7 Things you are sure to miss once you leave France

7 French Delicacies You’ll Miss Back Home

Even as a student on a budget studying in France, I was aware of what I would be missing once I returned Stateside. My year abroad was not a year of indulgences by any means. But there are so many things you become accustomed to in such a short time living in France that not having them when you get home can actually bring you to tears. Can you relate?

I recall getting a random baggage check at the airport on one trip back from France. I had my bags opened even before the check-in desk – does that happen? The security personnel kept looking at my bag, then me, then my bag again. It had me feeling as if I was in that episode of I Love Lucy, where Lucy pretends that a hunk of Gouda cheese was a baby, believing it was the only way to not have to pay customs duties. Luckily, the inspector zipped the bag back up and let me go. Well, we all know those days are over now. Today pâté is a liquid – yes, pâté or at least according to the British officials at the airport. And for some countries, those days have never existed.

But I am not trying to be a party popper. If you are like me, you may still brave the consequences (depending entirely on which country you are returning to). You’ll pack your suitcases with care to prolong that love affair with France – even if it will only be for one more meal.

So here is my list of 7 French delicacies you’ll miss back home. See if you agree with me. And don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be back in France to enjoy them again one day soon.

Butter

I don’t know what it is about French butter (well, actually I do), but the stuff can be addictive. Once you’ve tried it, it is so hard to go back. I’m not suggesting no one else knows how to make butter, but you have to try it to understand what I mean. And I don’t mean ordinary grocery store butter from that brand that you can easily find around the world –  even if some store-bought butter is still better than others I have had. And the French are crazy about butter. Need proof? Read this description of my favourite, “beurre échiré” doux or demi-sel (sweet or half-salted). “Ce beurre très délicat avec son petit goût de noisette exprime un savoir-faire unique, propre à la laiterie d’Échiré.” This very delicate butter, with its subtle hazelnut flavor, reflects the unique savoir-faire of the dairy industry in Échiré. Echiré is in the Poitou-Charente.

If you want to know exactly where to find it, the chefs have mapped out their favorite spots in this Cook’n With Class guide to buying butter in Paris.

Unpasteurized Cheeses

“A Meal without cheese is like a day without sunshine  – Brillat Savarin. Smart man. So smart they named a cheese after him.  

Unpasteurized cheese. Never had it? Then you have no idea what you are missing. But if you have, you know what I’m getting on about. Come on, admit it, it is to die for, isn’t it? Some claim it has addictive properties of its own. So if you are a certified cheese addict, why remove taste and uniqueness from your cheese when you don’t have to? With over 350 varieties of cheese in France (some pasteurized), you could try a new cheese every day. Want to learn about French cheese or any cheese for that matter? The Cheese Bible was a book that I once had on my bookshelf, but these days, I won’t lie, if I still encounter a cheese I don’t know, I will ask Claude.ai or another search tool for recommendations. I know, I know, but you have to move with the times.

Baguettes

Well, what were you going to eat all that French cheese with? Crunchy, crispy, freshly-made baguettes. Is your mouth watering yet? Yes, I know you can get French baguettes outside of France, but I hardly think you will find it at under 2 euros. A few years ago, on a trip to New York, had me in shock when I saw French baguettes on sale for over $2.99+ tax – for a baguette? No way! I chuckled and checked my calendar to remind myself when I would be back in France again. A, “Thank God I live in France moment”.

No French law caps what a baker can charge for a baguette; prices have been free since the mid-1980s. What is regulated is what can legally be called a “baguette tradition”: flour, water, salt, and yeast, nothing else, made on-site, never frozen. It’s that discipline, not price control, that keeps a good baguette hovering around one euro while the boulanger next door is competing on crust and crumb, not on markup. Which makes the $4.99 vending machine version, or the $2.99 one I found in New York, land even harder. Somewhere along the way, we started paying novelty prices for a food that in France is deliberately kept ordinary.
Thank goodness you can learn how to make baguettes in Paris before heading home. What better way to make the memories last, n’est-ce pas?

Saucisson Sec

On a trip to New York with my son, we went packed with a few provisions to share with friends and family. Of course, this included butter (two kinds), cheese (several), and three delicious dried sausages. What’s a picnic without saucisson sec? Not a French picnic at any rate. I treated my fellow picnickers to saucisson de taureau (bull), d’âne (donkey) & sanglier (wild boar). Needless to say, they were very happy to see me, or was it all about my stash . . Again, these were different times.

