May 2024 Gazette

Welcome to the 8th edition of my monthly newsletter! Each month, I share a personal round up of the past weeks to give you a glimpse into my French life. I also share links I love, seasonal recipe inspirations and try to answer some of the questions I’ve received through social media as well.

Feel free to let me know in the comments if you enjoy this monthly gazette, and perhaps what you would like to read about next month!

First off, Happy May 1st! Today is Labor Day in France, or “Fête du Travail”, which is a public holiday originally created for political parties and trade unions to protest and demonstrate in the streets. You will often find road blocks in many French cities today, which doesn’t really bother the French, as all offices, shops and restaurants are closed today anyways. Having a rest day in the middle of the work week feels very nice I must say! 

Another May 1st tradition in France, is buying and offering small bouquets of Lily of The Valleys to your loved ones as a sign of affection and good luck. You can find little stands held by kids, friends and families all down the streets and plazas, selling these little bouquets for 2.50 to 3 euros; it is such a lovely tradition.  We got one for us this morning, and a few extra to offer to my relatives this afternoon. 

My husband baked this wonderful brioche for my birthday breakfast.

As you may recall April started on a good note, as the 1^st was my 37^th birthday! I’m not one to really be fussy about this day, but it is nice to get out and do something a little different, so my husband and I decided to go for something we used to eat quite often back in Canada – Indian food! Just a few minutes from our home is Rajasthan a nice little place where we indulged in both lamb and vegetable biryani, which they prepare with a mix of 25 spices! We also ordered a mango and a salty lassi, which are yogurt-based drinks to help cut through the spices. If you’ve never tried a lassi, I highly suggest it!

The plates were huge and neither my husband or I could finish them, so we took a doggy bag and ate the leftovers the next day. Doggy bags… For those of you who may not know, these are a very recent addition to restaurant culture here in France, and still not widely adopted. Typically, we serve smaller portions in France, so leftovers aren’t all that common. Even still, taking food home after a restaurant meal is highly atypical here, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find places that allow it.

The weather in Brittany continued to be completely unpleasant for the first two weeks of April, but then suddenly took a turn for the better. We’ve had mostly sunny skies and 15°C (59°F) degree weather since, and it really does wonders for the soul. Going for long walks, soaking up the sun and just having daylight until 9pm feels so good. It’s also a huge relief for little Sophie, who loathes going out for her bathroom duties when it’s raining – what a princess!

Our little Sophie celebrated her 6th birthday this April.

In “big” local news, the official farmer’s market of Lorient since 1960, “Les Halles de Merville”, officially closed its doors… Well, kind of.

Les Halles (which you can see as the last photo on my March Gazette) were in serious need of a makeover, and the city has decided to do just that. A temporary – but still very lovely – hall was built to house all the artisan butchers and vendors, while the old hall is destroyed and rebuilt. The majority of fruit and veggie vendors will still be located outdoors, but the new temporary spaces are much larger and so much more vibrant.

I will definitely miss the old Halles, as I have built many memories there. I remember going there as a kid and picking up huge crabs and fresh bags of oysters and clams for lunch. That being said, a new and fresh Halles will also be very welcome. The plans for the new hall look wonderful and much more luminous than the old one was. It will also include a nice indoor seating area for people to enjoy coffee and treats – something the old hall did not have.

The new Halles de Merville is expected to be built within the next 2 years… But my husband says “in France, that means 4 years”. He might be right, we’ll see. In the meantime, the temporary home for Les Halles, just a few meters away from the old one, will more than suffice!

The temporary Halles, for the next 2 years or so.

In my never-ending quest to learn more about the food of France, as well as the people that create, grow and prepare it, I attended a little conference with Francois-Regis Gaudry, one of France’s most well-known food critics at the Théatre de Lorient.

The main topic of the forum was the food of our region, but more specifically of Lorient and its surrounding cities and towns. He invited local chefs to participate in conversation, as well as to cook a quick dish at the end of their talk for some lucky members of the crowd to enjoy. I expected a small handful of people to be in attendance, but the theatre was sold out and attended by people of all ages. It was a fun and information evening, detailing the history and importance of the cuisine of this area, notably the importance of various seaweeds and algae that grow along our coastlines and how they’re utilized by chefs.

François Régis-Gaudry and his crew at the end of the show.

Do you have a product or ingredient from your area that is important for local (or national) cuisine? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

One other local product that was mentioned often during the conference, is a product known as Kari Gosse. Do you know what it is? Kari sounds a lot like what it is, believe it or not… Curry! Created in the 1800s by a local pharmacist, Mr Gosse, this Indian inspired curry powder is a huge hit not only in my hometown of Lorient, but throughout France.

Kari Gosse is a balanced, but very unique mix of spices such as ginger, clove, spicy red peppers, cinnamon, black pepper, coriander, cumin, cardamom and fenugreek… Not exactly what people think of when they think “French cuisine” – but it tastes absolutely amazing, especially in a sauce with our local lobster, yum! 

