Creme de Citron Blog

In my suitcase #2

26/9/2013

Liquorice and mint candies - On www.cremedecitron.com

After my little trip to France and all the many blog posts about it (yes, it feels like I blogged about everything I did there ... but really, I kept a lot of my memories there for myself), here is the second edition of the food contents of my French Expat's Suitcase (the first edition was nearly a year ago).
I did not bring as much as I did the last time for many diverse reasons. One of them being that I can find most French products I love around here in Dublin, the other being that I found a cookbook with recipes of cult French products so I can reproduce them here and the other reason... Well, the price of groceries has really risen in France lately (I was actually a bit shocked seeing that) and let's be honest, there are things like fruit, vegetables and meats that I do not need to bring back here as I can easily find those products in Dublin. I do miss the lovely Challans duck meat but I cannot seriously imagine myself bringing a whole duck back in my suitcase (do I need to give any obvious reasons about that?!).

Now, let's see what I brought back this time. Some of it is purely nostalgic and some of it is not edible but will help me cook delicious things.

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Visiting France: salt marshes of Bonne Pogne in Noirmoutier

24/9/2013

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Visiting France - Salt Marsh on the Island of Noirmoutier

For the last installment of my little trip to France, I continue the day trip in Noirmoutier and show you the salt marshes of Bonne Pogne.
After having eaten our galettes and crêpes and as we were making our way back towards the continent, we stopped at one of the many salt marshes as I wanted to bring back some coarse sea salt and fleur de sel. And what a better place to do that than in Noirmoutier!
The salt marshes where we stopped are called Marais Salants de Bonne Pogne and owned by the family Petitgas. We were only going to stop for a few minutes to buy some salt but were told we could get a visit of the salt marshes too. Learning more about an ingredient I use everyday was definitely a great thing.

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Visiting France: Noirmoutier

20/9/2013

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Visiting France - Le Gois on the Island of Noirmoutier

During our recent vacances en France, we decided to take a little road trip and visit the island of Noirmoutier in the Vendée region. My mother came along and we met with one of my cousins, his wife and little boy, at le Gois on the continent side. I have mentioned this famous submersible road that is le Gois recently on my photography blog. And at that time of the morning, the road was indeed submersed so we drove towards the bridge and made our way to the island. There we were in Noirmoutier!

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Blackberry, white chocolate and almond rochers

18/9/2013

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Blackberry, White Chocolate and Almond Rochers Recipe

Since the time for foraging blackberries is here, have you thought about all the things you could do with them?
I recently spent a day cooking with this beautiful fruit in the company of Rebekah and two of the creations that resulted out of it for me were a rich and delicious savoury blackberry sauce and a refreshing autumnal blackberry fruit salad.
But the success of the day were my little blackberry bites. Sweet and crunchy, they were eaten really fast with an afternoon cup of tea. With only three ingredients, they are very simple to make.
And they would be just perfect for a small sweet thing after a rich and warm autumnal meal.

Do you like foraging for blackberries? How do you use them afterwards? Do you stick to what you know best or try something a bit different?

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Visiting France: Cafe Le Select in Nantes

16/9/2013

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For the last chapter of my day in Nantes this Summer, I bring you for lunch at Le Select.
After our lovely breakfast at La Cigale, buying books and some chocolate browsing at Maison Larnicol, we headed out towards the Cathédrale de Nantes where we were meeting my cousin. I had let her decide on where to go for lunch as she lives in Nantes and knows some really good places.
She took us towards place du Pilori and her favourite street for eating out and shopping: la rue du Château. She had mentioned a place in particular that I was eager to try, cafe Le Select.

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Visiting France: chocolate shop Maison Larnicol in Nantes

11/9/2013

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Nantes City Guide - Chocolaterie Maison Larnicol

After our little breakfast expedition to La Cigale in Nantes, E. and I made our way towards la FNAC (a big retailer for entertainment, the one in Nantes is on Place du Commerce) as I wanted to get a few books (a small pile of books is more like it...).
To go from Place Graslin to Place du Commerce in Nantes, the nicest way for me is to walk down the beautiful Passage Pommeraye. And the thing about going this way is that you will evidently pass in front of the chocolaterie Maison Larnicol located at one end of the arcade. It is probably a good thing to do so after having eaten a big breakfast like we had just done. Because the temptation to buy a lot of chocolates is all over this pretty chocolaterie.
The Breton Georges Larnicol holds the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France as a chocolatier (he won the title in 1993). He started to sell his chocolates and other sweet treats in Brittany in the 1980's and eventually expanded by opening shops in more than 23 places in France.

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In my suitcase #2

Visiting France: salt marshes of Bonne Pogne in Noirmoutier

Visiting France: Noirmoutier

Blackberry, white chocolate and almond rochers

Visiting France: Cafe Le Select in Nantes

Visiting France: chocolate shop Maison Larnicol in Nantes

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