[Breakfastfan]

In February I will be visiting some friends in Paris, who are very much into their wine, cheese and cooking in general. Is there anything food-related at all that I could get them as a present from London that they might appreciate? Any ideas?

[clotilde]

My dream food package from London would include hot cross buns from Marks&Sparks, some shortbread cookies, Branston pickle, Heinz baked beans, a little bag of salt'n vinegar crisps, some cheese from Neal's Yard, and perhaps a jar of lemon curd. You might want to throw in a few Cadbury Flakes, too. Just a few suggestions, heavily based on my own tastes!
Clotilde.

[isis]

How about some marmite. It's delicious on toasted soldiers and a boiled egg. Or crumpets ohhhhhh yes I am getting excited now. We used to have them on Sunday afternoons for tea. Toasted over the coals of our fire in the living room with lashings of freashly churned butter and golden syrup (corn syrup). Loose leaf tea would be another great gift especially Earl Gray.

isis
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If it looks good, feels good and tastes good then it must be good!

[Lexi]

Well, English sweets never grow out of style now do they?! Well, my suggestions would be-
-some clotted cream fudge (...mmm..to die for!)
- Maynard's wine gums! gotta luv 'em
- my choc. of choice would have to be Maltesers ( although Flake or Dairymilk would do now wouldn't it??)
- a nice English marmalade
- some Earl Gray tea ( or english breakfast )
- Heinz baked beans!!

hopw this helps!!

[Breakfastfan]

Thank you all so much for the ideas, they are great and seem so obvious when I read them... I guess it's easy to forget how 'exotic' some everyday ingredients become when they are unattainable. Clotilde, I was thinking of Neal's Yard Dairy, too, but felt a bit silly to take des fromages to Paris, so thanks for boosting my cheese-confidence!

x

[swan]

The apricot chutney in a glass jar from Fortnum and Mason, if you happen to be in London. It is SO great on a simple sandwich with cheese and cucumber!
Scones (M&S) and fresh clotted cream (also M&S), if you have a chance to keep that cool during the trip...

[Elizagard]

If you ever come to California (not that I'm hinting), please bring scones! Our scones here are triangular, heavily dense like a hockey puck, dry, and have at least 600 calories literally. They are nothing like the round fluffy moist and flavorful scones in England. I haven't seen proper scones in France either. Trifle is also good but perhaps not the easiest thing to transport!

[Debbie]

Clotilde, heinz baked beans are in the G20 on rue Lepic.

Casino on rue St Didier in the 16th also stocks the things that everyone has mentioned. The only exception is the cheese and hot cross buns. Not expensive either. In fact cheaper than buying and bringing from England.

Most of the Monoprix's stock English teas as does Casino on rue St Didier.

The thing that I always ask for is vintage cheddar cheese and scottish oats (they are proper oats, not really fine dust like fragments) for making porridge and cooking with. The other thing which is nice is lemon barley drink mixture (a liquid which also comes in flavours such as peach - yum) which you can reconstitute with mineral water or tap water. Very refreshing and healthy as well!

Maltesers can be bought almost everywhere, but flakes I have not seen here yet..... and I really really like them too.

When I travel back and forth on teh eurostar or by plane, I just take one of those soft insulative cooler bags with me. If everything is really cold before you leave, it will stay cold for that short time. If you can fit the cooler bag in your suitcase (if travelling by plane) it is even better in winter as it is far cooler than comfortable in the luggage hold so your bag stays cold and so does your "goodies".

The only other things that I can think of are sweets (flakes, dairy milk if they like milk choc, or some of the specialist sweeties). If they are english they may miss milk loaf (a soft white bread, perfect for fresh butter and vegemite or marmite) so that might be a good gift (if you can fit it in without squashing it).
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If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.

[Breakfastfan]

I have just returned from Paris and have to say a huge thank you for all your suggestions! I decided on some big chunks of cheeses from neals yard and some really good chutney and... they loved it! Merci! x

[Debbie]

Good to hear feedback!

Glad your friends were happy with your choices. Who wouldn't be with yummy cheeses and chutneys
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If you cannot feel your arteries hardening, eat more cheese. If you can, drink more red wine. Diet is just "die" with a "t" on the end. Exercise is walking into the kitchen.