Münsbach, Luxembourg
A Recommendation Worth Following
Some of the best places I discover begin with a recommendation from a friend.
A friend was getting ready to make tomato sauce for her son in college. I remember those days well, bringing my boys their favourite foods so they could have a little comfort from home while they were away at school.
Since I had been thinking about making passata, I was happy to tag along with her to Les Paniers de Sandrine in Münsbach, where she buys her tomatoes and other produce. We met at the farm shop and had the opportunity to speak with Sandrine while we were there.
Sandrine told us it had been a difficult growing year. Even so, the Cornue des Andes tomatoes were exceptional. They were ripe, sweet and full of flavour, exactly what I had hoped to find.
Les Paniers de Sandrine is more than a place to buy vegetables. The shop is filled with seasonal produce and a variety of local and regional products. There are preserves, juices, eggs, cheeses and other pantry items alongside the fresh fruit and vegetables.
It is definitely a place I will return to. The best part of the visit was sharing it with a friend who loves cooking as much as I do. We went there to buy tomatoes, but we also connected through our shared experience as parents and the many ways we continue to care for our children through food.
Around the Farm Shop
Seasonal produce, preserves, drinks and local products fill the relaxed, welcoming farm shop.
There is plenty to look through beyond the fresh produce. Shelves and tables are filled with jars, bottles and products from local and regional producers.
I especially loved seeing the tomatoes displayed in their crates. The shop feels connected to the growing season and to the people producing the food rather than simply selling it.
What Came Home With Me
From a bowl of ripe Cornue des Andes tomatoes to jars of homemade passata.
I came home with 12 kg of BIO Cornue des Andes tomatoes. Sandrine grows them from seed, and their long shape and flavourful flesh are not as watery as many other tomatoes, which helped produce a beautifully smooth passata.
They were so naturally sweet and flavourful that I did not add any salt or sugar. I slowly cooked the tomatoes, passed them through a handheld food mill and preserved the finished passata in jars.
From the 12 kg of tomatoes, I made six 750 ml jars of passata. Now I am already thinking about the first sauce I will make with them.
You can see the complete process on my Homemade Passata page under Kitchen Life.
Plan Your Visit
Les Paniers de Sandrine
266, rue Principale
L-5366 Münsbach, Luxembourg
Farm-shop hours can change, so I recommend checking the Les Paniers de Sandrine website before visiting.
You can also find Sandrine on Instagram.
What I Learned
- Friends are often the best source of recommendations for places worth discovering.
- Sharing a love of cooking can bring people together in unexpected ways.
- As parents, we continue to care for our children through food, even after they have grown and left home.
- Buying directly from a grower gives you a better understanding of the food and the season behind it.
- A difficult growing year can still produce something exceptional.
- Cornue des Andes are my new favourite tomatoes for making passata.
- The quality of the tomatoes determines the quality of the finished sauce.
- Food really does connect us all.
Liz 'N Lux 