I WENT VIRAL & BUTTER-BUTTER
Dear Caroline,
I can’t believe it! in 48 hours we will be together, the whole family! Are you excited for the wedding? You’ve got a big job to do too, Junior Bride’s Maid, not everyone can say that! We are going to have so much fun, but first I have to pack. I want to bring some french snacks and specialties for the family to taste and have a whole little party about it. But to do that I gotta go get those things.
Meanwhile, I don’t know if you’ve heard, though it has been all over the news, Paris has a “bedbug problem”. Honestly it isn’t really a problem, more like a heightened awareness. As a Torontonian bedbugs are just a normal everyday thing, we are aware but we aren’t panicking. I remember many years back we had a big outbreak, especially in the libraries where they would hide in the spines of library books. I even had a scare right as I was moving into my apartment back in 2016, I found one single bedbug that must of hitched a ride, thankfully it was dead and the incident went no further. With that experience I figured I would do a quick little TikTok about how we in Canada look and check for bedbugs. Well… that video went VIRAL, and I mean 600k+ views and still counting. It was so viral that my school even asked if they could use the video in their info packet to host families and students to easy their anxieties. I hope this subsides cause I can’t be famous only for bedbugs… that’s not exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to go viral hahah.
Back to wedding prep:
I found a dress and it is all pack away safe in a garment bag. I decided on boots instead of heels since the ceremony is on the grass, I don’t want to sink in freshly watered lawn and boots are more comfortable anyway. Caspianne also asked me to bring back a few things for her bride’s maids, like those Pringles from Milan, and on top of all that some European chips for herself. Oh and don’t forget the treat I also want to bring for the family… I don’t know if I have enough luggage space.
I went to Cyrill Lignac to get some fresh croissants and pain au chocolat, I know your dad loves croissants and always talks about his inability to find a true croissant in the US, so I got lots for him. I then went to la Grande Epicerie to get some other treats and gifts. I LOVE la Grande Epicerie, probably my favourite place in Paris, other than the Louvre. I made a list because otherwise I would buy the whole store and I would have no room in my luggage for any of it.
My list:
3 french cheese plus one brie or Camembert
some french butter butter
onion jam for Mamie
cookies or treats for Papie
some salty things for snacking
Cheese is easy, now what is “butter butter”. This is a terrible coined by Condiment Claire, I love her content, she loves condiments as her handle shows. From mustards, to jams, soy sauce on vanilla ice cream, to jambon beurre, you name it, if you can spread it she talks about it. Every once in a while she’ll remind us of the hierarchy of butter in Europe, but mostly France. There is butter you use to cook and bake with, that’s just butter. but then there is butter-butter, a butter of such high quality with crunchy salt crystals and you cut so thick you would think it’s cheese. This is the butter you put in sandwiches or thick on toast.
The butter that everyone knows when they come to France is Le Beurre Bordier. This in my opinion is the pinnacle of commercial artisanal butters. I’m sure there are other very good ones but I have not yet had the opportunity to try them. For the family I got the garlic butter, which is a crowd favourite, and I got the Roscoff onion butter, this is a very very french flavour, they even have chips this flavour (they are very tasty). Other flavours available were: smoked salt, yuzu zest, vanilla, espelette (which is chilli flakes), double salt, sea weed, lemon oil, saffron… you name it they probably have it. As for cheese I got Hercules, Comté, Mimolette, and a Gruyere. Oh I can’t forget the Camembert!
Two hours later and my cart looked like this:
Now to bring it all home. Sure enough the second I walked out of the store the bag broke and everything came tumbling out, I had to take a taxi. I think Paris is the only place where taking a taxi in the city takes longer that the public transit. Normally a metro ride from Bon Marché to my home is about 30-40 minutes. My cab ride was 1 hour. I was beat. I was done. I’m flying tomorrow and I haven’t even packed yet, and I have to find room for all this food too!
I’m so excited to see you and the family. See you soon!
