The Things They Carried (We carry really)

[Laidback]

Things we take to Paris are decaffeinated tea bags and individual packets of Splenda. We return to FL with tins of foie gras and Huile de Noisette and olive oil by LeBlanc.

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No need for Splenda anymore; they now have "Canderel" widely available all over France.

I remember not too long ago when they didn't even have diet soda, though...

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You are right, many cafés even serve Canderel with an order of coffee now, but I think that Canderel is based on Aspartame while Splenda is sucralose, a sugar derivative. It is nice that most grocery stores now carry decaffeinated, sugar free drinks, which are a daily requirement for my wife.

[VivreManger]

Based on this and other threads I am packing for a Paris friend Enrico's Chunky Hot Salsa and a bottle of maple syrup from a sugar house in town, true vin de pays.

Just to gild the lilly I will also pick up a duty-free bottle of Jonnie Walker Black Label.

Edited March 3, 2006 by VivreManger (log)

[cigalechanta]

Most important, the three carry on bottles of olive oil from the Moulin Coop in Maussane.

Tomate vert confiture,

sweet olive confiture,

Pastis 51,

Suze.

[BSK]

TO: Not normally living near Izrael's in Paris but in a tiny town in Provence:

sacks of freshly-made corn tortillas

the little round wood-topped (I forget the name at the moment) mexican hot

sauce

monterey jack and cheddar cheese

my special mix of mexican chiles

Sauza margarita mix (it's less sweet in France)

25 lb. sacks of pinto beans

Laura Scudder nutty peanut butter

Orville Redenbacher popcorn

Matzoh meal for making matzoh ball soup

medium ground kasha and bow ties for making kasha varnishkas

barley

Angel coconut flakes for making my one-egg spice cake topping

dark and light soy sauce and sesame seed oil

Phu Quoc Nhi or Phan Thiet Nhi Vietnamese fish sauce

Non-sweetened good quality rice wine vinegar

Rice papers (although I have been able to find small round ones at monoprix)

Jars of spicy Thai peanut sauce

Philadelphia cream cheese

FROM:

Honestly less and less because each time I bring something to America I usually find it the next day at some "french" boutique down the road. This time it was the jars of onion confiture that I bought at the factory in Robion, the lavendre Marius Fabre huile d'olive savon liquide that I bought at the factory in Salon, the Mistral verveine body lotion that I bought in Aix, and the Mariage Frères tins of Marco Polo tea that I bought as holiday presents for everyone in Paris. Even the kilos of Provençale herbed jambon from my local boucherie and their louche of picholine olives can be found at the local high-end supermarket here in San Diego. So now I'm down to smuggling saucissons of sanglier and trying to find fresh-kill rabbits and sisteron lamb and fresh-laid eggs.

[menton1]

Honestly less and less because each time I bring something to America I usually find it the next day at some "french" boutique down the road

There is still lots of stuff unique to France and/or Europe;

The "Sacs de Glaçons" that I mentioned above,

"Gini" soda, in those beautiful cans!

More later.

Also, a lot of items are available in the US, but at 2-3x the price, so that is also worth a little schlepping...

[John Talbott]

We've already had an extensive thread on what to bring to the States to eat

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I've been looking everywhere for the thread you mention and cannot find it - anyone have an idea where it is? Thanks much

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Well, this one started by Margaret Pilgrim is one - What do you bring home from Paris.

[John Talbott]

We've already had an extensive thread on what to bring to the States to ....give as presents....

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I've been looking everywhere for the thread you mention and cannot find it - anyone have an idea where it is? Thanks much

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And after a little snooping, here are the ones on gifts going each way:

Gifts for French friends

Gifts for Americans

Gifts to France

[Culinista]

Based on this and other threads I am packing for a Paris friend Enrico's Chunky Hot Salsa and a bottle of maple syrup from a sugar house in town, true vin de pays.

Just to gild the lilly I will also pick up a duty-free bottle of Jonnie Walker Black Label.

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Why not add some White Lily biscuit flour or stone ground blue cornmeal?

About PAM--is it OK to bring aerosol cans on the plane?

Plastic wrap--it wasn't just the quality of the wrap, but the design of the package. No one seems to have heard of a metal cutting edge.

And I forgot to mention I also used to bring in grits (the Cousin Vinny kind, not instant) and bring out Ricci extra fin couscous.

[John Talbott]

We stumbled upon an absolutely wonderful place in the Marais yesterday, indeed we were their first customers ever. They sell 17th, 18th and 19th century reproductions of Portuguese ceramics, largely pitchers; ideal for putting your bag-in-box wine into for an elegant presentation. It's run by two young men who grew up seeing their grandmother's ancient pitchers/pottery/etc and loved them. Details: Ornatio, 18, rue du Pont Choux in the 3rd, 01.48.87.23.06. We're taking two home.