Oh yes, EBBP (Euro Blogging By Post) seems to happen more and more lately. I'm not going to complain though as it means that I get PRESENTS! This time it was hosted by Johanna at The Passionate Cook who was tasked with sorting everyone out and making sure that everyone got their package and blogged about it.I am the last one to do so because of my holiday but it is always nice to come home to a package filled with treats. My package for this round came from Ginny at La Petite Chinoise and she sent a bag of Parisian delights.
First up there was a cute little tin of Langues de Chat chocolates. They are milk chocolate and hazelnut and went down well for elevenses at work. Fleur de Sel de Guerande- a hand picked salt from Brittany (France). Fleur de sel is the top layer of the salt marshes and has been handpicked by women since 878AD. In her note, Ginny says that 1 salt marsh yields only 1 kg of Fleur de sel which costs about 20 euros wholesale. It's an amazing salt that should only be used as a finishing or sprinkling salt as cooking with it destroys it's delicate taste. I love this salt and the area it is from- it's an area that is close to my heart as I have spent many a summer there since my teens and have many good friends there. There was also some Maille mustard in girolles, shallot and chervil flavour; again another item I love. Like the French I used mustards for salad dressing, gravies, roast; Ginny said it even gets used in desserts (I wonder what it tastes like). More interesting facts from Ginny on Maille mustard: Mr. Maille invented the antiseptic vinegar in 1720 and later on used it in his mustard. It wasn't until the 1950's when the brand merged with another Dijon brand that the mustard became famous.
There was also a pretty Torchon (tea towel)- I've used it as the background in the photo. She recommends wrapping my bread in it before storage to keep it fresher for longer. She apologised for it not being a very French thing but you can never have too many tea towels! The last item in my delightful package was a sachet of Jasmin Fruit Concassees from Fauchon. It is, as explained on my note, "fruits broken up with jasmin scent. Although I haven't seen it used much, I've had it with baked fish en papillote with rice. So, I'm leaving this up to your imagination and creativity." The smell is great and I will take Ginny up on the offer to get creative with this- any ideas are welcome!
Thanks Johanna for organising this round (for a full round up of what's was zooming around Europe click here) and many, many thanks to Ginny for my package!
If you want to see what I sent and to whom- click here.
