What do you bring home from France?

[Michael Laiskonis]

Beachfan,

I sampled a Comte, vintage 1998, a few weeks ago at Arpege. Quite interesting! And is La Ferme Saint Aubin the shop that has an adjoining restaurant as well? Remembered it mostly for my first tastes of wines from the Savoie- definately something that is hard to find in the US, at least in my neck of the woods!

[Bux]

On confits/cassoulets/foie gras and other preparations in glass jars, my guess is that the best are going to be artisanal fermier products from small producers. To some extent this could result in a hit or miss situation unless you have some local connoiseur to guide you. If you're buying out of the region of production, you have the reputation of the shop that sells it. You'll pay a bit more for the middleman and his reputation as well as the insurance. It's our habit to buy from producers in the market or shops in the region of production when buying things like jams, preserves and honey which are quite legal and make excellent gifts if you can part with them once you've returned. Even top of the line hyupermarché products can be excellent, but the small market stuff is what we look for.

As for Laguiole knives, I've put my wife off for years by claiming that I didn't know which to buy and that we'd buy them when we get to Laguiole. I had no choice but to do the research once we booked Michel Bras. The unanimous advice was to buy the knives made by the company (Forge de Laguiole) whose logo is a folding knife superimposed (L-shaped) on the name Laguiole. This is the company whose downtown shop was designed by Philippe Stark as was their factory on the outskirts of town on the way to Bras. I'm told they are the only firm whose knives are made entirely by hand and entirely in their own factory in the area. Both the shop and the factory are worth seeing if you are ever in the area and it's worth waiting to buy on the premises if a visit to Laguiole is in your near future.

There are many things you need to know about how these knives are made and what to look out for in the way of mitres and other details. I'm not sure how much any of these details contribute to use and long life of the knives, but once you become a connoisseur, you will need to have these cost raising details. Speaking of cost, the factory has seconds for sale, although I don't recall either the savings or the irregularity being of significance. The shop down town will also run "promotions" or sales. After my wife decided that my decision to buy one knife in each of the various wood handles would only result in our table setting being a monument to my indecisiveness, I set about selecting the "best" wood for a handle, but was unable to counter her arguments for horn--durability and a current "promotion" on the traditional bone handle. I caved with only the demand that we get the ones with contrasting brass "mitres," thereby sacrificing all sense of esthetics in pursuit of the noticeably traditional. It's all rather abstract anyway as we rarely have steak and hardly ever serve it to company.

Further reading:

web page devoted to Societé Forge de Laguiole knives.

The Heart of the Country by William Echikson

[Beachfan]

Beachfan,

I sampled a Comte, vintage 1998, a few weeks ago at Arpege. Quite interesting! And is La Ferme Saint Aubin the shop that has an adjoining restaurant as well?

I don't remember; I'll check in September when I go again.

[Lesley C]

Bux,

Don't you have duck, lamb, chicken, or saucisson at home? Who says steak knives are just for steak?

[Fat Guy]

Lesley, didn't you once write the definitive story on Laguiole knives? Is it online anywhere? Or do you possess the Copyright such that you could post it here?

[Bux]

Bux,

Don't you have duck, lamb, chicken, or saucisson at home? Who says steak knives are just for steak?

They seem like a bit of overkill for chicken, but of course they are excellent for many foods, particularly magret de canard and just about anything harder to cut than warm butter. Parts of my last post were a bit tongue in cheek. Or as I said to my wife, "those knives were a waste, the meat we've been buying since we returned, cuts like butter" (as long as you're using a steak knife--particularly a Forge de Laguiole steak knife). But our old knives still make great butter knives.

[jaybee]

Old armangac, goose fat (since discovered for sale at Citarella) and knives from Dehilleron. And 3-4 lbs. around my middle.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Bux, in defence of your Laguiole knives, I have found that the Laguiole knives were excellent for boning small birds. You know the kind. Larger than an ortilan but smaller than a game hen.

In defence of your indecision, I haven't even bought mine yet!

[Wimpy]

Bux- thanks for the tip on Laguiole and artisanal foods! Will research for Forge Laguiole in Paris.

[magnolia]

My great mission when in Paris was to find a liquid chicory extract that a chef friend turned me on to a few months ago. Far and away better than granules. Eventually found it at La Grande Epicerie. Brought back armloads of it.

Now it makes sense to me why the coffee in Vietnam is so good, they must use chicory - either they got the habit from the French or vice versa.

