“Why are there two kilos of sea salt in the hand luggage?” “Because I already packed the three kilos of cocoa powder and thought you might moan if I put the salt in there as well … dear.” Really, husbands can be so obtuse sometimes. In My Kitchen this month are my Parisian finds from our recent trip, starting with the salt.
I do like this French sea salt, with it’s characteristic grey colour and moist texture. In Australia, a kilo of this salt will set me back a minimum of $12/kilo, so when I found it for €1.32/kilo I had to buy at least a couple of packets.
We discovered dark chocolate with cocoa nibs in Germany, but didn’t buy nearly enough. So I snapped up a few more bars when I stumbled across it in Paris. The Princess wanted to try the 99% chocolate so I also bought a couple of small bars. She seems quite partial to it and has already polished one off.
I’ve been wanting to try my hand at baking with lavender for a while, so was quite happy to find this packet of organic lavender tea. I was taken by the colour of the porcini pasta, so added it to the growing stack of purchases.
The local organic supermarket in Paris had this great easy dessert range; just add milk, set in the fridge et voila … dessert. At less than one euro each I decided I should try them all.
This grain mustard is divine. My friend brought me back a jar when he was in France, which I have just finished. This jar replaces the empty one and will last me for a while. French sardines are reputed to be excellent, so I slipped a couple of tins into the luggage so I could determine the truth for myself.
I am now the proud owner of a small nugget of Bronte pistachio paste. Bronte pistachios are grown in Sicily and are apparently the key ingredient in a sublime pistachio gelato. I love pistachio gelato and have been searching for this paste for a while. It is nigh on impossible to find here (and also in Paris if the fact that I got the last one on the shelf is anything to go by). It is safely stashed in the freezer until ice cream season.
The Princess bought this almond paste to eat for breakfast, but then got sidetracked by the Normandy butter with flecks of sea salt that she spread on her morning croissant. I couldn’t leave this behind as it is made from Sicilian almonds. Maybe they will be as good as the pistachios.
And then there is the cocoa powder. Three whole kilos of the darkest, most sublime cocoa powder, which I purchased for the same price as one kilo in Perth. Then Mr Grumpy made me carry it back to the apartment.
A good haul by any standards, and not too difficult to wrest through the Metro to the airport. To see what is happening in other people’s kitchen this month head over to the lovely Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.
Ooh, these look fantastic especially the pistachio paste. One important question – do you declare these coming back, as I would love to buy foodstuff o/s but I shiver in my boots with the thought of being questioned by customs. Are they more lenient these days. Thanks. Ps: We pay too much for food here in Australia, as witnessed by moi in my recent travels to visit family in France – and they were horrified at the prices when they visited here.
I absolutely declared them all. If you check out my previous IMK post you will see my conversation with the Customs Officer 🙂 Customs definitely seem more lenient these days, and I now take the attitude that I will buy it and see. I have bought back sugar from Malaysia and my husband has bought back cheese from Holland with no problems. Just don’t buy anything you are not prepared to lose and declare it all. We absolutely pay far too much for food (and everything else 😉 ). Thanks for stopping by and good luck when next at Customs.
Ohhhhhh, so many lovely goodies! What fun to bring home such wonderful treats. I especially loved your choice of the mustard and the dark chocolate! Enjoy!
Thanks Marianne. It is extremely good mustard. Thanks for visiting.
I’d love to try the lavender in a biscuit. I’ve never heard of pistachio paste before. Two new products for me to discover one day!
I have been quite curious about the lavender for a while now so was happy to find some organic flowers. I also have some earmarked for ice cream come summer. Thanks for visiting.
I think you would be just the right person to take on holidays, someone who could hunt out such wonderful foodstuffs. Once I brought back saffron from Kashgar, China. It was only a small amount as I wasn’t sure if it would pass Customs. It did and now I wish I had brought back a kilo!
Not that my husband would agree with you 🙂 He thinks I am the worst. There is nothing worse I think than regretting buying something, so now I buy it all in the hope I can get it home. Thanks for visiting.
I love seeing the booty others bring back from their holidays!
My husband groans, too, when I head off to food stores to check out what is available.
My sons groan when I head to the used book stores and bakeries along the way to find their specialties and rare books and local authors.
