The Pantry
What we actually buy
The French things that get reordered in this house, and the ones that are different in America than they are at home.
Épicerie
The cupboard
What actually gets reordered. Most of it is unglamorous and none of it is expensive.
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Maille Dijon Originale
The one in every French fridge. Note that the American jars are made in Canada — it is still the right mustard, just not a French one.
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Amora Dijon
Cheaper than Maille, outsells it at home, and he prefers it. Harder to find here, which is the only reason it is second on this list.
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Bonne Maman confiture
The gingham lid is not marketing theatre — it is the jar French people actually have. Apricot or cherry; the strawberry is fine and he will not discuss it.
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LU Petit Écolier
A biscuit with a slab of chocolate on it, eaten at goûter, at four o’clock, by children and by adults pretending to supervise children.
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Valrhona baking chocolate
The reason French home baking tastes different. It is not the recipe. It is this.
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Teisseire sirop
Grenadine or mint, a splash in water. This is what French children drink instead of anything from a can.
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Fleur de sel de Guérande
For radishes and butter, and for finishing almost everything else. Not the same as sea salt and worth the difference.
Boissons
What is in the fridge
He has opinions about water. We have written them down at length.
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Evian
Genuinely French, genuinely from Évian-les-Bains, and the one bottled water he does not argue about.
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Badoit
Naturally sparkling, gently so. The French answer to the question American sparkling water keeps getting wrong.
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Orangina
Shake it. There is pulp at the bottom and the instruction is printed on the bottle for a reason.
La table
The things that make it French
Less obvious than the food, and more responsible for the difference.
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Café au lait bowls
Wide, shallow, no handle. This is not a styling choice — a baguette tartine will not fit into a mug, and that is the entire reason the bowl exists.
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A French butter dish
Keeps butter spreadable on the counter without it going off. Cold butter tears the bread, which is the whole problem with the American method.
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Beurre de baratte
Cultured, higher fat, salted with visible crystals. The single biggest upgrade available to an American kitchen for under ten dollars.
Pharmacie
The bathroom cabinet
The part of France that translates best, and the part Americans ask about most.
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Bioderma Sensibio H2O
The blue-capped bottle in every French bathroom. Removes everything, including mascara, without a flannel.
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Avène Eau Thermale
A can of water, which sounds absurd until the first sunburn or the first time a toddler has a rash.
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Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré
Moisturiser, primer, and what makeup artists reach for backstage. One tube, several jobs, unremarkable price.
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Klorane dry shampoo
The one French women actually use, and the reason the French wash their hair less often without anyone noticing.
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Mustela
What French babies are washed in. We are on our third and have not changed.
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La Roche-Posay Anthelios
Worth knowing that the American formulas differ from the French ones — the filters available here are not the same.
Prices and availability change, and American formulations sometimes differ from the French ones — where that matters, we have said so and linked the article explaining why. If something here turns out to be wrong, tell us and we will fix it.