I always try to bring back Suchard dark chocolate cubes, which used to be widely available, and sold individually, at news kiosks, Felix Potin (RIP) etc. but now only seem to be available in packs of three, in the candy sections of a handful of shops like La Grand Epicerie (For me that's as silly as having to go to Bloomingdales for a Hershey bar ! but I need my fix)

[Wimpy]

Hi! Just got back from France & Italy. Thought someone might want to know what I actually brought home. Remember- I am based in Manila, Philippines and customs is not strict as in the US when it comes to food. I stuffed all of them either in my travel cooler or cavernous garment bag which I hand carried on board Air France on a direct flight from Paris.

Here's the list:

1) Cheeses (bought in open market in Chartres): Reblochon (fermier), Livarot (artisanal), Brillat Savarin (fermier), Maroille (fermier), two fresh cow cheeses coated with herbs and one with pepper.

2) Foie Gras: 6 small bottles of Goose Foie (entier) from Eduouard Artzt in Strasbourg (for gift to friends).

3) 550 gr. raw goose foie (chilled for transport) bought in Chartres from farmer

4) 350 gr. mi-cuit duck foie (chilled for transport) bought in Chartres from farmer

5) Salami di Cinghiale (wild boar salami) from market in Florence

6) Finocchino Salami (Florentine salami)

7) Bottle black truffles (bought in Florence)

8) Bottle white truffles (bought in Florence)

9) One 50 gr. raw black truffle (bought in Florence)

10) One 250 ml bottle 25 year old Aceto Balsamico Originale

11) One jar of gourmet anchovies packed in salt (Galerie Lafayette, Paris)

12) Two cans of goose fat (Fauchon)

13) Two packs of Sel Gris fine de Guerande (Galerie Lafayette, Paris)

14) One pack Fleur de Sel de Guerande

15) Two pane forte from Siena (one chocolate, other "white")

16) One food mill (Dehillerin- Paris)

17) One mandolin w/Guard (Dehillerin-Paris)

18) Two cans of veal extract powder

The above are just the food related items. Am afraid I did some major damage to my credit cards overall (until they were stolen in the Paris Metro near Montparnasse along with my video camera, that is).

Any advice on what to whip up with the above? Am planning to share the bounty with friends this coming Saturday.

[robert brown]

Wimpy, that should hold you for a while. Right now we just have three jars of Christine Ferber confitures to being home next week. We tried one that we bought in Paris at Pierre Herme. We called her HQ in Alsace and got the name of the one place on the Cote d'Azur that sells them: La Boutique des Gourmets in Nice, which had about 20 varieties. The price was 7.93 euros for a small jar. On the back is written to keep the jar in a cool place and to finish the contents within a week. I like that since it means there are no preservatives.

[Bouland]

I like that since it means there are no preservatives.

Are you saying that the confiture had no sugar in it? Traditional French confitures are made with enough sugar so they don't need refrigeration — which is relatively new — and last for a long time. What makes these confitures different?

[grahamtigg]

Given the range of items mentioned in this thread I'm surprised that dried ceps, morells, girolles etc. don't appear, especially as they are light and hence ideal for air travel (at least within Europe).

[Bouland]

Given the range of items mentioned in this thread I'm surprised that dried ceps, morells, girolles etc. don't appear, especially as they are light and hence ideal for air travel (at least within Europe).

I used to bring home mushrooms from France to California, but I found I could buy dried morrels here for less money than at Metro in France. Also the quality was consistantly better — smaller feet! Many of the dried mushrooms sold in France were not harvested there, but in Eastern Europe or Asia. It is supposed to state the origin on the package, but sometimes they'll just say imported.

That said, I am still working with some cèpes I bought at G.Detou a while back that are a much better quality than I have found here imported from Italy.

[robert brown]

Bouland, as I am not an authority on confitures, all I can tell you is that unlike another good confiture we bought, the Christine Ferber ones should be consumed before the start of 2004, whereas the others should be consummed before May 2006. The latter says to keep it cool after opening, whereas the Christine Ferbers should be consummed eight days after opening. The man who sold me the Chrsitine Ferber said he gets varying varieties throughout the year depending on the season of the fruit. Maybe lots of others stagger their production in this way.

[Bux]

I'm looking at the label of some peach and sweet almond preserves I bought in the Lyon market earlier this spring. March 2005 is the date marked on the label. This is a preferred date for consumption and not an indication the preserves are likely to be spoiled after that date. Keep cool after opening usually means refrigerated in a house with central heating. As with all jams, that's good advice unless you're going to finish it in a week.

