Random musings on running a private hotel / gîte in Northern France
Saturday, 19 August 2023
Spiced plums in Armagnac
First picture is the plum tree heavy with plums. The second is the spiced plums in Armagnac, a direct consequence of the first. Good year for plums, 2023.
You'd think that here in Kent, we'd have suppliers of Calvados coming out of our ears, as we also have copious orchards, but can you find any locally? Can you heck!
It's £25.00 a 50cl bottle in Waitrose, and that really hurts, when you think that just over the Channel, you'd buy it almost in draught for just a few Francs!
I tried making my own once, using pure apple juice and a strong yeast. It wasn't anywhere near the real thing sadly...
Hi Scrobs, Calva is expensive over here too, unless you can find an errr..... artisan distiller. And it has to be matured in oak barrels for years before it's drinkable.
The "digestive" know here as the "trou normand" is a shot glass of neat calva, taken between meal courses, intended to burn a hole in the digestive system, to make way for more food.
Swoon.
ReplyDeleteLucky you - these look fabulous!
ReplyDeleteYou'd think that here in Kent, we'd have suppliers of Calvados coming out of our ears, as we also have copious orchards, but can you find any locally? Can you heck!
It's £25.00 a 50cl bottle in Waitrose, and that really hurts, when you think that just over the Channel, you'd buy it almost in draught for just a few Francs!
I tried making my own once, using pure apple juice and a strong yeast. It wasn't anywhere near the real thing sadly...
Hi Scrobs,
ReplyDeleteCalva is expensive over here too, unless you can find an errr..... artisan distiller. And it has to be matured in oak barrels for years before it's drinkable.
The "digestive" know here as the "trou normand" is a shot glass of neat calva, taken between meal courses, intended to burn a hole in the digestive system, to make way for more food.