American gives you a tour of a French supermarché (supermarket) and the differences you’ll find vs American grocery stores.
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supermarkets in France are called supermarches and while there’s lots of similarities there are also lots of differences between American and French supermarkets what you can and can’t buy there where it might be located what it’s called we’re going to show you lots of that and actually the differences start in the parking lot one thing you have to have is a coin buggies are usually locked up and you need a coin or something similar insert in to pull it out so have a Euro with you be prepared and bringing bags isn’t just for bonus points here there are no disposable bags so if you forget your bag you’re either going to have to buy a bag at the checkout or make do without one okay let’s get started with what’s not at the supermar unlike the us there are no medications of any kind at the French Supermarket you’ll need to go to the pharmacy for these you also won’t find many common American baking items for example there is no brown sugar to make American Cookies we actually ask our family and friends to bring us a bag of brown sugar every time they come from the US a few people have recommended similar products here but we have yet to find something that has the same taste and moisture content it’s also really hard to find baking soda some stores will have it but I’ve had to buy a bag from the gardening store the first year we were here and the baking powder comes in these tiny packets the French just don’t have the same kind of home baking Traditions that Americans do and honestly why would you when you have these incredible pseries usually around the corner also you won’t find Deli counters similar to the US with lots of different cured meats and cheeses to select from and have sliced to your preferred thickness instead you will have a selection with packaged tuder and lots and lots of ham ham ham ham so much ham someone French please tell us what the difference is in all these kinds of ham we have been completely bewildered in choosing between them you have to explain to us why is there so you can usually find two sections for prepared foods in the French supermarches also one where you can buy something ready made for lunch which can be a little Hit or Miss but great if you need something quick and simple if you’re having like a barbecue or a picnic because these are really good these like uh tabuli or carrot salad it’s like a little vinegarette on the carrot this is a little bit like potato salad but it has has ham in it and tomatoes which I know it sounds strange but it’s actually pretty good the Beet salad’s pretty good too if you like be and one where you can buy prepared foods for entertaining or dinner most of these are pretty tasty and actually what I would have expected to find in more high-end grocery stores in the US they’re already so cute and in like a little thing to serve for Appo or for like my first a little first course that one this is our favorite brand when we don’t have time to cook the exception might be these readymade hot dogs with toppings already on them we can’t figure out how you would heat these up without all the toppings being weirdly War warm I cannot recommend these while beer and wine are common to both American and French supermarkets French super marays also have liquor so never fear if you want to try to make your own appol Spritz while you’re here you can get everything you need in one place and speaking of wine the wine sections as they should be are often amazing in French supermars featuring an incredible number of local wines here at this laclair store we can even see how many kilom away from the store The Vineyard where the wine came from is located how cool is is that look at this one it is literally behind the store this might seem simple to our French viewers but in the Us distribution chains they just work differently it can actually be really rare to see local pot products in your own local grocery store although some of them really do make a huge effort um to do this like our old Hometown HB we miss you HB please send tortillas and taste San Antonio Blend Coffee um another thing you can buy at the supermar in France is clothing even lingerie you are also going to find things in unexpected places if you’re an American eggs and milk for example can be found outside the refrigerated sections you’ll never see this in the US but don’t worry different production methods in Europe allow both items to be safely stored at room temperature and while I’m thinking about milk if you see things packaged in shrink wrapped packs of six or eight but you just need one it is perfectly fine to rip it open and take only what you need almost every expat we have met has a traumatic story about being sent away from the cashier during their first shopping trip because they didn’t weigh and price their fruit and veggies it’s mortifying it’s actually worse when the cashier is trying to be nice and tells you to go weigh them and come back and they’ll wait for you because then there are a million French people waiting behind you while you run back and try to figure out the French word for plums it’s