Grandmother’s Day: a gourmet gift filled with sweet memories

First Sunday of March

What if her gift brought back a favourite memory?

Some smells take you forty years back. A lid being unscrewed, a spoon resting on the edge of a plate, yesterday’s bread going into the toaster.

A jar does not get put away in a cupboard. It is opened the next morning, and it recalls who gave it at every breakfast.

Lavender honey is the one you recognise with your eyes closed: floral, straightforward, no detour. On toast, or in an evening herbal tea.

Pear and vanilla jam — rounded, with no sharpness, it works everywhere and startles nobody. Which is exactly what you want for a safe gift.

The pears are cooked in a copper cauldron in small batches, the vanilla infused at the end of cooking so that it stays noticeable.

If you do not know her tastes, this is the one.

Apricot and lavender jam — southern apricots and lavender, for anyone who spent their summers in Provence.

Salted butter caramel — plain, honest indulgence, the kind you take by the teaspoon at the end of the day without telling anyone.

Both work on their own, or side by side in a gift box.

If you are torn between two flavours, take both. The build-your-own box is filled jar by jar and closes on a toile de Jouy case.

Nothing to wrap: it arrives ready to give.

It is the gift you put together in five minutes and that lasts three months.

Which gourmet gift should you give your grandmother? Something she will use every day rather than an object: honey, jam or caramel.

What budget should you plan for? Around ten euros for a single jar, a four-jar box for a more substantial gift.

When is Grandmother’s Day? The first Sunday of March in France.