Get your French munchies here!

A very, very quick note today for our US friends. I was just browsing through the new Amazon.com listings for food, after learning that they were now moving heavily into dry goods to compete with the big supermarkets. Popcorn, obviously, was my motivation, but I discovered in the process that they have some really interesting sections on ethnic foods, and even a decent selection of French stuff.

(And yes, I know this sounds like a commercial, but unlike with my AdSense ads and book account, I don't get paid jack for this - I just wanted to post it for the interest of our francophile visitors who might not otherwise know that they can buy Brittany caramels from Amazon!)

These caramels, shown in the pic, are terrific. We can find them all over our immediate area but I never expected to encounter such a cardboard-boxed, homemade-looking candy on Ye Internet Megamart. If anyone wants a little taste of Brittany, there you are. Another very local item is this selection of Guérande sea salt, which is harvested by hundreds of salt flat workers not fifteen minutes to the south of our house. I've heard many chefs say it is the best cooking salt on the planet. Our friend Claudie's parents have their own stretch of salt farm in the marshes - I think I even posted a bunch of pics from our visit there sometime in the past, though now I can't remember for sure.

Madeleines have a special place in our hearts because they were our staple food for the first six months that we lived here. We found out early that they were plentiful, inexpensive, and we could eat them without suffering the upset stomach that nearly all French food gave us during our first year of adaptation. I can't say they're especially good snacks, and I don't think I ever want to eat another one myself personally, but they are an integral part of our "French Experience".

I don't eat a lot of foie gras because A) our budget doesn't allow it, and B) it is so rich (the good stuff, anyway) that I simply can't consume a lot of it without rolling into the floor. This foie gras with truffles, however, sounds tempting. I am, however, most likely spoiled forever on eating storebought foie gras because I've had the good fortune to be able to have some homemade by a French master chef. Marie-Blanche, if you're reading this, tell Marcel we want more! :)

Of course, for the genuine French family meal experience, there is Nutella. I read an amusing account on another expat's blog once about her encounter with a scolding French teacher, who told her that she was ruining her child's health by sending him to school with peanut butter sandwiches for lunch. He was supposed to be eating that healthy Nutella instead! The French revulsion for peanut butter is charming and funny - I can only hope they feel the same about my reactions to andouille sausage...

Adventurous souls can try rolling their own crépes using this buckwheat flour. From what I have seen, making crépes at home (of the non-microwave variety) is something akin to conducting a symphony under the duress that, if you miss a note, your orchestra players will begin burning to briquettes.

It is a strange world today, when Americans are ordering Breton caramels from Amazon while I, sitting in Brittany, shop for crates of Orville's Ultimate Butter Popcorn...