English food products sent to France

I have need ocassionally for British food products. Sadly we're addicted to Marmite and it's derivitives here.

Just in case anyone else is interested I've been dealing with this company that operates on e bay but you can deal privately too.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/OmmNom

Prices are a little more expensive on average than English supermarkets although a couple of things were actually cheaper than Tesco.
(Marmite here in Intermarché when you can get it is nearly 4 euros for a silly 125 gram jar that lasts 2 days.)

They send up to 30kg parcel for £12.75 postage delivered in 3 days.

No I didn't order 30 kilos of Marmite.......well nearly.....

They are quite happy to put multiple orders for different people in the same parcel if you have friends locally who want stuff.

And they will source any item not advertised on their website.

Shame they don't sell trains....

we use Asdas european delivery service already, same price as UK

Mikey

We go to Iceland in Fuengirola, just down the road from us, much cheaper than in Supersol. How come we can get expat foods easily in southern Spain and you can't in France Very strange...

Cheers

Mike

If you're desperate for anything Carl,let me know.I was in LeMans a couple of weeks ago for a hectic 4 days for the 24 hour classic.
We're off to Limoges in a few weeks with the monsters ect.Don't know how close that is,but driving down from Calais.

I wouldn't go to Iceland, I blame them for the state the country got into.

Just discovered that Mercadona do a nice line in Chocolate Hobnobs - but they are to more-ish for a diabetic.

Nth Spain is just as bad, what we miss most is Lyons tea which we have to get from Ireland and you can't seem to get it from anywhere other than Ireland. Luckily we took an offer on one of our houses (€8,000 profit after 6 years, see what I mean about Iceland ?) today (harah, harrah) so we will just have to go over again (by car) to sign contracts and stock up with tea.


Pat : the only englishman in the village

I mean Iceland the the shop not the dam country!

Mike B wrote:

How come we can get expat foods easily in southern Spain and you can't in France Very strange...

It depends on where you are in France. When I was in Chelles near Paris, there were only 3 English people in the town out of a population of 60,000.
Asking for Cheddar cheese in Carrefour there met with stunned silence.

However in Deux Sevres where Geoff W lives Brits make up 25% of the population and you can buy good stilton and even haggis in the local Super U.

It's not too bad here as there is a small passing trade of Brits visiting and on route south so a few things are available but at twice UK prices. I found Piccallili in Carrefour Market but I'm not allowed to eat it.

Sparkeswood wrote:

f you're desperate for anything Carl,let me know.I was in LeMans a couple of weeks ago for a hectic 4 days for the 24 hour classic.
We're off to Limoges in a few weeks with the monsters ect.Don't know how close that is,but driving down from Calais.

We're not desperate for anything these days Troy thanks. Mind you I do miss those Rolvenden sausages......don't tempt me!
I've even developed a taste for Camembert like cheeses that are produced locally but the calorie count is scary and the smell outrageous.

Going to Le Mans you would probably have passed within 2 minutes of our house if you took either the motorway A28 or the route nationale. I saw convoys of Brit cars...some serious money, E types, Astons, Jensens etc all making their way to and from.

Going to Limoges...(nice pottery and big cows...Valerie's aunt lives there...) you will most likely follow the same route as per Le Mans. Feel free to call in with or without sausages, monsters especially welcome, I have one.
Red wine and smelly cheese always available and now crunchy cider too.

PS don't go to Iceland for a holiday...too many strange geysers

There's a small chain of shops in Vienne called "A taste of Britain" - evidence of the size of the resident and visiting Brit population. Why do people want to go to the country that invented haute cuisine and eat like they do at home? Intermarche retaliated with a "British Foods" section complete with Marmite and hob-nobs. I'm embarrased every time I walk past. But we do take PG Tips - and within five minutes walk of my house in London there are now three Polish delicatassens - to add to the Greek, Italian, Turkish, north African shops...I guess where there's business, there's an entrepreneur.

Actually we go to Iceland (the shop) only for stuff that is not readily available in Spanish supermarkets eg. lard, stuff to make Dundee cakes and the like (you can see I don't make cakes! I just eat them!) They also produce other stuff that my wife 'needs' too. Mainly we shop in SuperSol supermarket which does have PG Tips (thank God!) as the Spanish just do not have any idea of tea or how to make it! They also have 'Daddies Sauce' something I cannot do without! Otherwise we eat Spanish food and enjoy it, its also a lot cheaper as well!

As to French food..... well they may have invented 'Haute Cuisine' but that doesn't mean they can cook!

"LARD!!!!!!

Do you eat deep fried pizza and Mars too ?

