ecat

Bonjour,

We're headed for Paris in a couple weeks (yippee) and I am wondering if anyone knew what type of milk we would purchase for our café/espresso at our apartment. I'm looking for the equivalent of half & half, whole milk, or what you would get at a cafe, nothing non-fat please!

I love grocery shopping in other countries however I know I always get so confused looking at the milk products with the different colored containers. Any help would be appreciated because I do love my coffee.

Thanks, E

RondaTravels

Demi-creme seems to be about the equivalent of whole milk. I don't think I've even seen non-fat in France! -Ronda

kenderina

Non fat is decreme (french is not my best LOL) and then, there's demi-creme and whole milk...which I don't think it has any other name but "lait"

susanna

Great question. I always buy an assortment of milks, non of which have been half and half. I have bought stuff that curdled, that wouldn't dissolve, that had to have been non fat, everything but half and half. Then the other question is do I buy it in the fridge section or the shelf section, being from the US I am leery about the shelf versions of milk!

I do believe that demi cream is whole milk, which will do in a pinch... I sure hope that someone answers this question, I've been stumped for years!

Travelnut

We buy demi-creme to drink and prefer 1% at home, and I think these are fairly equivalent. (I never tried reading the nutrition label).

ecat

Thanks everyone, sounds like demi-cream would be the ticket. I'll try and post my findings when we return.

E

Christina

It isn't demi-creme, but lait demi-écrémé for low-fat milk. Complete nonfat would omit the "demi" part. Whole milk is lait entier.

écrémé means skimmed from the verb to skim, écrémer.

Travelnut

found this:
Le lait entier contient au moins 3,5 % de graisses.
Le lait demi-écrémé en contient au moins 1,5 %
Le lait maigre ne peut contenir plus de 0,3 % de graisses

I translate that to be:
Lait "entier" is whole milk
Lait "demi-écrémé" is half-fat or low-fat
Lait "maigre" is skim milk
(or maigre is low-fat and demi is like 2%)

djkbooks

For half % half, look for 15%.

djkbooks

Half & half - 15%.

Kate_W

The options for fresh milk are relatively limited in grocery stores (whole milk and skim milk, maybe). If you can't find what you're looking for, you might have to buy UHT milk.

On the other hand, you will find 30 different kinds of plain yogourt ...

susanna

Kate, yogurt is a whole new story. I'm happy to say that I can't figure out the yogurt so I think that I am eating the real thing which is no comparison to my no fat no sugar home version. In fact, I think that I have bought and eaten desert for breakfast...silly me!

djkbrooks...where do I find the 15%...I don't recall ever seeing that, is it readily available?

nona1

You don't get 15% fat milk.Whole milk is only 4% fat.

Semi-skimmed (half fat milk) is around 1.7%.

nona1

sorry, just realised that 'half and half' probably isn't the same as half-fat milk. What is it? Half milk/half cream? We don't get that here...

ira

Hi nona,

Half and half is 1/2 cream-1/2 milk.

Unless you are in a bar and then it is 1/2 Harp's and 1/2 Guiness.

ripit

Right on, Ira! So much better than black & tan

caroline_edinburgh

"Half and half is 1/2 cream-1/2 milk.

Unless you are in a bar and then it is 1/2 Harp's and 1/2 Guiness."

Unless you are in a bar in Scotland and then it is half a pint of beer and half a gill of whisky (in separate glasses)

BTilke

There are also creams especially for coffee. Nutroma is one of the most popular brands. They're sold in bottles or in boxes of little individual packets. The bottles don't need to be fridged until they're opened.