue available) and is most attractive, with the blue and red of the berries nestled in the whiteness of the yoghurt. It takes less than 5 minutes to assemble. For wine pairing I would recommend a fresh, delicate, bubbly wine such as the Crémant from Alsace, which we stock in our shop.
French Market Recipe 2026 12 Home-made Pasta
If you have never tried to make pasta, now is the time to try, I have made it once and it’s a lot more work than just opening up a packet of dried pasta, but…its infinitely better. If you prefer to buy pasta, I can recommend our stock of truffle flavoured pasta and the black squid ink pasta we get in from Italy.
French Market Recipe 2026 11 Figue au chevre Baked figs with goat’s cheese
We have lots of trays of dark red, fresh Persian figs in stock, therefore I am sharing a baked fig and goat’s cheese recipe with you. This is really easy to make and the soft goats cheese gives a tangy flavour. You can switch the goats cheese with triple cream Delice if you prefer. I sprinkle Tariquet Armagnac over the figs but you could also use Grand Marnier or a cognac.
French Market Recipe 2026 10 Tartiflette Savoyard Potato bake
We have also received a stock of Reblochon style cheese Fleur des Alpes. It has a dry crust and soft centre. Very popular with the French to make a dish called Tartiflette. This traditional dish is a creamy potato bake made with lardons (strong flavoured chunks of bacon) onions, cream and wine, then a whole Reblochon style cheese is sliced in half and placed on top of the potato bake. You cook it in the oven until the cheese has melted completely over the potatoes and has turned a dark golden colour. I paired this full flavoured, creamy dish with a Gustave Lorentz Riesling from Alsace as this wine has plenty of flavour to balance the strong cheesy taste of this dish.
French Market Recipe 2026 09 Liqueur de figues Fig Liquor
From the abundant orchards many liqueurs are also made with the fruit harvest. My neighbour in France, Corinne gave me an interesting Fig Liqueur recipe. I know most of us in the Cape have fig trees somewhere close by, so it is easy to find the baby fig leaves. She uses “Eau-de-Vie” (Water of Life) clear white spirit which I think can be found in a bottle store, otherwise use a bottle of clear schnapps as the base. The young fig leaves are cooked with the sugar and Eau de Vie then preserved. The flavour of this liqueur is similar to Chartreuse. Serve the liqueur slightly chilled with some little sables (small butter biscuits).
French Market Recipe 2026 08 Lentilles du Puy Puy Lentils
For my recipe this week I decided to share a simple country recipe made with Puy lentils because we now have them in stock. I suggest pairing with a Louis Latour Valmoissine Pinot Noir.
French Market Recipe 2026 06 Soupe de patate douce et citronelle Sweet potato and lemongrass soup
For my recipe this week I decided to share a chilled soup that I based on a vichysoisse but morphed it into a more Asian flavoured dish with lemon grass, sweet potatoes, coconut cream and some chicken satay on top (see last week’s recipe because I wanted to pair this with the new Cidre bouchée and the fruity flavours worked well together.
French Market Recipe 2026 05 Satay de poulet Chicken Satay
For my recipe this week I decided to share my favourite dish that I always have on my first night in Singapore. Satay is a local, Singapore / Malaysian traditional street market dish of thin slices of meat on skewers that has been marinated in a spicy sauce, then braaied over a wood fire. The grilled meat is served with a traditional spicy peanut sauce and chunks of cucumber, raw onions and small balls of rice. Its quite a long process but really worth the effort, and I recommend serving this with a glass of Gustave Lorentz Gewürztraminer.
French Market Recipe 2026 04 Canapes de concombre et caviar Cucumber and avo cocktail snacks
Post Festive season many people are looking for light, healthy nibbles. For my recipe this week I decided to share an easy and light canape recipe, it is healthy, quick and easy to make, using cucumber bases topped with a mixture of avocados and cream cheese and a topping of Baerii caviar which I have in stock at the shop. It took just a few minutes to assemble, looked most attractive and tasted great. You could also use Black Lumpfish roe instead of the caviar. I served this with a glass of Pol Roger Brut NV available from our store.
French Market Recipe 2026 03 Poires au chocolat Pears coated with chocolate
For this week’s recipe I am sharing an easy dessert made with fresh pears, chocolate, spices and red wine. The spices and wine give a beautiful flavour to the pears, and the chocolate creates a lovely sauce. The dish has a strong spicy flavour, and it is easy to make. Add a bowl of crème fraiche on the side. I suggest pairing with a glass of Gustave Lorentz Gewurtztraminer from Alsace.
French Market Recipe 2026 02 Oranges givrees au Grand Marnier Frosted oranges with Grand Marnier
This week’s recipe is an easy, refreshing dessert recipe for lunchtime on a hot summer’s day. It does not require much skill and the iced orange juice with the hint of Grand Marnier is most refreshing. Pair with a glass of Grand Marnier and some macarons.