5 ways to add a pinch of French passion to every meal of the day
From cooking with love to spending quality time with friends, French biscuit brand LU is inviting you to embrace the relaxed pace of southern France this summer
Whether you’re an amateur baker or a passionate home cook, you’ll know that much of the satisfaction of making great food comes from sharing it with friends and family. Nothing quite beats those small moments of togetherness, even if it’s just chatting over a cup of tea and a couple of LU biscuits at the end of a long day. If you want to make those memories feel even more special, here are a few ways you can bring some of LU’s famous French passion to meal times.
1. Make croissants from scratch
A much-loved French breakfast staple, traditional croissants take time and patience to perfect due to the resting time between most of the steps – but that first bite of fresh homemade pastry makes it all worth it. Made from butter, flour, sugar, salt, yeast and milk, the dough is combined with cold yet pliable butter in a long process of folding and rolling which creates the croissant’s signature laminations and flaky texture. Eventually, the finished dough is cut into long triangles and rolled into that familiar ridged crescent shape before baking. Serve warm with a smear of butter and jam for a breakfast that everyone will love.
2. Confit your meat to create a delicious dinner
Great for when you want to make something special for someone special, confit is a traditional French cooking method which involves gently poaching fish, meat or vegetables in oil, or animal fat. Originally, it referred to any food preserved through slow-cooking in a liquid – for example, fruit could be confited in sugar syrup. Nowadays, it’s used less for preservation and more for creating rich, meltingly tender dishes, especially meat. Confit duck leg is a popular choice – the meat is cured in salt, cooked in rendered-down duck fat and briefly sizzled in a hot pan to crisp up the skin.
3. Dunk a LU biscuit into your hot drink
When it comes to snack time, many of us will agree that you haven’t unlocked a biscuit’s full potential until you’ve dunked it into a steaming mug of tea or coffee. The crunchy texture of LU biscuits makes them ideal for this – for instance, Le Petit Beurre is great for adding a hint of buttery sweetness to your cuppa, while Le Petit Chocolat melts to create the perfect mouthful. And when you share that moment with a loved one, it’ll warm you right down to your toes.
4. Try a French wine with your meal
If you’re a devoted foodie, you’ll probably know that you can never go far wrong with a French wine, and no-one pairs wine and food better than our friends across the channel. For example, a chardonnay is great with chicken or scallops, a pinot noir works well with salmon or any other fatty fish, and a Bordeaux pairs perfectly with red meats like beef or lamb. Of course, if you’re celebrating it’s got to be Champagne, which is rumoured to taste just as good with fried chicken as it does with oysters, but that one’s for you to decide.
5. Serve a cheese course before dessert
When you’re enjoying a relaxed evening of al fresco dining with friends and family, the French tradition of adding a cheese course after the main keeps the good times rolling. There’s no shortage of options for irresistible French cheeses, from traditional favourites Brie, Camembert and Roquefort to emerging contenders like Époisses, Comté and Vacherin Mont d’Or. Serve your chosen cheeses on a rustic wooden board with crusty bread, fresh fruit, fig jam or even a charcuterie selection. Traditionally in France, the cheese course is still followed by a dessert – that’s if you have the room!
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