It’s been an interesting month! I’ve been incapacitated in two ways: my knees got very bad after too much clambering in Switzerland (train, of course!) and I’ve had to resort to hobbling around on crutches to take the weight off them. The relevance of that is that it’s been difficult for me to cook because of the standing around. And then I was bedridden with a nasty virus all last week… SO Dave has been doing almost all the cooking (including my lunch), although he doesn’t normally follow the “eating local” for himself, although he certainly eats what I cook. And he’s been a real hero about it! He’s taken on my pigeon stir-fry, spicy fried cabbage with garlic and chilli, rhubarb compote, rabbit casserole – all without a word of complaint. AND he’s done all the shopping, even though he works full time. So I think it’s real proof that you can still eat local if you have a full-time job!
Lamenting the last of the purple sprouting broccoli
Simon at Mayflower Organics has now finished his purple sprouting broccoli, which is a real loss for me. I love it – it is so much more characterful and delicious than the ubiquitous calabrese (which Simon also sells). I love the sprouting broccoli season as much as the asparagus season (which luckily hasn’t finished yet!).
Changing my exceptions
I have slightly changed my exceptions (and have amalgamated a couple – is that cheating?). I now have the following:
• seasonings: this includes spices (black pepper and chilli, mainly) and garlic and I’ve also included a bit of ginger (although I’m still only using local herbs)
• tinned tomatoes
• gluten-free bread
• rice cakes
• sultanas (total giving in to cravings) – I replaced the puy lentils, which I only had once, using up leftovers at the beginning
This is my third round of eating local, and I feel okay about the seasonings – when I did it the first two times, I was a real stickler and insisted on counting everything, so I didn’t even allow myself pepper, as it wasn’t one of my exceptions. Now I think it’s better to be relaxed about it – seasonings are not flown in and you get them in very small quantities and they make an incredible difference to the flavour!
To be honest, the sultanas were because I finished the last of the stored apples in early May and, although I love rhubarb (and local blackcurrant jam!) I really wanted some really sweet fruit! This is not called the Hungry Gap for nothing!
Posted by Bev