you can order Pork avec le peau(with skin for crackling)from any supermarket butcher, most SuperU's have an English section
Ah John - your Wild Thing has done exactly what I did ... made her own so that shop-bought tastes inferior (stuffing, yorkshire puddings, bread, etc). We make a rod for our own backs, truly we do!
When we were here for the first time in the 70's and 80's a lot of English products were not available so Wild Thing made her own. She pefected Fish and Chips, Scotch Eggs, Mincemeat, Bread, Sage and Onion Stuffing, Sausage Rolls, Mince Pies etc. Her final resuts are far superieur to anything we can get from England. Our real misses are short crust Pork Pies (Mowbray Type are always sad pastry) and haslet (hacelet) which we probably wouldn't make if we knew what went into either.
must admit do miss lots of " good old british gobblies", they all listed below so will not lay same before you again. when we first came to the gers in 2005 we brought a set of survival rations with us(baked beans/oxo/branston etc) in the caravan but these soon ran out as we foolishly thought back then that we could easily replenish here in france. yes, of course we could but at a price. luckily found an old navy chum who able to give a good supply of the above as he was departing for uk. since then we made the trip back to uk two or three times ayear to visit aging parents/friends etc and on these occasions have always filled the 4x4 with the things we neeed/miss which are much more expensive here in france. over the years the "larder" has become quite extensive so careful stock control is called for but no worries as we are both royal navy trained in this. had branston baked beans for brekki this morning ( bought for £1.30 for 4 = approx 0.39centimes per tin) sausages on the menu tomorrow (good ones by the way) cost about £3.50 per kilo. this is our solution to what is our personal desire for various uk foods. that is before we get onto the morning mcvities digestives.(these are now available in the mercadona stores in northern spain by the way) we still shop locally of course and take full advantage of what is on "promo", especially the pork loins for the making of sticky ribs. things may change if the large supermarkets in uk extend their bulk delivery service down this way. as long as the wine is still at what we consider to be a good price here we will stay.
Frances, most things as long as they are not powder, in a sealed can and a few things in bottles and jars. If it looks like it goes bang, up your nose or into your veins then steer clear ;-)
My daughter' coming to visit me next year. What sort of things would she be allowed to bring over (foodwise) from NZ?
Hi Frances, yes, good old Kiwi stuff is lacking here. Feijoas - no substitute really, but we do grow our own boysenberries, gooseberries, loganberries and blackcurrants. Currants for baking come from friends abroad as the ones here are outrageously priced. NZ ice-creams are second to none and even though I didn't eat them much, I did like the containers for storage and other uses. You can buy sweet potato here though, so you should be able to make your own version of kumara chips - and our local Leader Price sells vegie chips containing kumara (sweet potato), parsnip, carrot and beetroot - they're quite nice. You're too far away for me to give you a pumpkin - we grow butternut and the whanga variety (sister send seeds from nz). And since a few people have mentioned crumpets, I have the urge to try making some again - my first attempt was years ago and I can't remember the outcome :)
Having watched far too many Christmas adverts on TV, I was craving crumpets so decided to make my own. Like Brian (in an earlier post) I didn't have nearly enough bubbles in line. Tasted lovely though, but they're on my list of stuff to ask for when family and friends fly over!
Here in France I miss NZ sausagemeat, Continental and Maggi mixes for stews and other dishes, black forest chocolate bars, Feijoas, meat pies, boysenberries and gooseberries and black currants, grapefruit, vegemite, dried currants, NZ silverbeet (not the tough French stuff), Quality Bakers english muffin splits, Christmas Pudding, ready-to-use pavlovas (have to make my own for the French who love them), Taco Mix that's actually got some flavour (the French version is toned down to nothing), meat patties from the fish and chip shop. NZ Chocolate Icecream (the best brands), kumara chips, a dense orange pumpkin...
London Pride! My absolute favourite! *calculating distance from Limoux to Balaruc NOW*
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Carrefour (Balaruc, Hérault 34) has London Pride beer 33cl 1€09. OK it's not botttle conditioned, but still.
@Mike Last beer I brewed was Muntons Scottish Heavy http://lebonplan.fr/index.php?page=043 but they have Stouts and a Porter in the Connoisseurs range
We buy all our Mauritian stuff when we visit there each year, and any other spices, 3 X 20kgs basmati rice etc. that we need, we buy in Bradford and Leeds when we visit our kids. We grow loads of stuff here in France, that we couldn't grow in UK, such as chillies and semi-tropical fruit and veg. We've always drank vanilla tea from Mauritius and as that's light to carry, we always bring about 500 teabags. If our suitcases are fairly light on the way back, we bring maybe 10kgs of brown sugar which is very cheap there.
Whatever, there's usually a way. If not, it's not the end of world. France isn't exactly a desert and there's plenty of alternatives.
I thought for the last 2.5 years being here in France that the only thing I missed was a decent cup of tea. Henry likes those disgusting marrowfat peas, and we plague friends to send over tea bags and peas on a regular basis. We have a very good boulanger and I don't use butter on the bread; never ate baked beans, and have never tasted that spread a lot of people seem to miss (Marmite?).
However, on a recent trip back to Ireland to visit my latest grandchild, someone said "how about a Chinese takeaway for dinner?" I fought off my children to get to the bean sprouts and wolfed them down along with sweet 'n sour chicken. Go figure. :-)
Blimey James, how is your cholesterol?
Here in Montpellier we have a shop called Mondial Market which has sections from the UK, India, Vietnam, sells packets spices, rice, noodles, and has an amazing selection of frozen food. At one point they had a freezer of UK goods including Brit sausages and bacon. They went before you could blink.
Intermarche also has a selection of curry sauces and Brit goods. I tend to bring back sausages when I go to the UK, and mince meat which my sons love and tastes different to the stuff here. I missed salt & vinegar crisps until Lays brought out their Dégustation packet which packs a punch and are terribly moreish. You can get them in Carrouf. I get cheddar in Carrouf too.
@MIke. I did go on a brewing course here in Lyon which made it seem overcomplicated (but the resulting brew was just like Ruddles County). These days, as I am far more interested in the result rather than the process, I buy kits, either when in UK or from here http://www.lebonplan.fr/. Things have to be clean so buy steriiser power. I find using a barrel easier than bottling but do the occasional batch of bottles to use between barrels. Main error I made at the start was not keeping the barrel warm during initial fermentation.
@corinne, really? Right I am off there now, see u later :)
definitely on my list for next time I go to market!
Can I please come and live at your house, James? I can only imagine that you’ve listed all those foods because you’ll have worked out a way to have them in abundance and I just want to sit there and gorge on pigs feet and clotted cream with a few mince pies thrown in for good measure. Pleeeeeese.
@Suzanne you can get Halloumi Cheese and Yorkshire Tea at Fou d'Anglais in Clermont l'Herault