Patf

I've looked up quenelles, and realise now they're more like gefilte fish . Which I've made in the past, but a bit fiddly as the ingredients need to be minced or ground.  Formed into balls then they can be poached, fried or baked.Now we can buy the prepared mixture, either white fish or salmon, ready for cooking. The baked ones are nice cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers and shallots. Also don't stink the house out like the other 2.

Watch the french rugby team's mouths singing the Marseillaise. When they get to "MUgir ces feroces soldats" - [:)]

I've never cooked crozets or quenelles, but had a look on my favourite french cookery website, 750g.Lots of suggestions there:https://www.750g.com/recherche.htm?search=crozetshttps://www.750g.com/recherche.htm?search=quenellesI've never heard of crozets, I thought quenelles were basically mashed potato and egg, fried in large spoonfuls?

"un bon vin blanc!"When we started to learn french at school we spent a whole term  practising those nasal sounds.Then I came to the Gers where they say "ping" for "pain". ie pain - bread.

My spoken french is probably similar to yours, Idun. I just dived in and hoped for the best.There was a discussion like this on another forum, which went onto fear of making mistakes. I think this is more common among men than among women.

I'm glad to see you being impartial for once. ALBF   [:)]I was going to say the same thing.

I agree about the smell Lehaut. We had a deepfryer in France but it lived in the barn where I plugged it in sometimes.When our eldest was in his late teens he sometimes came home late at night but we always knew when he was home (relief) because of the smell of the deepfryer as he made himself some chips.

Geordie and Judith - both good advice.I have a french one which works well, but will be searching for another one here in the UK.I'll try Lakeland, there's one near us.

Idun you sound so energetic - I'm running out of steam when it comes to baking and cooking.And we don't do deep frying any more, husband has a stomach problem and oily foods make him ill.I do shallow-fry fish though and use a tiny bit of sunflower oil, which seems tasteless to me.No chips [:(]

Good idea to add sesame seeds to the dough. We bought a big bag of them online, just to sprinkle on top after the egg glaze. But they need to be used up before  the oil in them goes rancid.I use sunflower oil in the dough. and sometimes honey instead of sugar.We like moist, sweetish bread.

I think it depends on what type of bread you like, we all make whatever suits our taste.I've never used a breadmaker machine, but a few years ago husband bought a Kenwood with a dough hook which takes out all the hard work of kneading.We like wholemeal bread, I use Allinsons, 60% wholemeal, 40% white. And I add a tbsp of black treacle to the warm liquid. Also some salt to the flour mix. As you say essential, Idun. We can get fresh yeast from a Jewish bakery where we live now.  But I don't like their white bread  (challas etc.)  Too dry.

We were friendly with the english lady who sells british foods in the Gers markets. She has always done well, with many french customers too.I always bought bread flour from her, usually Doves Farm brand.I know you probably don't agree, Idun, but I think french bread flour is rubbish.Otherwise we bought french.

I think mijoteuse is the word.I tried to explain to the person I was giving it to that I think you have to pre-heat it, and pre- fry the ingredients before putting them in . It must have been one of the early ones because you don't have to do that now.I now have a much bigger one which I use regularly.

What's the name of slow cookers in France? I think it's something to do with simmering.I've got a small one called Cordon Bleu which I bought in France and hardly used. Giving it to someone here but need an instruction booklet.

Before I read all this I was going to suggest -"  'sais pas".Not wanting to commit in case they get it wrong. I heard it so many times.But you 2 get on with your debate, probably more relevant.