I consider my jar to be a cut better than Bonne Maman, but not the utmost super quality. For the record, there's added pectin and concentrated lemon juice. The pectin provides texture and the lemon juice concentrate may be a preservative as well as a flavor, but the real preservative in the jam is sugar. This particular preserve is 61% sugar although the percentage of fruit is 55%. Some of the sugar comes from the fruit. Anyway, there are no artificial preservatives in it.

[robert brown]

Bux, here's the scoop on the Christine Ferber confiture: Total contents in sugar, 60 grammes per 100 grammes. Prepared with 55 grammes of fruit per 100 grammes. Contents:, fruits (in this case the flavor is pink grapefruit), sugar, pectin of apple, and lemon juice. Keep cool and consume eight days aftger opening. Prederable to consume before Jan. 1, 2004. Has anyone ever come across her confitures in the States?

[Bouland]

In France, by law, all packaged food products must carry a "use by" date. This applies even to food items that one wouldn't think to need such a date — such as bottled water. Confitures made from fruit and sugar last for years. The sugar is a great preservative. Pectin is added to the jam to help it jell. The lemon juice provide asorbic acid, an additonal preservative. The acid in the lemon juice is also used to balance out the overall pH of the jam because pectin is pH sensitive. I remember my mother's homemade strawberry jam which was made from the same four ingredients. In the jar, it would last a number of years. Open on the breakfast table, it lasted at room temperaure until it was finished. It never went bad.

Maybe the people at Christine Ferber feel their products loose something when exposed to air? Maybe there is some flavor difference? But the product itself shouldn't go bad in one week!

[Bux]

I'm not familiar with the name, although from time to time I've bought some rather artisanal preserves in some fancy shops that were superb, but I've forgotten the name of the producer and only remember the shop in which it was purchased. in any event, they were purchased in Europe.

I don't see why this preserve shouldn't last a month or two in the refrigerator after opening. As for the "open by" date, most of those are to guaranty flavor rather than safety. I'd tend to say that all fine preserves are best consumed in the first year and that you may notice a flavor loss after they are opened. Refrigerating them will keep them longer, but eating the preserves cold may dull the flavor.

[John Whiting]

Various dairy products freeze with various degrees of success. I've never had any trouble with butter. I've frozen several hard Swiss cheeses with total success. Soft runny cheeses such as a ripe Epoisse have come through it very well indeed. I also froze an entire wheel of biodynamic Danish blue, cut up into wedges. It was given to me illegally by a butcher because it had been delayed in transport and passed its sell-by date. On thawing it had gone somewhat crumbly but not dried out, and the flavor was sublime. Finally, cream in any form will go unpleasantly grainy. But I've never tried puting it through a blender.

Edit: As for sell-by dates, no cheese in England is ready to eat until it is well past it. I heartily approve of sell-by dates, inasmuch as I can buy most of our everyday meat from Waitrose at half-price on the day of expiry. Our freezer stays permanently stocked with enough meat and fowl to open a restaurant. (And if you think a retired couple in Britain is going to buy all their meat from a top-price certified organic source, think again!)

[magnolia]

The most important things we bring home are memories especially of Provence. So much so that I started a discussion group at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/provence/group

As well, soap, pottery, santons and fabrics

What are santons? I can't find this in my dictionary.

[Bux]

Santons are the little Provencal figurines. The word means "saint" in Provencal. It seemed to me that they have some connection to the santos of Puerto Rico although the latter are small carved and polychromed wooden representations of saints. While santons means saints, the figurines are as often as not of everyday village characters. According to the Michelin Green Guide to Provence, they are figurines made for nativity creches. Originally they were the New Testament biblical personages one expects to find in a creche, but figurines depicting tradesmen and other village residents soon followed. Many people collect these figurines and there's a yearly fair in Marseille. I believe they are still mostly ceramic and painted. Today they are mass produced, but the art of hand made santons reached a peak around 1820-30 according to Michelin and that's why the dress you see on them today is from that period.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Bux, from what I understand/remember, lifesized biblical creche figures were very much a part of a Provencal Christmas until their exhibition was outlawed by the Reign of Terror after 1789. The Provencals, resourceful as always, simply reduced the size of their scenes, dressed the inhabitants as their friends and neighbors, i.e., representing all the local vocations, and continued their tradition while breathing new life into it.

The Marseille Foire aux Santonniers takes place in December, but I don't know exactly when.

[Bux]

Bux, from what I understand/remember, lifesized biblical creche figures were very much a part of a Provencal Christmas until their exhibition was outlawed by the Reign of Terror after 1789.

From what I understand, you were too young to remember much.