“Gâteau Breton” sold at the local market.

New articles added to the blog in April:

• Classic Parisian Salad (Salade Parisienne)
• Lemon Poppy Seed Sablé Cookies 
• French Grated Carrot Salad (Carottes Rapées) – updated recipe

10 seasonal recipes for May:

• White Asparagus à la Grenobloise
• How to Make French Vinaigrette
• Radish Leaf Soup 
• Classic French Roast Chicken (Poulet Rôti)
• Bordeaux-Style Fish Gratin (Poisson à la Bordelaise)
• Chicken Fricassée with shallots and bacon
• Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies 
• Classic French Strawberry Tart 
• Strawberry Rhubarb Crip 
• Strawberry Rhubarb Galette

It’s peak strawberry season in Brittany!

Links I am liking:

• I am currently reading Joel Dickers’ new novel, “Un Animal Sauvage” and I am loving it. Joel Dicker is the author of New York Times bestseller “The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair”, a thriller I absolutely loved when it came out in 2014. He has published several books since then, which I have read and enjoyed – but not loved. I am so pleased to find this newest one, Un Animal Sauvage, as highly-addictive as The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair. If you love twisty thrillers with a European flair, this one’s for you. The novel is only available in French for now, but I am sure it will be released in English very soon.
• Have you heard about the new Crookie craze? After the Cronut (half donut, half croissant), the Crookie – a croissant filled with cookie dough – has become the new Tiktok obsession. The crookie was invented in 2022 by Parisian pastry chef Stephane Louvard, “just for regulars”, until a video of his creation was posted on Tiktok. Today many bakers and amateurs recreate the crookie, and I have seen it pop into my instagram feed many, many times these past few months. Have you ever tried it? I tried one from my our local bakery last week, and it was quite rich and sweet, haha ! 

The Crookie from our local bakery.

• CNBC’s Why The French Love American Fast Food is quite an interesting watch, although, I am still on the fence about this… On one hand, yes, I would say that American fast foods have become a “norm” today in France, with big fast-food chains (McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Five Guys, and now Krispy Kreme and Popeyes too!) multiplying in French cities. The influence of American pop culture plays a huge part in it, but so are the attractive prices of fast-food menus offering people convenient and affordable lunch options in times of inflation. But on the other hand, I am really feeling the younger crowds are more and more wanting to go back to the old-school, nostalgia-filled French food too. French bistros and cafés are popping up around my city offering classic French dishes (Omelettes, stews, quiches, etc.) which seemed a bit outdated just a few years ago – but they are back being uber popular today. On a final note, I would add that the quality and quantity at fast food chains in France is different – ie. The burger’s meat applies to stricter rules and a large size in France usually equals a small/medium size in the US.
• I love following British chef and farmer Julius Roberts on Instagram. Alongs with bits of life as a farmer, he shares lots of beautiful, seasonal recipes that put vegetables at the center stage. I am now coveting his newly released cookbook The Farm Table, which is already a Sunday Times Bestseller.
• James Beard Foundation announced its 2024 Book Award Nominees, which is always a great opportunity to discover or rediscover great cookbooks and authors. 

An outdoor art exhibition in the “ria d’Etel” river valley in south Brittany.

Favorite Questions of the Month

I’m not sure if you’ve answered this before, but what is your favorite cheese?

Great question, and a difficult one to answer! As many of you may be aware, France has an incredible variety of cheeses, both soft and hard. There are days where I absolutely crave a slice of ripe camembert (a bit on a smelly side), while other times I prefer the hard, salty bite of a Comté.

All that being said, my absolute favorite cheese is…. Bleu d’Auverge. Literally translating to “the blue from Auvergne”, this soft, stinky, moldy cheese is the best of all the bleus in my opinion, as it’s slightly creamier and a bit milder. Great for salads, crepes or just a hunk on its own!

I had made lamb, chicken, beef and pork recipes from your blog and enjoyed them immensely… Which meat is your go to?

Another great question and one that I can answer pretty easily. Beef is something I crave pretty rarely, but when I do, I want it bad! Lamb is delicious but not something I crave for often, and pork is the same.

For me, if I have to have a meat, it’d be chicken above the rest! So versatile and really takes on the flavor of what you’re cooking it with. You can see a roundup of all my favorite chicken recipes from the blog here. 

How often do you buy bread?

Bread and France go hand in hand. Within a 5min walk from our front door, I can find 3 or probably 4 bakeries making beautiful fresh breads and pastries. My husband is an absolute bread fanatic, and so I’d say anywhere between 3-4 times per week I’ll buy la “Baguette tradition” (pronounced trad-iss-yon), which costs 1.30 euros. 

And every Saturday, I’ll buy a loaf of “Pain Lorientais”, which contains raisins and nuts and is absolutely delicious.

Thank you for reading this gazette, happy May !