subject: How To Buy French Ingredients Without Speaking French [print this page] I remember years ago regularly nipping over to France every few months to buy a few bags and boxes of French ingredients and French food. These were things that were virtually impossible to find being sold by shops in the UK, and such ingredients and products were often far better quality than the run-of-the-mill, fairly dull ingredients being offered by certain supermarkets.
There was something quite exciting about heading over to France and picking up things that you just could not find anywhere in the UK. These were ingredients that transformed meals, and for those who enjoy entertaining and perhaps inviting friends and family around for dinner parties, having French ingredients available can really make a difference.
The trouble is that today it's just not convenient or affordable to nip across to France. First of all you have the exorbitant prices charged for fuel, which means that by the time you paid for the petrol needed to drive down to the coast, and then down through France and back again you could practically have bought your own boat.
With the cost of the ferry and the Channel Tunnel both being extraordinarily high it really isn't practical for most of us to make those regular quick trips we used to. Of course there are limits to just how much you can bring back since many of these ingredients have reasonably limited shelf lives. There really is just so much foie gras you can get through in a week.
Unfortunately supermarkets have not been terribly helpful in resolving this difficulty, since it seems impossible to even buy vanilla ice cream that has caught even the briefest glimpse of a real vanilla pod, let alone genuine gourmet ingredients.
But whilst the price of travelling across to the continent had increased, and supermarkets have failed to provide an alternative service for those of us who enjoy good quality food and cooking with good quality ingredients, there is now an alternative solution.
Say what you like about it, the internet does offer a range of benefits, and one of these is the ability to buy French ingredients and gourmet ingredients which are then delivered to your door without you having to pay for fuel, queue up for a ferry, or spend an afternoon driving in circles around the Arc de Triomphe.
Buying French ingredients online has never been easier, with many suppliers are now able to offer a wide variety of gourmet ingredients and products at affordable prices, and all delivered direct to your door. You don't even have to worry about learning French, and perhaps best of all, you don't even need to pay in Euros!