I ignore them all, because the part of the vacation I enjoy the most is the part I bring home with me.
Good stash of goodies!
Thanks for sharing!
I know those groans. I hear them regularly on our holidays too. I am getting better at ignoring them though. There is nothing like using the things you bought and remembering though is there. Thanks for visiting.
Fab haul. I love the sardine tins – very cool. The thing though I must covet to eat is that mustard. I must make a note for when we go to Europe next year.
The mustard is awesome, and cheap when you buy it overseas. It is definitely worth seeking out to bring home.
Tania, you brought all this back from your holidays? What treasure! I had trouble getting past the grey salt and Valrhona (and isn’t that Michel Cluizel 99% an interesting chocolate), but then I got to the sardines and mustard! Yum! So glad you have a good stash of great cocoa powder! 🙂
I did Celia 🙂 The joy of having a child with an extra 20kg baggage limit. The chocolate is lovely (I like my chocolate bitter) but the cocoa powder is awesome. It is great in bread too, if you have extra lying around 😉
I adore baking and infusing things with lavender, and reckon you could do some amazing thing with that lavender and chocolate… 😀
In theory yes but we ate the chocolate 🙂 It didn’t last long in this house. I am developing big plans for the lavender, having stumbled across a couple of recipies for lavender ice cream and lemonade. As well as biscuits of some variety. Too much choice. 🙂
G’day and wow, what a lovely kitchen view! Thank you!
Nothing like pistachio paste and love French sardines too!
Cheers! Joanne
Thanks. I’m not sure I’m sold on sardines yet but wanted to try some good ones. Thanks for stopping by.
Oh wow – you’ve filled me with inspiration. We are going to Europe at Christmas time and I can’t wait to get hold of some of these goodies. They will be well worth listening to The Bloke whine about the weight of the luggage as we travel.
I found some Bronte pistachio paste here in Adelaide last year, but it cost a bomb!
I am learning to tune out the whining, although I think I need to travel more to practice tuning it out completely 😉 Score for finding the Bronte paste in Adelaide. I have been hunting to no avail in Perth.
Holy cow, I want to move into your kitchen. You have much cooler stuff than I do.
I had to laugh when I thought about how heavy your luggage must have been. I end up tossing out my clothes so I can bring the food home.
Oh, I deliberately packed light because I intended to bring back lots of stuff. The cocoa powder was on the list from the start 🙂
Salt…I hear ya sister! I was in Europe & the UK for 18 months and came back with boxes and bags of salt for exactly the same reason. So cheap and such an easy way to dress up a dish. My husband thought I was bonkers and no doubt it probably did increase the overall shipping charges but cest la vie! That almond paste looks good and would be a great addition to a custard for vanilla ice cream. Thansk for the post – it really sung to me.
It’s nice to know I am not the only crazy one 😉 That’s a fantastic idea for the almond paste. Thanks for that. And thanks for stopping by.
Porcini pasta… sea salt… chocolate… whole grain mustard… I’d be happy to carry your suitcase! 😉
Thanks :-). And thanks for stopping by.
So many excellent things! I did chuckle at your relay of the salt packing though…I don’t think my husband would understand either (actually, I know he wouldn’t!).
I’m getting better at ignoring him. Otherwise I would come home with nothing 🙂
Gasp, such wonderful treats in your kitchen!! What a haul!
Thanks JJ 🙂
We’ve just come back from the US with a suitcase full of food and kitchen gizmos. Mostly loads of tabasco in multiple flavours, and a few other goodies. Must get my act into gear to get my August In My Kitchen post up before it becomes September…
Excellent. I look forward to seeing what goodies you have. I love seeing into other people’s kitchens 🙂
Hi Tania
My sister Evelyn Richard put me onto your blog. It’s fabulous thank you. I am visiting my husbands family in Switzerland and had the best ever polenta in a lovely restaurant in Guarda. It’s coarse cornmeal or polenta. There are three main types. Here they also call it Bramata. Can I buy this coarse type in Oz? I’d be happy to buy it online too. Cheers liz
Hi Liz. I haven’t heard of Bramata before but I have seen various grades of polenta in Italian deli, both fine and course. This would be my first stop to try and source what you are after. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your lovely comments.