TouteFrance

A British bakery firm in Yorkshire has landed a contract to sell a brioche type loaf to a French bakery to make croque monsieur, according to the BBC website. Whatever next! Apparently the British made brioche lasts longer than the French made variety. I always thought the French were very particular about their bread and patisserie, finding British versions too heavy, so it’s quite interesting to see the French using a British bakery.

I have to say that I do like French baguettes and patisserie in general (see my post on Tarte aux Pommes), although sometimes French baguettes can have a hard crust that scrapes the inside of the mouth.

I can’t see the French wanting to import British bread, especially the sliced white type - sacrebleu!

One of my favourite French desserts is ‘tarte aux pommes’ - I don’t think there’s ever a trip to France that doesn’t involve a few portions while I’m there! Recipes for tarte aux pommes seem to vary hugely, I’ve not found a ‘traditional’ recipe for it. I have a bit of a cheat’s version that I make at home from time to time using puff pastry. I roll out a slab of puff pastry which is enough for two good sized tarts and make it into a circle to fit a round baking tray.  Roll out some golden marzipan so that it fits within the puff pastry circle and sprinkle some nutmeg and cinnamon on top. Then place sliced apple onto the marzipan to cover it completely and sprinkle with brown sugar before putting it into oven for about 20-30 minutes. A lovely quick dessert!

I’ve found an apple frangipane tart recipe on Waitrose’s website, which looks just as good, but will involve a bit more labour - enjoy!

According to a post on ‘Talking Retail’ this week, imports of French cheese into the UK have overtaken Irish imports for the first time, making France the number one cheese importer to the UK.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love a good cheese and there is such a wide choice available nowadays to suit all tastes, strong ones and milder ones which I prefer. Not only does France have a diverse range of cheeses, but so does the UK. There are some great British ones to be had too (I love Cornish Yarg).

As for French cheeses, I like a good goat’s cheese, ‘tomme’ (mountain cheese) and emmenthal, but am not so keen on camembert. When it comes to buying brie (in the UK), I often go for the ‘Somerset’ variety!

In this increasingly obese world, many of us wonder how some nations manage to stay slim and one of those nations is France. You rarely see obese or overweight French people, and they’re renowned for taking care of their body and their looks!

For those of you who would like a few pointers, here’s an article on how their eating habits keep them slim:

11 Reasons Of French Paradox - in a nutshell, eat less (don’t eat all those croissants at once!), drink red wine (but not the whole bottle!), get some exercise and eat lots of fresh fruit & veg. Mostly things we already know, but don’t like to adhere to!

The Duke and Duchess of Hamilton have decided to boycott Selfridges while they sell ‘foie gras’, according to Thursday’s Daily Telegraph. The Prince of Wales has also banned foie gras from Royal menus.

 The debate on ethically produced food is really starting to heat up, not only with boycotts on traditionally produced food such as foie gras, which is a delicacy in France, but  recently in the UK too with high profile campaigns such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Chicken Out campaign to encourage people to eat free range and organically produced chickens, instead of cheaply reared broiler chickens. Veal is another meat that has been hotly debated.

Will the British public follow the royals’ ban on foie gras? That remains to be seen - many top restaurants will continue to serve it until they find an alternative that tastes as good as the traditionally produced foie gras. This was Gordon Ramsay’s take on the subject after trying ethically produced foie gras from Spain on an edition of the F-Word.

It’s made me laugh since I was a child that the French have a sweet pastry called ‘Pets de Nonne’, literally translated means ‘nun’s farts’! They’re small deep fried dough shapes, rather like small doughnuts (without the jam).

Here’a recipe if you’re interested in making them, though definitely not for those of you on a diet!