Things To Buy At The French Supermarket

Have you even been on holiday if you haven’t had a wander around all the isles of at least one supermarket? I don’t think you do. Living in France, the supermarket makes me feel like I live on vacation the most, with the added benefit that 4 and a half years in the Dutch supermarket has started to feel foreign when I visit too.

I thought I’d share some of my French supermarket favorites that keep (and one that isn’t available in supermarkets, but you need to seek it out anyway). I’ll leave the supermarket cheeses for less hot weeks.

Please note this post is no-spon at all. I am linking to products so you can figure out what they look like because it was too hot and I am too tired for individual product shots.

Important French supermarket tips

Check the use-by-date, it is much shorter than we were used to in the Netherlands and the UK and was the cause for a lot of food waste when we first moved here.

Note some brands are supermarket specific, but I don’t know which. I tend to shop at a hypermaché, the biggest variety of supermarché. Smaller supermarchés may not carry some of the things I recommend. Most common in our region are E.LeClerc and Intermarché, with E.LeClerc being far superior and cheaper to Intermarché. Another nice one to scope out is the Grand Frais. Their pre-packaged selection is limited but the fresh produce is amazing, do note that a lot of their fruit and veg tend to be imported. That cheese selection though…

Brets crisps

I think by now everybody knows about Brets crisps, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t add them here. Pellicle has done a great write-up on what makes Brets so good. Having read it you’ll feel even better about hunting down these crisps. Brets has started to become available in the UK and Netherlands, but I still wanted to list my favorites here. Note I am not big on the meat flavored ones.

With all their exciting flavors their more regular crisps are often overlooked, while the Paysanne and l’Ancienne are amazing, you really have to get yourself a bag of the Brets Rotisserie. Rotisserie is the crisp that Kettle Chips wishes it was. Somehow light yet still retaining that super crunch. Perfect with some creme fraîche and trout roe. There is a confit garlic/ herbes the provence version of Rotisserie out there, but it’s disgusting so please avoid that one at all costs.

You should also try the Sarrasin (buckwheat) crisps, I like the Forestière flavor best, basically mushroom powdery but the plain is also great. A bit more sturdy and filling, these are the perfect crisp for dips.

My other favorite Brets flavors are Cèpes, Chorizo (though the discontinued Merguez was better), Tartiflette (a fancy cheese onion, interesting to compare with the Carbonara), Falafel a la Libanaise (mind blowingly accurate, I was not expecting that one), Beurre Salé and Fromage du Jura (though it’s so strong, my taste buds have sadly aged out of it).

They’ve introduced a sweet range recently. I’ve yet to try them.

Petits Pains Grillés

These are little boat shaped crackers. I’ve been eating them since the first time we visited France when I was a kid. Great for breakfast or to fancy dress with your apero. Any brand will do.

Michel & Augustin Biscuits

These Michel & Augustin savory tiny biscuits are intended for apero or just for snacking. I prefer the AOP cheese versions over the charcuterie flavored ones, those taste a bit too much like a mouthful of crispy lard to me. But do give them a try if that’s your thing.

My favorite flavors are Beaufort, Parmesan, Comté and Cantal. I have sadly never encountered the Chèvre rendition. They also do bags of mixed nuts and seeds with different flavors, Graines de Folie, I’ve only had those once. If you see them: grab a bag for sure!

Amora mayonnaise and ketchup

I am a sucker for all mayonnaises, Zaanse when I’m in the Netherlands (get the tube), kewpie from the toko, and Amora when I’m in France. It’s got that proper French mayo tang to it. They sell a whole bunch of different varieties. I always get the 5 ingredient variation because less ingredients is supposedly better for you but really the flavor is just spot on. I tried different version recently because I had a coupon, and it was definitely less good despite having more ingredients. There’s also a dijionaise, more mustard-forward, version which people swear by.

I am less into ketchups, but in the late 90s my parents brought back a bottle of Amora ketchup for me and it blew my mind. I took it to a dinner party and got mad when people were using ‘too much’ of it, to give you an idea. We all know Heinz equals ketchup but Amora does a very good job of being a different kind of ketchup. It’s just more tomatoey somehow? Obsessed! Again: comes in a few varieties but I like to go for the 5 ingredient version, which doesn’t taste any different from the other version.

Armor Délices Madeleines

I was lucky enough to have my first madeleine(s) at St. John‘s Bread & Wine in London, many moons ago, with a nice sweet dessert wine. If you don’t know, at St. John’s you can order half a dozen of freshly baked madeleines for dessert.

If you haven’t had the experience you may also not know that madeleines are best fresh, when they still retain their crunch (much like cannelés). Cooled down madeleines are pretty fucking boring. Most store-bought madeleines are just small soft low-quality cakes, except for these Armor Délices madeleines. Except no substitute (or bake some madeleines yourself instead instead).

Pim’s cookies

Basically jaffa cakes but with different flavors? It might even come in orange, but I prefer the raspberry version so I wouldn’t know. But you know, jaffa cake. Can’t go wrong with that.

