Cooking and Baking Ingredients in France: Part 2

Did anyone see the Instagram pictures I posted on Twitter yesterday from the festivities in Angers? There were all sorts of fun things going on in our city this weekend because of the festival Les Accroche-Coeurs.  I didn’t get a chance to see much of them because we were busy with hockey related things like games, but what I did see what pretty interesting.  Sometimes living here makes me feel like I’m living in Stars Hollow with all of the crazy festivals that take place, and I love it.  (For those of you who don’t know, Stars Hollow is the fictional town where my absolute favorite television show, Gilmore Girls is set)  Just while I was walking around the city, I saw zombie-looking elderly people walking through town carrying lunch trays who then proceeded to break out into a flash-mob style choreographed dance routine.  Then on my walk home we ran into a punk-style marching band parading down the street playing Final Countdown.  Needless to say, I love loving here.

Obviously, it took some adjusting to come to the point of being in love with this city.  Frustrations over grocery shopping and other things made me resent it, but now that’s I’ve figured things out I’m sharing my tips for finding cooking and baking ingredients in France with you.

Today’s Topic: Basic Cooking Staples

Low-Fat Milk  = Lait Demi-Écrémé

Coffee Cream (Light Cream) = Crème Fluide Légère 12%

Light Sour Cream = Crème Epaisse Légère 15%

Regular Sour Cream = Crème Fraiche or Crème Epaisse 30%

Breadcrumbs = Chapelure Doré

Breadcrumbs were difficult for me to find at first, but once I found them I wasn’t that impressed.  I still buy and use the ones shown in the picture (which I usually find near the spices or by the baking ingredients), but they just aren’t quite the same as the ones from home.

Broth = Marmite de Bouillon

It is really hard to find canned chicken broth in France.  I read this a long time ago somewhere – maybe before I even moved here.  As a replacement for making my own chicken broth, I found these marmite de bouillon packs near the spices at my local grocery store.  All you do is heat up a 1/2 liter (about 2 cups) of water and melt these into them, and voila,  you have fresh broth.  They tend to be a little salty so depending on the recipe I water them down with a few tablespoons of extra water.

Cornstarch = Fleur de Maïs

They should also be located either near the spices or the baking ingredients (sometimes those sections are in the same aisle, but it depends on the grocery store).

Other posts in this series:

Cooking and Baking Ingredients in France: Part 1 (Baking Ingredients)

Cooking and Baking Ingredients in France: Part 2 (Cooking Ingredients)

 

Further Resources:

Ingredients for American Baking in Paris

You Say Farine, I Say Flour

Food Shopping in France

Thanksgiving Paris – American Groceries in Paris (& now online)

My American Market – Online Shop for American Goods in Europe