What's in the box? January 2020

January 20, 2020

Once again it is a shipment from Coucke that bring us back to that Christmas feeling, less than a month after! Let's open the boxes and see what's new.

Panier and Champs de Lavande: Two towels that get to the core of Provence style. The two towels are the same purple color and celebrate the wonderful lavender of Provence (best lavender in the world, bien sûr). Panier is the French word for basket and the design shows a traditional wicker basket filled with lavender branches. If this design looks familiar, you know your Coucke towels well! This design is indeed very similar to the "Lavande blue" and "Lavande lilac" towels that have been available for several years now. These have been extremely popular and Coucke has naturally decided to introduce a new updated version. The other "sister" towel is the "Champs de Lavande" or "Lavender Fields". Using the same colors and general style, this towel shows a field of lavender as you would find traveling through Provence. These will go fast.

Véritable gruyère and camembert: Who doesn't like French cheese? Bread, wine and cheese are the basis of French culinary culture, there is no doubt about it. Just ask any French person and they will confirm this fact. We are happy to welcome two new designs to our catalog that celebrate two of the most popular French cheeses. The first one is gruyère. Gruyère is a cheese from the alpine region of France just across the border from Switzerland. It is similar to what is called "Swiss cheese" in the US. As a matter of fact, if you want to describe something as being full of holes in French, you call it gruyère! It is a hard cheese that is well suited for melting and perfect for fondues. Camembert, on the other hand, is a creamy cheese from the region of Normandy that is best enjoyed with bread or toast between the main course and dessert during a typical French meal.

Paris City and Cities terry: Coucke has introduced several towels themed after world cities. We decided to carry the Paris jacquard towel (obviously) as well as the Cities terry towel. The Beautiful red Paris City towel shows the usual suspects: Eiffel tower, Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame (get well soon). I love that the designer decided to add a rooster on top of Notre Dame. The rooster is the symbol of France and adds an extra touch of Frenchness to the design. Most, if not all, French churches and cathedrals do have a rooster shaped weathervanes on the roof by the way. The towel also has fireworks because, even though the French didn't invent it, they helped popularize it. The complete towel series includes four jacquard tea towels: Paris, London, New York and Berlin. It also includes one terry towel that has all four cities represented. The Cities terry towel includes a skyscraper and the Statue of Liberty for New York, Big Ben, the London Eye Ferris wheel and a red telephone box for London, the Eiffel Towel for Paris and the Brandenburg Gate for Berlin. 

Sauvignon terry towel: It was supposed to be in the last shipment but ended up not making it. This terry towel is the companion towel to the Chardonnay and Grand Cru we received last year. It is a beautiful modern design in an attractive light shade of green. The Sauvignon is a dry white wine from the region of Bordeaux. Does it go better with gruyère or camembert? There is only one way to find out!

Crab apron: We started carrying aprons from Coucke last year and the response was very positive. We ran out of stock quickly and decided to add another one to the catalog. We decided on the crab after we noticed how well the towels of the same crab line sold last year. For all the seafood lovers, we present this beautiful apron! It is striped gray with a large red crab  and the words "le crabe" (the crab) and "J'en pince pour toi" which literally translates as "I pinch for you" but really means "I dig you". The apron has a turquoise tie that also acts as the neck strap. To shorten the neck strap, just pull on the ties! The apron is made in France and beautifully constructed as any Coucke product.

We hope you enjoy the new towels and aprons. They are available for sale on our website.

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