WHITE SUGAR

Consume with moderation

Se faire plaisir ne rime pas avec régime minceur.  Pleasing oneself does not rhyme with dieting. The most basic of French desserts, a simple crêpe with sucre cristallisé.  

Look twice at labels when shopping for white sugar in France:

Sucre cristal or sucre cristallisé is a sugar which has granules larger than what you would want for most baking. It's usually stirred into coffee or used in grandmothers' jam recipes. It dissolves more slowly than finely granulated sugar.

Sucre en poudre is a finer sugar used to make  meringues, crèmes Chantilly and most pâtisseries.

Sucre glace is very finely granulated sugar known as confectioner's sugar, powdered sugar or icing sugar.

Sucre en grains is a sugar of small, pearl-sized opaque granules ideal for decorating pastries and desserts.

Photo courtesy of Ian Byrd
©2012 P.B. Lecron

KITSCHY SWEET

Even though I don't usually buy individually wrapped sugar, I cracked for these Eiffel Tower sugar sticks. Considering we have only one friend who takes sugar in his coffee, they may be around for a long while.

Very merchandisable. The box opens into a sugar stick distributor and the back has interesting Eiffel Tower fun facts. Can holidays be far away?

Next to the sugar sticks in the supermarket were these Béghin Say sugar cubes wrapped in minature postcard views of  Paris, Versailles, Strasbourg, Nancy, Lille, Honfleur, Le Mont Saint Michel, La Rochelle, Carcassonne, Avignon, Marseille, Nice and Ajaccio. Bed and breakfast hosts will undoubtedly set out these "visit France" enticements on their morning tables.

Vocabulary

le sucre:  the sugar

une dosette:  a little dose

une bûchette de sucre en poudre:  a sugar stick

sucre enveloppé:  wrapped sugar

un morceau de sucre:  a piece of sugar; sugar cube

Text & photos ©2011 P.B.Lecron