Goodies from France

[grahamhobbs]

Going to France next week to help with the vindage (grape picking/wine pressing) with my old french peasant friends. Was thinking what should I bring back, beyond the obvious - perhaps some garlic bulbs, or some seeds I think they are better value in France, perhaps a beehive - anyone got any suggestions as to what is a good buy, primarily for the allotment?
And what should I take them, they like for instance Canadian cheddar cheese, Baileys, shortcake biscuits.

[red]

not sure what to bring back - the pound is weak against the euro at the mo.

to take.. well British Cheddar cheese.....

[Mrs Moustoir]

Veg seeds tend to be much more expensive here although you do get a lot of seeds in each packet. If you don't mind paying a bit more - seeds for unusual varieties of lettuce and/or squash might be a worthwhile buy. I like Marveille de Quatre saisons - a tasty, slow to bolt red lettuce and Sweet Dumpling squash - tastes of chestnuts when roasted.

As for gifts - in my experience, shortbread always goes down well, as does fruitcake, brandy snaps and toffee sweets.

[healer]

hi graham
if you were coming to me I would ask for digestive biscuits, digestive biscuits, digestive biscuits and earl grey tea (going anywhere near Saumur? )

Take back - other than a french tart? (the apple ones are easy to produce at the moment)
Phacelie "phacelia tanacetifolia" is a great green manure that sends roots down to 8 inches or more. The bees love them if you let it flower and I am told you can't get it in the UK.

Seeds do seem to be more expensive here but it may be because they are stratified ready to grow (that's a guess).

Also here you can get big bags of wild flower / meadow mixes - not sure if they have made it to the uk. The "marron" pumkins are popular they taste of chesnut and there are huge variety of french beans if you are finding the summers dry.

I would be careful of the garlics etc as they may not suit the wetter uk climate.

I think the greatest savings are to be had in the boots and clothing as there is still a healthy industry for providing good cheap clothes for manual labour - being a peasent isn't trendy here yet , its still hard work!!!

Bee hives - there are different standards - you might end up not being able to get more bits in the uk - I'll ask a friend.

[healer]

Beehive - just asked a friend and they say standard UK is different to the French........

Saumur bubbly - yep 5 euros for ok, 7 euros for good stuff, it make life easier to celebrate!

[Silver Ether]

Parsnips ... no I am not joking .. they don't have them... I have english friends and I send a couple to go with their Yule lunch ...

[Millymollymandy]

Apparently they are considered by older people as cattle fodder or something they used to have to eat during the war. Probably the same as we'd think about mangle wurzels (have you ever seen one, let alone eaten one? ). My local supermarket stocks parsnips and you can buy the seeds, though I've only seen one variety 'demi longue de Guernesey'.

[contadino]

Kilner jars are dirt cheap in France, compared to the UK.

[Mrs Moustoir]

Apparently they are considered by older people as cattle fodder or something they used to have to eat during the war. Probably the same as we'd think about mangle wurzels (have you ever seen one, let alone eaten one? ). My local supermarket stocks parsnips and you can buy the seeds, though I've only seen one variety 'demi longue de Guernesey'.

Yep, readily available now but it wasn't always the case.
Parsnips and rutabega (swede to us) are viewed in the same way. During the war, most of the potatoes went to the German army leaving the Bretons to share the root veg cattle fodder.

I'd go with the toffees - perhaps Quality Street - can get them here in tiny tins but they are very expensive.

[Graye]

We spend our time moving from France to the UK to Spain and we have a definite list which goes in each direction.

From France - Big bags of dried herbs and spices (markets), pineau (a sort of French sherry), unfinished wood (MUCH cheaper than the UK if you have any projects to do and room to transport it), kilner jars and seals, most small electrical items.
To France - crunchy peanut butter, tinned kippers, teabags, anything for veggies - sosmix, TVP etc (again all for expats). I don't really find the French like any of our food with the exception of custard and sometimes shortbread fingers!
From Spain - oaky wines and Cava. Prescription drugs (I kid you not, in Andalucia you can buy most things over the counter for next to nothing). Their lovely machaca olives and semi-curado cheeses.
To Spain - Teabags, marmite, gravy powder. These are for Brits living there, I've tried taking shortbread to the Spanish and they hate it. Otherwise we have a Spanish friend who loves his Laphroig...

[grahamhobbs]

Thanks everyone for your tips, hoping to come back loaded with useful things and others to lubricate the the throat or tickle the taste buds!

[Millymollymandy]

We buy painkillers galore when we are in England because they are so dirt cheap compared to France. Ditto toiletries. Though I doubt they'd go down too well as presents!

The only thing that a French neighbour asked me to bring back from England was crystallised ginger, but then I pointed out to her that it is available in our asian mini market so I got her some from there and have since seen it in the local supermarket!