My friend from France just left and various questions arose:
do you have sour cream in france? she loved the spinach dip we made here!
also is there a way i can buy a region 2 dvd here in the U.S? I wanted her to see a movie and get it for her but US is region 1.
also potato chips, can i bring that in my luggage to france? i%26#39;m not sure about food, like i dont think i can bring back cheese? ...
That%26#39;s all i can think of right now... Thanks!
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You can buy a region 2 DVD from amazon.fr.
Sour cream as we know it isn%26#39;t widely available in France, but the equivalent is crème fraîche--even better, because it doesn%26#39;t curdle in sauces.
You can certainly take potato chips to France...but you can easily buy them there as well. If you mean bringing cheese back here, it all depends; check the U. S. State Department web site for information on what is and what is not allowed. If you mean taking cheese to France--well, France produces over 500 different varieties, and that would be like taking coals to Newcastle.
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fotogirl -
The basic answer to whether you can bring cheese back is that you can%26#39;t, with a very few exceptions which you probably wouldn%26#39;t want to bring back. You ARE allowed cheeses that are made with pasteurized milk and that have been aged at least 90 days, which rules out most French cheeses.
However, if you are not bringing back a truckload of cheese, and if you declare it, you will almost certainly be OK. I%26#39;ve done it dozens of times with no problem. I mark on my form that I am bringing back foodstuffs, and mention the cheses when asked specifically what kind of foodstuffs. That is usually the end of the matter. They do seem to be a bit more concerned with meat and meat products, but as long as those are canned I%26#39;ve never had a problem there either. And I%26#39;ve gotten away with other stuff that wasn%26#39;t canned - just vacuum packed or in jars - without any real hassle.
Do make sure the cheese is vacuum packed. You can%26#39;t imagine how smelly cheese can get in just a few hours even if you triple wrap it in foil and plastic and thoroughly (you think) seal it closed with tape!
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thanks for clarification. our recipe also calls for this KNORRS vegetable dip mix to make the spinach dip. guess i could bring some of those too. no french equivalent right?
2 friends like our Salt %26amp; Vinegar potato chips (apparently they have in england) but not france so thought of bringing some of that to france! Cheesy Doritos too!
i looked at the amazon.fr website but can%26#39;t read french and tried to search for Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants DVD and did not see it. I think it might not be available in France? Just a guess.
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Well, since Knorr is actually a Swiss company whose products were widely available in Europe well before they came to the US, you never know. But the particular product you need may be only available in the N. American market, so probably better to be safe.
Crème fraiche is a much better tasting product (to me at any rate) than sour cream, actually quite a bit different in taste. You might want to try your dip with it before you go off to France. If your local supermarket has a good gourmet section you might find it there but for a horrendous price. It%26#39;s very easy to make, though. You need a pint of NON-PASTEURIZED heavy cream and two Tbs. buttermilk. Mix together thoroughly in a bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temp overnight or until it has thickened considerably. Then refrigerate 4-6 hours until it has thickened quite a bit more. You can keep it refrigerated up to four days. It will develop a tangier flavor the longer you keep it.
I couldn%26#39;t find the DVD on the French Amazon site either, but I can%26#39;t say for sure if it is available in France. Apparently not widely so, at any rate.
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Just FYI, Salt %26amp; Vinegar chips are readily available in France
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Strange~ Friend lives in Lyon and says they are not there!
Thanks for the fyi
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I%26#39;m backing up IrishRovr....
You will not believe how bad French cheese can smell. I laughingly quote an old Rick Steves episode showing a vendeuse on the Rue Claire referring to the aroma of cheese as %26quot;a smell like the feet of an angel%26quot;, but it would be much less funny after 10 hours of travel to have *that* wafting out of your carryon and through the cabin! (The Beagle Brigade wouldn%26#39;t have to come out -- everyone in the room would know!)
I have also had various cheeses fill an entire rental cottage with a pong that required opening all the doors and windows to get rid of.
I love smelly cheese, but I don%26#39;t like having the smell around! Sometimes it seems that the harder it is to get it past your nose, the better it will taste!
Most good fromageries in Paris advertise the ability to vacuum-pack your purchase...Take them up on the offer!
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A good way to handle cheese when tarvelling is to put it in an insulated carrier.
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an insulated carrier is not vapour proof...which you%26#39;ll find if you try to carry one of the more fragrant varieties home with you...!!!
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