What to eat for an “apéro” and where to find the French food products?

“Apéro” is a short word for “apéritif”, which is a pre-dinner drink. French people often eat during apéro, too. Here are the most typical French meals that can be eaten: 

Pâté, terrine and rillettes

These are very common French pre-dinner dishes. The pâté is a sort of paste which is a forcemeat made of liver and ground meat. It can be made with pork, beef, poultry, or fish, and it can be seasoned in various ways. When it is baked, it is considered a terrine. Then, there are the rillettes, that are more similar to a confit, and can be made with different meats, too: pork, chicken, goose, fish, etc. 

Where to find pâté, terrine and rillettes? 

These French meals can be ordered online from the chain D’Artagnan. 

• Find French pâté and terrine here :

https://www.dartagnan.com/search?q=pat%C3%A9

• Find rillettes and confit here:

https://www.dartagnan.com/buy/confit-rillettes/

French Cheese

There are more than a thousand of French cheese varieties. Here are some of the most commonly eaten cheeses in France: Camembert, Emmental, Comté, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Cantal, Roquefort, Crottin de Chavignol, Tomme de Savoie… and much more!   

Where to find French cheese? 

Online:

You can order cheeses directly from France on this website:  fromages.com  It features special selections of assortments, that you can find here:  https://www.fromages.com/en/cheeseboards/pre-selected-cheeseboards

At supermarkets: 

• Trader Joe’s

In Hartsdale:
215 N Central Ave
Hartsdale, NY 10530
(914) 997-1960

• Whole Foods Markets 
  

In White Plains:
110 Bloomingdale Rd
White Plains, NY 10605

• DeCicco&Sons
  

In Larchmont:
2141 Palmer Ave
Larchmont NY 10538
(914) 873-4447

French bread 

French bread, and especially French baguettes, can be eaten with pâté, cheese… or alone! Indeed, it goes with a lot of French meals, and it can go with your usual meals, too.   

Where to find French bread?

You can find the French baguettes and other French breads by ordering from these two bakeries and cafes: 

• Maison Margaux

https://www.maisonmargauxbakery.com/

• La Parisienne

https://la-parisienne-french-bakery-cafe.business.site/

Saucisson

The saucisson is a family of dry sausage in French cuisine. It is very commonly eaten in France for the “apéritif”, and it is often made of pork.  

Where to find saucisson? 

Like the pâté, French saucisson can be ordered on D’Artagnan: 

https://www.dartagnan.com/search?q=saucisson

Other meals that we eat in France for the “apéro”... 

• Crudités (tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, etc) with a sauce 
  

• Olives
  
• Appetizers made with puff pastry or small cakes (called amuse-bouche ou petit four salé)

• Crackers and chips
• Nuts (pistachio, cashew nuts, peanuts, salted almonds, etc)

Drink “kir” for your French “apéro”!  

Of course, the most common French drink is wine! But, we recommend you try a traditional French cocktail called the “kir”! 

How to prepare the French “kir”?

This recipe of the French “kir” makes 1 drink:

• 1oz of crème de cassis (a blackcurrant liquor)
  
• 4oz of white wine Bourgogne Aligoté or Chardonnay (it has to be a dry white wine). 
  

Where to find the ingredients for the “kir”?

We recommend the traditional crème de cassis Gabriel Boudier, which is one of the most ancient distilleries in Dijon, the city where the kir comes from. 

We also recommend the white wine Libération de Paris. 

In wine shops: 

Find the French wine and the crème de cassis in many of the wine shops in Westchester! For example:

• Harrison Wine Vault
  

289 Halstead Ave
Harrison NY 10528
(914) 835-0125

• Rochambeau Wines and Liquors
  

389 Broadway
Dobbs Ferry NY 10522
(914) 693-0034

• Stew Leonard’s  
  

1 Stew Leonard Drive
Yonkers, NY 10710
(914) 375-4700

Online: 

• Find the traditional brands Gabriel Boudier and the wine Libération de Paris on https://winechateau.com/ 
  
• https://www.wine.com/#