French supermarket / must have / tips?

[lesoignons]

Bon matin🇫🇷

I’m in Brittany on holiday this week and am off to the ‘big’ supermarket later.

Are there any must have items I should be bringing home that I can’t get in England?

Particularly thinking of things like toiletries, kitchen cupboard staples, amazing chocolate brands or treats..

Already planning to bring home some jambon, cheese and wine in the cool box (we have the car) but would love to hear any top tips for French brands 💙🤍♥️

Squeeze peppercorn sauce, like a squeezed mayo. I loved it with my steak, really gutted I can’t find it over here…happy to pay postage if you grab a couple for me too 😂

I find a lot of the French Haribo a bit "soapy"/perfume flavored somehow?
There's a lemon mayo, green label, in small chubby jars that I love with seafood.

Kiri cream cheese (blue box), best I’ve ever tasted, probably cos it’s made with cream.

Tisane, I prefer liquorice and mint.

Garbit couscous, there’s a tin of oil/spices/veg and a box of couscous, mix and in 30 minutes, you have the best tabouleh from a box ever. I prefer the mint/tomato version.

St Michel Madelines. The Bonne Maman ones are grim.

Agree with all the recommendations for savon de Marseille etc.
supermarkets sell boxes of magnum type ice creams that are dark chocolate with pear ice cream. They're divine.

Another vote for Le Petit Marseillaise and Petit Olivier shower gels! I buy them online from a UK couple who have a company in France.

Also DOP shower creams, come in fruit and sweet flavours, kids would love them.

Tinned petit pois with the tiny onions. Delicious.

Last time we were there, we (re)discovered UmBongo.
The kids loved it.

Roast chicken rillettes

A little more unusual perhaps but I love tinned Brussel sprouts. Preferably the Darcy brand. I will happily have a tin for my dinner. 😂

(I used to live in Paris - twice actually - which is where I acquired this, er, 'habit' after being introduced to the joys of tinned sprouts on a camping holiday with Parisians).

I always buy Le Petit Marseillais shower gel in Vanille although I tend to buy it in the French grocery in London now. Sadly they don't stock the Vanille lip balms. I stock up on syrops at the same grocery.

I also buy cartons of creme anglaise as it's delicious and I'm far too lazy incompetent to make it myself plus cartons of sauce au poivre (which I'm too lazy to make during the week).

When we did the French exchange I just remember the coach driver buying massive giant boxes of washing powder and taking them home 😁

Get some Breton buckwheat flour, Farine de Sarrasin - for making blinis or Breton pancakes.

And some local demi-sec cider to drink with the pancakes!

I love these threads every summer! Very jealous as not going to France this year. I came on to say the Brets fromage de Jura crisps but see PPs have beaten me to it. We brought loads back last year and put in an order with friends going to France this summer. Also second confit du canard. We love the pits of rillettes, especially the duck and wine, lots of wine! Cremant de Loire especially, also some lovely rose. Any wine you like really! Have a great time shopping!

We're currently in Pays De Loire, off to the supermarket later - love it, could spend hours in there.

For me the list is -

Amora Dijon mayonnaise, I almost buy the whole shelf to bring home

Pates in jars to bring home, fresh when we are here

Cheese OMG the cheese

Brittany butter, it comes in a red and white packet and they do a Demi sel version

Some of the ready mixed salad dressings are lovely

The baker has just delivered fresh bread to the campsite so I'm off to eat some more pate

My going home shopping list is growing nicely 😅 it’s making the prospect of going home more palatable! (Literally - as my kids would say!)

Goose rillettes. So so yummy.
Fresh La Ratte potatoes - they're the tiny delicate fingerling ones.
Sirop de cassis.

I drain off the fat from the big tins and freeze it in cupcake moulds for frying. One "puck" is just right for a generous serving of oven- fried potatoes.

Another vote for confit duck in a tin! Only negative is that it's tripled in price since i started buying it. You get maybe 5 thighs, which does us for a roast, but it comes packed in duck fat that I portion off to keep for weeks of delicious roast duck fat potatoes.

If you enjoy a nice tipple, I can recommend Lillet blanc. It makes a lovely refreshing aperitif with either lemonade or tonic or bitter lemon. Serve ice cold.

Bénédicta sauce Bourguignonne!

Chipsters!

Fleur Du Sel/Sel du camargue salt

Proper Salt crystals butter

Pork Rillettes

Saucisson Sec (salami)

Cornichons fines

Dijon mustard & dijonnaise

Cassis to make white wine into a kir. So expensive in UK

Squishee BlackFlyChardonnay
The vacuum packed confit still has fat of course! It isn't confit without it 🙂 but maybe that's only available in my area which is a major producer. You can also buy clean duck fat in a kilo tub very easily (but perhaps again only where I live, not everywhere in France).

I can't disagree with any of these, especially the mayonnaise and cheap big bags of Herbes de Provence(Ducros).

I would include Russian Earl Grey tea / Rich Earl Grey (loose or bags) which is another level of flavour.