My wife uses it to make pastry, the way pastry should be made.
Deep fried pizza? Never heard of that.
Deep fried Mars? Don't they do that in the North of England? I've never seen it, only heard of it! Could it be somewhat similar to Baked Alaska but with chocolate/toffee ice cream?

All the supermarket arround Val d'Europe (next to Disneyland) sell now some english product.

And in the Auchan at Val d'Europe you could buy some farm cheddar (à la coupe, not under plastic), someone at home love that. Few years ago before the foot and mouth decease the Carrefour of Claye was selling some Cheddar as well.

There's a wharehouse selling a lot more product, mainly tin or bottled in the south of Paris. But I don't remember where exactly.

Mike B wrote:

Deep fried pizza? Never heard of that.
Deep fried Mars? Don't they do that in the North of England? I've never seen it, only heard of it! Could it be somewhat similar to Baked Alaska but with chocolate/toffee ice cream?

More popular in the main population centres of Scotland e.g Glasgow, Edinburgh, but in recent times has been found as far south as Leeds...

If you think they sound bad, check this out... (they might be persuaded to deliver, or alternatively let it loose and it will walk to you!)
http://blog.23x.net/5/what-is-a-munchy-box.html

¡Mierda Santa! I could feel my arteries closing as I read it!

I hail from the NW suburbs of London where although there are all sorts of different countries food shops I don't think any of them have ever got together to make that monstrosity!

Edit:
Eeek! I just scrolled down the page and read some of the comments, no wonder certain parts of the world are fat, they all wanted one!

Haute Cuisine......doesn't exist....not in our house....

Spent 3 weeks and €5K refitting the kitchen in our old house only to be served a tin of Cassoulet - a fancy haute 'cuisine name' for sausage and beans.

I don't think French food is any better than English food and vice versa. It's just different.
Fish and chips - Moules Frites....chacun son goût.

And there are so many non-French recipes in French restaurants now. Couscous anyone?

Here in Spain most entertaining is done at a restaurante not in the home, but I understand where you are coming from, we spent about that on a new kitchen when we bought our house and gutted it before moving in. It hardly gets used! Its cheaper to eat out and there's no washing up for the dishwasher to do!

I am starting to feel sick - but for the uninitiated : Deep fried pizza YES it exists.


And not forgetting : A great Scottish Invention

As an aside they do deep fried BABY squid (chopitos) here - the wife loves em

Spanish food? a few years ago I had a business importing leather handbags from Spain (Ubrique). when I visited i always ate at the same restaurant. I tried everything; penis of squid, bull callouses etc .One day I was served two large round pieces of meat that tasted delicious! I asked what they were and was told they were the bull's testicles from the local bullring. they were tasty and good value for money. I ate them for nine days and on the tenth day I was served two tiny pieces of meat. i complained to the waiter in my best Spnaish and was told..ah Senor, sometimes the bull a wins!!

mikey

Yep, sometimes the bull does win...

Did you enjoy your cojones del hombre?

Mike

I had to chime in on this one. The Texas State Fair is known for it's "cuisine" and the new foods invented for sale at the fair. Chili Pie (chile con carne poured over fritos corn chips) and corn dogs (a hot dog dipped in corn batter and deep fried then served on a stick) are two examples. In the past decade or so, the foods have been getting more bizarre (if that's possible). The one thing they all seem to have in common is they are all deep fried. I think the fried pizza originated at the fair. Other "treats" include deep fried bacon, fried Snickers candy bars, and fried ice cream. This past year, the buzz was about the newest additon to the cholesterol hall of fame - deep fried butter. Yum yum.

Sparkeswood wrote:

If you're desperate for anything Carl,let me know.I was in LeMans a couple of weeks ago for a hectic 4 days for the 24 hour classic.
We're off to Limoges in a few weeks with the monsters ect.Don't know how close that is,but driving down from Calais.

Hi

If you're in Limoges, you're about an hour East of me, just over the border in Charente!

I have an open day on the railway every Thursday, so you'd be more than welcome to pop over for the day!

PM me and let me know your location and I can send you directions if you feel like coming!

Cheers

GWhizz wrote:

Sparkeswood wrote:

If you're desperate for anything Carl,let me know.I was in LeMans a couple of weeks ago for a hectic 4 days for the 24 hour classic.
We're off to Limoges in a few weeks with the monsters ect.Don't know how close that is,but driving down from Calais.

Hi

If you're in Limoges, you're about an hour East of me, just over the border in Charente!

I have an open day on the railway every Thursday, so you'd be more than welcome to pop over for the day!

PM me and let me know your location and I can send you directions if you feel like coming!

Cheers

Many thanks for the offer.Not sure about the day to day activities yet so it's difficult to commit to anything.
It's a shame I couldn't pop into see Carl during the Le Mans trip but I wasn't the driver and we were in convoy