Fine food from House of Albert Ménès & Cafédirect

Received an email from Mileage Communications informing that they have some food samples from France and UK for tasting. The package was couriered to me and we've got a box of Matzo Bread and a bottle of Violet Fig Jam from House of Albert Ménès, and Medium Roast Freeze-Dried Instant Coffee from Cafédirect.

The House of Albert Ménès was founded in 1921, famous for over 350 French fine artisan foods, made from original classic French recipes.

Matzo bread is a flat and unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during the week-long Passover holiday. There are two major forms of matzo (soft and hard). In many western countries the most common form is the hard form of matzo which has cracker-like appearance and taste.

The Matzo bread from Albert Ménès does look like huge squares of cream crackers. They are crispy like crackers too except that its tasteless and must be eaten with a dip or toppings. I had it with the Fig Jam from Albert Ménès, dipped in coffee (from Cafédirect) and with curry chicken. Very yummy and a good alternative to the french loaf!

Violet Fig Jam from Albert Ménès is made from carefully selected whole figs grown in Soilles-Pont in Var, south of France. The figs are peeled and cooked the rustic way by the loving hands of French artisans, in an open copper cauldron, like all other jams from the House of Albert Ménès, preserving the natural taste of the whole fruit. The jam is quite sweet and has chunks of fig flesh in every scoop. Taste pretty good with the tasteless matzo bread.

The Violet Fig Jam ($18) and the Matzo Bread ($9) are sold at Market Place at Paragon, Raffles City and Tanglin Mall, Jasons the Gourmet Grocer @ ION Orchard and Sentosa Quayside as well as Robinsons Orchard.

Cafédirect is the UK’s first and largest 100% Fairtrade beverage brand. Cafédirect also has a hot beverage range that includes 100% Fairtrade tea and hot chocolate. The Medium Roast Freeze-Dried instant coffee from Cafédirect is a perfect formula of balancing the sweet and chocolaty Arabica beans from South America, with the all-rounder beans from the highlands of Central America, and the vibrant bold-bodied East African Natural Robusta coffee beans. Carefully selected for roasting to a pleasing medium 3 scale, and freeze-dried to retain its natural goodness.

The easy to prepare beverage works best for the lazy me, or for busy people who are constantly on the go. Just add hot water and wala...a nice fragrant cup of hot coffee for a quick pick-me-up. The coffee has a pleasant aroma but taste a tad too acidic for me when taken without milk/creamer. Hubby had it with milk and he said its a rather fine cuppa considering that it is instant coffee.

Cafédirect Freeze-dried Medium Roast Instant Coffee is priced at $10.90 per 100g jar.  It is available at major supermarkets like Cold Storage, FairPrice Finest, Giant Hyper, Jasons and Market Place.

Special thanks to Mileage Communications for the free food samples.