Avoid the big online shop and visit local grocers instead …
Food shopping. My retail therapy, my way to unwind. Some people spend an entire afternoon in Brown Thomas or Selfridges. I would rather be in the food hall, holding a basket, deciding whether I really need another tin of anchovies to add to my already over-spilling cupboards. (I do.)
My perfect food shopping experience in Dublin starts at Asia Market, where I will inevitably buy two new types of chilli oil, frozen dumplings and several packets of instant noodles. I’ll then swing by Ayla Turkish Foods Market for baklava, tahini, nuts and dates, or Little Italy in Smithfield for my favourite tinned tomatoes and a pasta restock. Finally, I’ll stop into Evergreen on my way home for fruit and vegetables.
If I lived in Cork, I would be at the English Market instead of traipsing around the city because everything is in one place. Every ingredient you could ever need, all under one roof. It puts Dublin’s food shopping options to shame. Can someone please explain to me why a capital city doesn’t have anything comparable?
I’m aware that I’m saying all this as someone who is childless and works in food. Wandering around shops on a Wednesday afternoon is not most people’s reality, so this is more of a suggestion than a sermon. A reminder that one less decision made on a screen is probably no bad thing.
This column came from a recent conversation with my 95-year-old granny, who is unlike any other 95-year-old I know. She gave birth to six children in ten years and now has 35 direct descendants, 25 of them women. She looks about 60, clearly still has many years ahead of her, and she loves to cook for herself and insists on doing her own food shopping. It gets her out of the house even on the darkest and coldest days. She’ll likely bump into someone she knows, and she can buy just one carrot, one salmon fillet or a handful of potatoes, rather than the two kilos that would inevitably arrive with an online order. She says it’s her secret to a long life: keep cooking, and always go to the shop yourself.
People often ask how I come up with a recipe, and most of the time it’s conjured from whatever I’m craving. I’ll go to the shop or mill around the supermarket for far too long, wandering up and down the aisles for inspiration. It might start at the meat or fish counter, or in the vegetable aisle, where I’ll spot something and suddenly it all clicks into place. My mind starts racing as I pick up the rest of the ingredients, and then I head home to make whatever has formed in my head. I could never do this online. A picture of a ripe peach will never compare to the smell of one.
March is admittedly a tricky month for seasonal produce, as we’re in limbo. Winter isn’t over yet, so we’re still firmly in the grip of root vegetables, but around this time spring greens appear, which I love. I went to my local greengrocer this week and saw huge packs selling for a euro, so I went home already knowing what I wanted to serve them with.
I love a polpetta: an Italian meatball made with breadcrumbs, milk and parmesan, and not usually served with pasta. I very rarely get inspired by online recipes, but Ben Tish shared a version of these and I immediately wanted to make my own. The pork, fennel and rosemary polpette are fried until golden, then white wine is added to bubble and collect all the flavour from the bottom of the pan, before they’re baked in the oven and draped with lemon slices. Served over a bed of spring greens, with the sauce poured over and extra parmesan on top, it’s the most comforting meal you’ll make this month.
You can adapt this recipe with any greens in season such as purple sprouting broccoli, spinach, cabbage, chard or even some lemon-dressed rocket. Just buy what looks best.
SEE MORE: Cooking To Clear Out The Food Cupboards