prunes by the way I wanted to die the first time this happened it was so embarrassing not every store requires you to weigh and a fix a sticker to your produce but keep a close eye out for the weighing machines and the produce section and you’ll know and if you notice you can’t find something it may be because it’s priced per piece and then you don’t have to worry about this it’ll just be charged individually so trick question are tomatoes fruits or legumes in France legumes other things you can find in France but not the US chocolate cereal it isn’t just found in the kids cereal it’s in almost every box of cereal I don’t understand it chocolate is for dessert people it’s not not for breakfast but if that’s your thing you are set here and American burger sauce for our French viewers we had never seen this before we came to France nobody in America as far as I know is using this sauce and traditional thick smoked American bacon is nowhere to be found but good news we can introduce you to lardons these little babies are pre- chopped bacon pieces that you can cook up and use in kishes or veggies or really any dish you like they are so easy to use why don’t we have these in the US something else that is different is food award designations well often in the US these just seem to really be product marketing in France they actually mean something quantifiable keep an eye out for gold and silver medal Awards on local products aop and AOC stickers stand for protected designation of origin and indicate that the food or wine has been produced in a specific local region known for that using specific local methods to grow and produce the item another fun one is oh man there aren’t as many crackers here in France but there are so many potato chips and they are in flavors that I have never seen before in my life lots of things reflecting like what a main meal might be sausage and onions roasted potatoes all kinds of things that I’ve never seen anywhere else they’re very fun I love these they’re so strange and now the shot you’ve been waiting for the dairy section maybe the highlight of the French super maret yogurt yogurt is often eaten for dessert here and along with it you’ll find so many yummy creamy desserts here you can find my absolute favorite favorite thing and literally maybe the reason we can’t leave France ever frage Blanc and butter there’s so many different types of butter it’s now common for us to buy two or three different Butters depending on what we’re using it for salt no salt crystallized salt they’re all good and Regional Butters can truly taste very different from the mass-produced chain Brands so look for something with a regional name the cheese section in French super Mars can be pretty incredible but it will be filled with things you’ve probably never seen as an American there’s going to be way less shredded cheese for things like casseres or tacos and there is absolutely no Monterey Jack cheese here you’ll probably have to use emol which is a very mild tasting Swiss and it’s a common cheese for melting here in France one funny thing though if you want something like sliced American cheese singles you’ll find it looking like this American burger cheese if you like this video subscribe for more on moving or taking along sabatical in France and adjusting to life here thanks for watching abeno [Music]
35 Comments
Brown sugar? Make your own, it's white sugar and a little molasses.
Tomato is a fruit 😁
Is molasses easy to find over there? I was taught a long time ago to make my own brown sugar using molasses and granular sugar. Might be worth trying. You cant make good cookies without brown sugar, or blondies 😋 But I have to say i'd give up brown sugar any day to have the wonderful adventure you three are having!
Just buy a bottle of "Picon" et try it with your beer ! 3 cl of picon for a 25 cl beer
i swear you will think of me the rest of your life if you try it
With love from Strasbourg 🙂
For the ham: As someone already said, we find choices according to quality and tastes: Superior, organic, smoked, reduced salt, nitrite-free, with or without rind….
Small clarification: The fewer slices the ham contains, the higher the price per kilo will be.
To choose a ham, I start directly with a superior, then I reduce my choices according to my preferences (organic or nitrite-free), then I take the one with the most slices to reduce the price in the long term.
Ahhh, I feel you on the cereal! That's one thing I miss – the big selection of healthy, fiber-filled but still tasty breakfast cereals. In France it's either sugary and chocolatey or dry and bland.
Since I don't eat pork, the deli aisle is tricky for me…..I usually have to buy from the halal section to be able to try all the traditional French charcuterie made from poultry.
Have you tried faisselle? That's a dairy product I recently discovered and I'm obsessed. It's like a cross between cottage cheese and sour cream.
Thanks for the fun video!
Thanks for the video. In France, Brown sugar's name is Vergeoise. It's mostly used in the North, almost nobody use it in the South, however it's available in most of the super markets. The more big they are the more chance you've got to find some. Take care, there is a Vergeoise brune and a Vergeoise blonde.