Spices

Not as hard to come by outside of France, but I imagine that prices are a bit exaggerated when you leave the hexagon – not to mention that some unusual (to a French person) ingredients. Herbes de Provence, Fleur de Sel & Piment d’Espelette are all things we sell at the schools’ boutiques. They are always a great addition to your recipe recreations or make a lovely gift for a fellow foodie.

Breakfast pastries or French pâtisseries of any kind, for that matter

I’m not only talking about croissants, though. I am talking le Suisse, pain aux raisins and all those luscious viennoiseries that you find in any proper boulangerie/patisserie in France. Buying a mediocre croissant & pain au chocolat for my son in Brooklyn for a whopping $7 curbed that craving. Better learn to make it yourself at those prices. Let’s not forget about the macarons or the choux pastries and eclairs… The list goes on.

French Wine

How could I talk about the things you would miss and not cover French wine? Fact: The French are snobs about their wine. Fact: French wine is old! Dating back as far as the 6th century BC. They once said that wine was cheaper than water. You can find yourself a pretty decent bottle of wine for 10 euros. 10 euros! Can you imagine? Some less than that aren’t that bad either. I am not a wine guru. To be honest,  I will enjoy wine when others have ordered it, but I have taken a liking to not paying through the nose for a good glass or bottle. Learn all about food & wine pairing with a chef and wine specialist during our Let’s Eat Uzès culinary holiday in Uzès.

So now that I’ve gone through my list of things I would miss when not in France, what do you miss or would you miss? You can count on all these delicacies to be a big part of your Week in Uzès when you join chef Eric and me for a Provencal holiday you will not soon forget.

What You Can Actually Bring Home

Here’s the part nobody mentions before you leave: how much of this list survives customs. The rules differ by country and they shift more often than any of us would like, so treat what follows as a starting point, not gospel. Check the official source before you pack, and always declare what you’re carrying.

United States

Hard and aged cheeses cross the border without much fuss, Comté, aged Gouda, and their cousins included. Soft or fresh cheeses are the ones most likely to get held up. Cured meats are the real heartbreak: saucisson, prosciutto, and other cured hams and salamis from France, Germany, Italy, and Spain aren’t allowed in personal baggage, regardless of packaging. Yes, that includes the saucisson de taureau, d’âne, and sanglier I hauled to that picnic in New York. Try that trip today, and I’d be arriving with cheese and stories only. Full details at CBP’s Prohibited and Restricted Items guide.

Canada

Most food categories are capped at around 20 kg or 20 L for personal use, though the limit depends on the category, so a combination of baked goods, cheese, and preserves each gets its own allowance rather than sharing one pool. Declare everything, whether you think it’s regulated or not. Start with the CBSA “I Declare” guide and the CFIA’s personal-use limits.

Australia and New Zealand

This is the strictest pair of the group, and the rules shift often enough that I won’t pretend to state them here as fixed. Rather than guess, use the DAFF Bringing or Mailing Goods page for Australia and the MPI food-check tool for New Zealand before you buy anything you’re hoping to bring home.

Everywhere Else in the EU

Here’s the good part: if you’re moving between EU countries, there are no customs duties on personal food at all. Buy your cheese in Uzès and eat it in Berlin without a second thought. (Alcohol and tobacco have their own separate allowances, detailed on the European Commission’s page on carrying alcohol and tobacco in the EU, but food itself moves freely.)

Packing It So It Survives the Trip

A few things I’ve learned the hard way. Buy the hard cheese, not the soft one, if it has a flight ahead of it. Ask the counter to vacuum-seal it. The phrase you want is “sous vide”, and they’ll know exactly what to do. A whole round travels better than a cut wedge. Wine goes in checked baggage only, wrapped in clothing or a bubble sleeve, never in a carry-on. And yes, the shoebox-lined-with-a-Tupperware trick is exactly as unglamorous and exactly as effective as it sounds.

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Take your love of France one step further with a French cooking holiday in Provence. Join Let’s Eat The World in Uzès for a culinary holiday of a lifetime. A food and wine holiday for lovers of France.