Not much going on here, just the fixings for a lazy afternoon at our home from home in Vieux Nice: what more could you need than a chilled bottle of Côtes de Provence rosé, a package of freshly sliced finocchiona (fennel salami), crunchy taralli with chili, baguette still-warm from its wood oven, a block of [...]
Archive for the ‘shopping’ Category
sunny afternoon snacking
Posted in shopping, spring on April 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
this poutine, not that poutine*
Posted in ingredients, overseas, restaurants, shopping, spring, tagged anchovies, poutina, poutine, sardines, Vieux Nice on April 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
My first husband’s idea of wit was to exclaim, whenever the opportunity presented itself (surprisingly, gratingly, often); ”Anchovies? Smelly little fish!” The marriage didn’t last long, but if by some warped circumstance we had found ourselves strolling the markets of Vieux Nice last week, I should have been delighted to waterboard him with a [...]
valentine pinks
Posted in fast food, shopping, wine, tagged Waitrose, charcuterie, saucisson, Valentine's Day, Taittinger, prosciutto on February 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Cured meats, two of our favourite convenience foods: sitting on the left side of our slate roof tile we have saucisson with pimento and mustard seeds and on the right, prosciutto crudo – home-carved from the boneless joint I scooped at Lidl just before Christmas… ….add rosé Champagne, one of my favourite things to drink, and we [...]
sanguine bloody sanguines
Posted in shopping, spring on March 14, 2009 | 2 Comments »
And then I tried the Maltese sanguines: smaller and cheaper by 50p, sharper and less fragrant. A much milder thrill than the stunning Sicilian Tarocco, but a welcome dose of sunshine all the same.
Bloody Taroccos
Posted in Winter, shopping, slow food, spring, tagged fruit, orange, shopping, Waitrose on March 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Treat time at Waitrose: Tarocco “blush” oranges are on the shelves again, it’s Blood Orange season! Much as I disapprove in theory, I do understand blood oranges’ rebranding to something a little less daunting; I remember as a child when presented with a carefully peeled and segmented Blood Orange I used to wonder if it [...]
brandade fumée – a mash of smoked fish
Posted in Autumn/Fall, Summer, Winter, credit crunch, fast food, ingredients, recipes, shopping, tagged Lidl, recipe, smoked fish on December 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
One of my all-time favourite dishes is brandade de morue – salt cod whipped up with olive oil and mashed potato plus a wee hint or more of garlic and a scatter of parsley. Much as I adore the taste, though, I’m not about to pack in my suitcase a whiffy hunk of dried North Atlantic [...]
an afternoon at the butchers, a night at the Opera
Posted in shopping, tagged butchers, Vieux Nice on November 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Talk about a view – this was mine for a full 50 minutes last Saturday. We waited and we waited and we waited: and then we waited some more. All I wanted was to pick up a couple of grillades de boeuf at a great price, but the entire population of Vieux Nice descended simultaneously [...]
a civilized day out
Posted in Autumn/Fall, shopping, tagged art, food, Fortnum and Mason, London, shopping on October 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Somerset House photo credit: Jan van der Crabben A couple of weeks ago we dashed up to the Big Smoke on a sunny Saturday to catch the last weekend of the Courtauld Institute’s Cezanne exhibition - which was stunning, btw. And what a stunning day all round: Somerset House itself; at the far eastern end of The Strand, [...]
Scooby snacks
Posted in restaurants, shopping, tagged Fergus Henderson, restaurants on July 28, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Spotted at my local Saturday market: chewy snacks for the discerning doggie. Top from left: cow throats, pig trotters, “paddy whacks” – what’s that? Front from left: pig snouts, postman’s legs, honey roast bones Also on display were rinds, knuckles and shanks plus a wide variety of unidentifiable edibles for – and by – animals. [...]
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