I'm absolutely certain that inside the "Leclerc" where you are in the video there is Vergeoise brune, the two brands that have some Vergeoise brune are Saint Louis and Beghin Say, and the bags (it's not in boxes) are placed on the same shelfs than Cassonade and other sugars. Probably in the upper part of the shelfs.
By the way, there is a "Tarte au sucre" from the North made with Vergeoise brune. It's a brioche tart on which a big amont of Vergeoise brune and butter are poured and baked. It melt in the oven and make something very tasty, with nuances of toffee.
Backing soda is not a thing in France, it's just few years that it's available in the Super Markets, it's more a Pharmacie thing. There you can find it anytime. For fun: few decades ago, it was more common to buy your gelatine for cooking at the pharmacy than in a super market.
We doesn't use so much baking soda as baking powder, insteade we use "levure chimique" which is a mix of baking soda, tartaric acid and little bit of starch. It's actually very close of your use of baking soda but (if I'm not wrong?) you need to add some acid to activate the baking soda, in the French "levure chimique" the mix is ready to use.
it’s a bit sad you mostly focused on the junk/packaged food. The butcher/fisher corners stand out quite a bit compared to us stores … but I guess it makes look us french as barbarians 😅
Hi. Interesting point of view of foreign people about the french supermarkets. I was in the US 3 weeks ago and It was so funny to compare our different ways of life… no words about the bread section ? I am so surprised. Waiting for the next video to hear about your remarks.
Chocolate is definitely for breakfast!
Medals on the wine does not mean much. It is also mainly marketing. Their are events where they taste 300 wine with 6 wine per tables and for every tables, you have a gold silver and bronze medal. So 50 gold medal from one event only.
Interesting to watch. I have lived in the US for two years (IL. and CA.), and I can only confirm what you say in the video.
Note that you can open 6 packs of water or milk bottles or cans, you cannot open 4 or 6 pack of yoghurts. Eggs are indeed sold at room temperature (RT). You can keep them at RT after buying them for days. For the milk, if you buy UHT (ultra haute temperature) sterilized milk, it will keep for weeks. US friends I had at home find the tasteof UHTs to be quite different from that of the US pasteurized milk, the UHT having a light caramel taste. Note that you can find also pasteurized milk; this one is sold at 4°C. Close enought from US products.
Regarding ham, I can only recommend to watch salt and nitrate content…
Regarding supply chains, most supermarkets rely in France on "centrales d'achat" meaning that goods are bought in very large amounts by the buying department of the supermaket chains, next send to, and distributed by each supermaket, but each supermarket can also buy from local producers. That's why you'll find international or national brands everywhere in France, but you will also find local products that differ from one region to the other. Additionally, there is a strong will to develop local supplies everywhere in France, for easy-to-understand ecological reasons.
Brown sugar, I am from the UK and some supermarkets in france have a version of soft brown sugar that I would use for chewey bakes like cookies and brownies, I dont have a photo but it says veginoise brun on the label. It is the brown sugar with more moisture in, they do different degrees of colours.
American burger sauce 🤣. But the french also dont have french fries 🤣 just fries 🤣
The fresh pasteurised milk is kept in the refrigerated section and the quantities are usually pretty small. The UHT or long life milk is not refrigerated and the shelves are similar in size to the ham section! I've never understood why the French, who after all invented pasteurisation, seem to prefer long life rather than fresh milk…
Bonjour! Thank you for the referral to watch Theo to better understand the political landscape in France right now. We plan on moving to France in the fall, so this video on shopping and the other videos on why location is so important has made us rethink where we buy or rent. Merci!! Dean & Cindy
There should be a deli counter at your supermarket. It's called "Charcuterie".
They should have a counter for the cheese as well; Normally they have a solid sélection and you'll find cheeses you can't find in packs. And the quality should be better.
