Herman

Peanut butter is unavailable in all our local supermarkets, which is starting to depress me a bit as bloody love Marmite (available at a cost) and peanut butter on toast, together.

dennerlymum

as toulouse is so multinational we can get most things either in the supermarkets or in the english shop... however it is all very expensive

Blackladder

Hi,
For all those who miss things from the UK, there is a great mail order site which you can find if you google Distant Brits (I don't think this is advertising, just a recommendation), they don't mark up the prices that much from high street levels, but postage is what costs, so if there are several families or groups of friends who go dutch on the postage costs, you can get hold of things like HP sauce and Marmite at more or less UK price levels. Mods, please don't delete this as it's more of a social help (and I know having lived outside the UK for more than 40 years and still miss pickled walnuts at Xmas!) than a plug for a site!
Good luck
Blackie

themoose

Beans

Ruthyman

http://www.practicallyedible.com/edi...inedebletype55

L'Acajou

Wow, thanks for that link, very interesting, loads of answers for me there
Sue

Ruthyman

Soz, was a very hurried search! Interesting post tho. The flour used to perplex me. I also remember having problems with finding cream for whipping. And I had cravings for white sliced toast and vegemite when I was pregnant, but the bread was always too sweet grrrr.
Funnily enough, my mil could always produce whipped cream and decent flour if I asked!

Here's another link: http://www.special.sudouest.com/arti...d_article=3558
Ive copied the relevant content below:

Type 45 - standard white flour used for cake making (sponge and other light cakes)
Type 55 is slightly less refined but still gives a ‘white flour’ result. It is good for things like fruit or cherry cakes, excellent for pastry and can also be used to make white bread.
Types 65, 80 and 110 are all stronger bread flours that show some colour in the baked loaf. As the type number increases so does the darkness of the resulting crumb. The higher the type number the greater the proportion of the whole grain that has been used to make it. Type 150 gives the darkest crumb of all because it is a whole grain flour.
As in Britain, wheat flour comes plain or self-raising. The words ‘avec poudre levante incorporée’ means literally that a rising agent has been added to the flour. ‘Fluide’ indicates that the flour is light and free flowing and ‘La Garantie Anti-Grumeaux’ means the manufacturing company guarantees that you won’t find any lumps in the flour. Buy any packet of Type 45 or 55 Farine de Blé and you are ready to follow in the footsteps of countless local children and make your first classic French cake.

As for whipping cream heres an interesting link or two: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Sauce...efinitions.htm
http://onlinepastrychef.wordpress.co...ip_substitute/

I guess the missing ingredient is butterfat and you would need to add about a minimum of 30% to ensure a good whip. Try crème entier (liquide or fleurette), normally around 38% butterfat

Hope this helps!

Andrea50

Hey Ruthy, great links and info - thanks very much.

I've now got a selection of flours here, farine de ble, sans grumeaux, farine pour gateaux etc etc and the strong flour for bread, plus a selection of the stuff from Lidl with yeast in already. I do get reasonable loaves from the breadmaker usuing the Lidl stuff, but I have to put less water in than they suggest or it just goes into a soggy lump.

cakes still not successful despite having baking powder and bicarb here - carrot cake could have been used as foundation for the extension and my American Spiced Apple Cake has pride of place in our front bank along with lots of turf dug up from veggie plot. Birds won't even touch my stuff - and I have a horrid feeling I just need to accept the inevitable - I can't cook.

Talk about "all the gear, no idea". Maybe I should stick to sewing ("stick" being the operative word with all this soggy bread dough about ....)

Courgette

Cakes. I use the cheapest plain flour from whatever supermarché I'm in, and add Levure Chimique and bicarb. It works fine.

Cream. You probably can get "real" cream in Normandy, but don't bet on it elsewhere. Cream = cartons! If you want to whip it up into Chantilly, it has to be chilled. If it's at room temperature, it just won't work. So stick those cartons in the fridge. I cannot bring myself to use Chantilly Fix, I just feel it's WRONG!

Ka Ora!

We get a brand of cream here in the Midi that whips up just like english cream, Plus if you go to your local Fromagerie you can get cream to suit if you explain to them what your after. If they are the nice obliging type.

frenchie81

It's true

Courgette

How do explain "fresh cream"? It's not crème fraiche, or any of the other dairy products generally available. I suppose I would have to order it in advance, so that they could get it in from a dairy area somewhere?

What brand of cream do you use, Ka Ora? I use Elle & Vire Crème Entière de Normandy for whipping.

It has made me understand why people here add sugar to cream, though, because it has very little taste of its own.

smithyandlisa

That's the closest I've found too.