Continental Supermarkets

[bornonvalentines]

Hi Gang

We're taking the car to Carcassonne this year, which opens up a lot of possibilities for hyper market shopping.

The accomodation is self catering, and I'll be cooking for 4 adults including a pescatarian.

My question is in two parts:

1. what do you love buying/cooking/eating from the hyper markets which you don't really get in the UK? I think Western Europe hyper markets are quite similar in Spain, Italy, France etc so doesn't have to be "French"

2. what do you LOVE bringing back, in terms of home wear, products, cooking products from the hyper markets? I'll start with Salad Dressings in a bottle. And French mayo

Merci a toutes x

Mum and I bought lots of lovely kilner style jars in different sizes for jams and pickles. Also raclette biscuits, chocolate, dried herbs and spices, dried meat, saucepans, beers, €1 wine, liqueurs, flip flops for €1 plus lots more!

Squash (sirop) with sugar in it still (post sugar-tax problem...).

God, those are all brilliant answers.

I might throw in Sephora own brand make up as a curve ball.

Bonne Maman Quince jelly - you don’t know what you are missing in the UK.

DD loves German Milka chocolate bars, the varieties are endless ( sorry not French but I find continental chocolate a lot nicer than Cadbury)

Wine

Salami and cured ham, pate, confit de canard in cans

We normally bought fruit, veg and cheese from the local markets.

Petite Marseillaise shower gel,8 bottles does me a year!

Biscuits

Second the syrop with actual sugar!

Those weird cheap crisps

Balsamic vinegar and mustard and olive oil. (I think the later is just weird nostalgia in my part)

Pate in a tin

Breton Gateaux, Breton butter biscuits, syrop (especially the minty one that’s like toothpaste), cured sausages and meats, loads of cheese. I love France but I turn into a complete piggy when I’m there

Oh yes the €1 wine from Lidl too

Saucisson, merguez, tins of choucroute, saucisse lentilles, bottle of Pineau des Charentes, Bastogne biscuits, rillettes. I'm getting hungry 😋

This is turning into the shopping list from heaven. Quince jelly sound lovely, maybe with cheese. Mmmm.

Noooo, Quince jelly is a jam. Do not use it with savoury food. Use it for your croissant.

Got it x

No quince jelly with Manchego cheese is HEAVEN!

Oh god. I tried Pineau de Charentes in very posh restaurant back in the UK. It was fabulous. I wonder if I can find some over in Quebec?

Also chestnuts and chestnut purée (much cheaper than in the UK), packet 'gateau de semoule' (vanilla-y semolina pudding but delicious), little pots of fruit purée in a million different flavours, little pots of milky puddings, also in a million different flavours. But mostly wine.

Tins of cassoulet and confit. We got a jar of rabbit paté once that I still dream about. All the wine.

I saw these bottles of French Squash in Asda today, but you're correct, they are "sugar-free"

Belin Monaco crackers, we buy in bulk when we go to France with the car. Great for snacks with drinks on a sunny afternoon.

The quince thing is called Membrillo. You eat it with cheese.
French jam is confiture. Quince is Coings.
Most of the jams are good. Fig, Pear, plums, berries...

Petit Marseillais I would get and soap.
Deodorants and stuff are good too IIRC.

Bread and cakes tend to be better but i bought them in bakeries/cake shops.

Sardine pate from Portugal.

I'm off to the Netherlands on Thursday. I get Indonesian curry pastes, stroopwaffels, poffertje mix. Anything else I should put on my list?

Weebarra - the Dutch eat chocolate sprinkles on their bread for breakfast, called Hagelslag.

www.amazon.co.uk/Ruijter-Milk-Chocolat-Sprinkles-Hagelslag/dp/B072LY3JMD/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=hagelslag%2Bde%2Bruijter&th=1&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1529948231&sr=8-1-spons

It comes in a milk and dark plus also sugar sprinkles. I normally get my fix when driving through Holland to visit my mum near the Dutch/German border or DH gets it from Amazon for 10x the price for my birthday.

Any cleaning product with the word 'marsiglia' in it.

Pocket coffee and mon cherry sweets

Fonzies!

(Not a healthy balanced diet...just random things I like)

weebarra - peppermints (or "peppermunts") should be on your list. And oliebollen mix, if you have a deep fat fryer at home

OP - we used to stock up with coffee, chocolate and washing powder back in the days when they were much cheaper. I'm not sure there's as much point any more, but it's nice to have different biscuits and things sometimes. Try teh sweet aisles for amazing multicoloured treats, and French biscuits (especially the buttery Breton ones) are amazing.

Huge jars of mustard