The brown sugar you are looking for is called "Vergeoise", if you can't find it at the supermarket, try your local "Bio" Store
Hello, the brown sugar you're after is called muscovado here, it does exist but is a bit less common than other sugar types
For the chips and sauces, French aren't the most creative in flavors, belgian supermarkets have kilometers of shelves just for them !
the best way though is to buy most of your food not in supermarkets, for food quality, and for ecology (no plastic), and more money for those who actually grow the food, instead of the CEO of whatever supermarket brand that will pay his empoyees as low as they can
9:15 don’t be fooled by that marketing stunt.
Butter is butter after all.
What you need to pay attention to is the amount of fat : less than 80% of matière grasse, you need to question the composition and what will enter your body
9:06 Fromage blanc is what vanilla is to ice cream : it’s the basics.
Middle class French people have an ambivalent relationship with la grande distribution.
While we appreciate the perks of large offer and lower price, we hate that the producers are being bullied by the likes of Leclerc, Auchan and Carrefour.
Not everyone can afford to flip flop to their butcher every two days.
Plus hyper markets are a necessity for families meaning budget optimized, time compressed and moving with cars.
Have you tried the pick up’n drive groceries though?
I used to guilty-pleasure watch French expats going food shopping in foreign countries, then expats coming back to do the same in France and getting reverse culture shock. Now I'm watching foreigners going to French supermarkets. Is the next step watching people in their own countries going food shopping where they always have? This food obsession is growing a personality…
Good morning,
concerning pastry items such as the baking powder you mentioned, we use it in cakes, but sparingly as it gives a strange taste to the cakes. I saw that there were items from La Patelière that were too expensive to buy.
As far as ham is concerned, please go to a butcher's and delicatessen which makes its own ham, and sincerely as for cheeses… go to a cheese dairy.
don't forget that real ham isn't pink, it's grey. it's the nitrites that make it pink.
I think that sugar in America comes from sugar cane whereas sugar in France comes essentially from sugar beet. This was decided by Napoleon to make up for the lack of sugar which, at the time, came from his enemies, the English.
There's a long tradition of homemade pastries in France; every mother had her secrets. Of course they're being lost, but they still exist, like clafoutis, floating islands, rice pudding, semolina cakes, baked apples, French toast and pudding made from old bread.
Coming from Ireland, the first thing I notice in French supermarkets is the smell. Charcuterie, fromagerie, boulangerie etc. So different from home. ❤🤍💙🇫🇷
Hello, do not buy ham in plastic containers. You should prefer to take some at the « charcutier » corner.Ask for « jambon blanc bleu blanc cœur » 😉
What are you talking about,?, Of course there's brown sugar!
HEB would be a hard adjustment most Americans wouldn’t understand, much less, Europeans. My preferred Houston blend would be difficult to give up.
Tip for you : if you don't have a euro for your trolley or if you don't have the plastic token, you can go at the reception desk to get one. It's free. Works in any supermarket or craftshop.
NB : In some areas trolleys don't need coins to use them. 😉
How's the non dairy milk scene? Soy, almond, coconut, rice, cashew milk etc
Plenty of brown sugar in supermarkets I've been to in my dept (35). Often called sucre vergeoise.
Might be hard to find where you live but you can get unrefined canne sugar aka brown sugar (the wet stuff) in asian supermarkets all around paris, baking soda is everywhere i don't get why you would find it. Homebaking is big in france it's just not the same recipes.
Chocolate is for all time of day, you've got only one life, treat yourself.
The American Burger thing would be the same as french dressing, it's not a thing here but exist out of france… it's just marketing.
Precut lardons are bad, full of salt and give off too much water when cooking. Buy smoked "poitrine" and cut it yourself, it's way better and you can have it as thick or thin slices, or cube it to the size you need.
What's the difference between baking soda and baking powder? Different package size?
5:34 You can also look for an already ripped off wrap and take the amount of item you need.
Don't rip open a new pack please 😉
Regarding cereals – no one is buying chocolate cereals anymore…
Cereals are baaaaddd