Fresh or frozen?

[Liz]

We were in Eymet today, the English capital of SW France. In the English food shop there are freezers with things like ready-meals from Iceland and English sausages (ugh,including those Richmond things) and all sorts of packaged goods I have managed to live without for many years more than the 34 I have lived in France.
It was fascinating.
I noticed the prices on a few things I have bought in my time here, either for my late Mum (Weetabix) and us (Poppadums and mango chutneys etc) were higher than those I pay in French supermarkets for the same items.

[OTBC]

How on earth do they manage to stock & sell "English" sausages? I thought all meat products from the UK were banned after Brexit?

Irish ones....ok....they're in the EU, but the Richmond sausages are just like English cheap ones.

Personally, I prefer the French sausages & German of course!

Most UK sausages (supermarket cheap ones) have a very low meat content. In my opinion....(opinions are like arseholes...everyone's got one), the best sausages in the UK are.... Lincolnshire & Cumberland.

[Sparkle]

My english neighbours came over a few weeks back. We were invited for nibbles in the evening The nibbles comprised of everything labelled Sainsburys ie cinnamon teacakes potatoes for jackets, coleslaw, richmond pork sausages (which were not very nice), pork pie, cooked ham, an asian assortment of samosas battered prawns etc, cheddar cheese, eggs, bread, apple pie, sachets instant custard, flora and lots of other 'stuff'. We both had a jacket potato with coleslaw cos we don't like flora spread a small slice of pork pie and a couple of the asian things and then a small slice of apple pie with custard - we both had the runs over night! Don't know what caused it but can only guess maybe the coleshaw or the asian things. I suppose that we're just not used to this kind of food anymore.

[Chappers51]

I’ve found an Indian chef married to a French lady who cooks « Friday Night Takeaway » to order. This is collected from his home, near St Foy, or Eymet at set times on a Friday. The quality of his food, in my opinion, is excellent and he only provides a meat or vegetarian option. Although it’s a 90 minute round trip for me, it gives me a break from cooking with flavours I enjoy.

[exile]

How on earth do they manage to stock & sell "English" sausages? I thought all meat products from the UK were banned after Brexit?

No, not banned but subject to rigorous health controls to ensure that they conform to EU standards. Cheese is the same and you can still get genuine British cheddar here as well as Blue stilton and some doctored cheeses in wax coatings.

I haven't checked the costs of certification recently but it used to be around £150-200 per product per shipment. Volume sales are therefore a key to spreading those costs. I have long suspected that Cheddar exists in the French supermarkets on the back of MacD's cheeseburgers.

[widge]

How on earth do they manage to stock & sell "English" sausages? I thought all meat products from the UK were banned after Brexit?

No, not banned but subject to rigorous health controls to ensure that they conform to EU standards. Cheese is the same and you can still get genuine British cheddar here as well as Blue stilton and some doctored cheeses in wax coatings.

I haven't checked the costs of certification recently but it used to be around £150-200 per product per shipment. Volume sales are therefore a key to spreading those costs. I have long suspected that Cheddar exists in the French supermarkets on the back of MacD's cheeseburgers.

Our local super u has sold both Seriously Strong Cheddar and their own brand English cheddar for the last 10 years, they are a little expensive compared to English prices, but comparable to french cheese prices, the super u brand is not so strong but still a good taste.

[widge]

My english neighbours came over a few weeks back. We were invited for nibbles in the evening The nibbles comprised of everything labelled Sainsburys ie cinnamon teacakes potatoes for jackets, coleslaw, richmond pork sausages (which were not very nice), pork pie, cooked ham, an asian assortment of samosas battered prawns etc, cheddar cheese, eggs, bread, apple pie, sachets instant custard, flora and lots of other 'stuff'. We both had a jacket potato with coleslaw cos we don't like flora spread a small slice of pork pie and a couple of the asian things and then a small slice of apple pie with custard - we both had the runs over night! Don't know what caused it but can only guess maybe the coleshaw or the asian things. I suppose that we're just not used to this kind of food anymore.

We used to bring or ship all sorts of english stuff over when we first moved here, until we discovered the french equivalent, these days it is realy restricted to Marmite branston and HP sauce, and that is only if a friend happens to be driving over, with the exception of the Marmite, which I do buy from a local english market stall if I run out.

[exile]

How on earth do they manage to stock & sell "English" sausages? I thought all meat products from the UK were banned after Brexit?

No, not banned but subject to rigorous health controls to ensure that they conform to EU standards. Cheese is the same and you can still get genuine British cheddar here as well as Blue stilton and some doctored cheeses in wax coatings.

I haven't checked the costs of certification recently but it used to be around £150-200 per product per shipment. Volume sales are therefore a key to spreading those costs. I have long suspected that Cheddar exists in the French supermarkets on the back of MacD's cheeseburgers.

Our local super u has sold both Seriously Strong Cheddar and their own brand English cheddar for the last 10 years, they are a little expensive compared to English prices, but comparable to french cheese prices, the super u brand is not so strong but still a good taste.

Our Super U doesn't stock cheddar except for pre-sliced destined I suspect for Jambon et Fromage sandwiches or home made cheeseburgers. The one 55km away does stock both as you describe.

Our not local Auchan has prepacked blocks of Wyke Farm (better described as factory) as wall as loose Cheddar - white and red - from the same source. They also have HP sauce.

But all of that just exemplifies the vagaries of French supermarket chains.

[curtis]

My english neighbours came over a few weeks back. We were invited for nibbles in the evening The nibbles comprised of everything labelled Sainsburys ie cinnamon teacakes potatoes for jackets, coleslaw, richmond pork sausages (which were not very nice), pork pie, cooked ham, an asian assortment of samosas battered prawns etc, cheddar cheese, eggs, bread, apple pie, sachets instant custard, flora and lots of other 'stuff'. We both had a jacket potato with coleslaw cos we don't like flora spread a small slice of pork pie and a couple of the asian things and then a small slice of apple pie with custard - we both had the runs over night! Don't know what caused it but can only guess maybe the coleshaw or the asian things. I suppose that we're just not used to this kind of food anymore.

Was it just you, or some french neighbours as well?

[Blaze]

@Sparkle We used to run a gite before moving to where we are now. When I went to clean after the guests left, I once found a dustbin bag, in the dustbin, full of stuff they had brought over from the UK, including sliced white bread. There was a load of untouched fresh veg, probably bought here (which we retrieved) but we were pretty dumbstruck !