Kambly Biscuits Fines Éclats de Pistaches

I loved pistachios before it was cool so I am quite happy to be in the pistachio-era (beyond the environmental implications). These Kambly Biscuits Fines Éclats de Pistaches biscuits were a delicious cheap option before we hit peak pistachio and they’ve become a bit more pricey now (still under 3 euro, but they used to go for like a buck fifty). They are just the perfect thin nut brittle cookie.

Much to my horror they have been removed from search on the Kambly website. So hopefully that isn’t some horrible foreboding, I did find them via a search engine so they are still live, finger’s crossed that’s a good sign.

Condensed milk in tubes

I don’t know what the French (or you, for that matter) do with condensed milk, but I use it for shaved ice with tinned fruit and rose syrup in summer and I know a lot of cultures have it in their coffee. And while I have a deep nostalgia for a rusty Friesche Vlag condensed milk tin with a hole whacked into it by way of a nail, a squeezy tube of condensed milk is a lot easier to handle.

I do know that condensed milk is often featured in no-churn ice cream recipes, so you could pick it up for that purpose as well. Just don’t blame me when it turns out that you find no purpose for it other than drizzling it straight into your mouth. You can usually find condensed milk in the coffee and tea isle, by the coffee milks and filters. There is also a vegan coconut milk version available where I shop. I don’t have a brand preference.

Bonne maman Confiture de Lait

Bonne maman is pretty global at this point, but one thing I haven’t seen outside of France is their Confiture de Lait, which is basically ‘milk jam’ or even more basically the French version of dulce de leche. It’s really good and could be fun to work into pastries. We just slap it onto our croissants in the morning.

The Confiture de Châtaignes à la Vanille (chestnut jam) is equally good but might be more of an acquired taste. I’d also recommend their little tartellete-style cookies. The madeleines are mid (see above).

Pasquier P’tits Pains façon Bretzel

These are soft buns with a lye-washed exterior, giving them a nice sort of salty umami hint. We put all sorts on these for lunch.

Jardin d’Orante Balsamique Mini Cornichons

The best little mild cornichon. Great for snacking, alongside a charcuterie or cheese board (there is a difference), in salads, whole or chopped up. Etcetera, etcetera. I always have a jar of these in the house, usually two or three because I forgot I already have some.

Tête Noire vinegars

Widely available at supermarchés in our area, looking at the website I am not sure these are available nationally at all. But hey, that’s the French internet. Either way, these are the best supermarket vinegars you can find. They also to ready-mixed vinaigrettes in all sorts of exciting flavors, I tend to stick to their basic vinegars though.

Edmond Fallot mustards and vinegars

Okay so Edmond Fallot isn’t available in most supermarkets, not any of the ones near me in any case, but they are well worth seeking out. Every region has different mustards but Fallot is just the king of mustards for me.

They have many different flavors, but my personal favorite is the tarragon mustard, which is a bit milder. Food-focused shops in touristy areas all over France will usually carry a gift pack of three Fallot mustards, get the one that also includes the cassis mustard, another favorite of mine (but one I buy less because it isn’t as all-purpose as the tarragon is for me).

Honorable mention but not pictured

Of course I’ll dedicate a different post to great cheeses you can buy in the French supermarkets, but there was only so much that fit the photo and could handle the heat, so here are some other things that are nice to seek out when you’re in a French supermarket:

• In supermarkets in the Netherlands if you get a vanilla pod it’s just a vanilla pod, in France there is usually a large selection of different vanilla pods available from various regions with tasting notes printed on the packaging. Well worth checking out if you are a baker
• The salt rack can be equally interesting with plain salt but also the famous salts from various French regions. When I first arrived there was also a kind of not-just-white-and-black-pepper craze in France, with kampot and long pepper among others available in regular schmegular supermarches, but that seems to have gone the way of the dodo sadly, do have a look just in case
• Vico Street Food crisps, they look shittier than Brets but they also do a range of interesting flavors (and keep adding new ones) that often sound offensive to foodie ears (the street food-bit alone is off putting). I particularly like their Boeuf Thaï and I normally never like meat flavored crisps
• La Maison Guiot sirups. The French put sirups in their beers, and this is probably the best (or maybe just the fanciest looking) brand. I love their Sirop d’Anis, which is a star anise syrup (French people have looked at me offended when I brought this up). It makes a great popsicle for a hot summer’s day, if you are a star anise fiend like me. But they also have more normal flavors if you’re boring
• Definitely pick up a can of confit de canard, they are sold in specialty shops as well but they’re cheaper and of equal quality in the supermarket
• Ratte potatoes if they are in season, they are just handsdown the best potato – some famous French chef used them for mash but I like them whole in their skin with lots (LOTS) of French butter
• While you’re at it, some freezer isles boast duck fat fried potato wedges, so if that’s you’re sort of thing…

I think that’s roughly it from me, do let me know if there’s something I am missing out on in the comments. Happy shopping.