Kitchen Essentials
Living "less" conveniently for a while now has meant that I have developed a fairly consistent range of essential items that fill my cupboards and freezer and have been granted permanent residency in my kitchen! For the most part they are raw ingredients that when mixed together or combined with fresh produce will enable a multitude of recipes and meals.
Where possible I buy from local and independent retailers but also end up using Waitrose (our local supermarket) for top-ups. My favourite shops, local to me, for these essentials are Alamin http://www.alamin.co.uk andArjuna http://www.arjunawholefoods.co.uk both on Mill Road
Online I order from Shipton Mill http://www.shipton-mill.com
Healthy Supplieshttp://www.healthysupplies.co.uk and have recently experimented with Abel and Colehttp://www.abelandcole.co.uk/ .
Healthy Supplieshttp://www.healthysupplies.co.uk and have recently experimented with Abel and Colehttp://www.abelandcole.co.uk/ .
Fresh Essentials
Our most satisfying and fun source is, unquestionably, foraging and, for want of a better term,"urban scrumping".
Generally I find it easy and enjoyable to shop locally for most of our fresh produce, although I have found dairy is a little trickier.
Most of the fresh food that we buy is eaten when it is in season and it definitely tastes better this way. I also try to avoid buying too much that has been imported and buy the British option where available.
Fruit is where I bend the rules as we would find it very tricky to manage without bananas, citrus and tropical fruits like mango and avocado.
FRUIT & VEG:
We grow a majority of our own vegetables and fruit. For everything that we don't, or can't produce enough of, there are some great market stalls in Cambridge and a local Farmers Outlet. TheShelfordDeli http://www.shelforddelicatessen.co.uk/ is a little pricier but I find it a useful place to pick up extra items and treats when I have been to the Butchers.
MEAT:
For meat and eggs we mostly use our local Butchers, Barker Brothers in Great Shelfordhttp://www.barkerbrosbutchers.co.uk/Site/HOME.html and Searle & Sons in Sawston. There is also a fantastic farmers market, every fourth Saturday, in Shelford, which I particularly enjoy visiting. A friend of mine owns
La Hogue Farm Shop near Newmarket http://www.lahogue.co.ukThey sell home produced and local food, including their own high welfare, grass fed Lamb and their Venison Steaks are above and beyond any that we get elsewhere. On the odd occasion that we borrow a car this is our destination shop. They have recently started selling online and I intend to try this service out soon.
FISH:
Fish is not as easy to come by. Our Butcher has a small selection and the monthly farmers market has an excellent Fish Van but you need to catch him early as he sells out fast. There is a fish man in the main market but he is not there daily and invariably I seem to miss him.
DAIRY:
At the moment I am pretty much using Waitrose for all my dairy requirements (trusting their claim that they pay a fair price to dairy farmers). I tried using our local dairy last year and after four failed attempts I am loathe to try again. During the six weeks that I was experimenting with Abel and Cole, I used them for my weekly milk supply and was really impressed. The milk that they sell is not homogenised and this makes a huge difference to the taste. Marcus and I actually changed to skimmed milk as it is far less watery than the homogenised version and tasted more like the semi skimmed that we were used to. I am currently investigating an alternative to Waitrose.
Generally I find it easy and enjoyable to shop locally for most of our fresh produce, although I have found dairy is a little trickier.
Most of the fresh food that we buy is eaten when it is in season and it definitely tastes better this way. I also try to avoid buying too much that has been imported and buy the British option where available.
Fruit is where I bend the rules as we would find it very tricky to manage without bananas, citrus and tropical fruits like mango and avocado.
La Hogue Farm Shop near Newmarket http://www.lahogue.co.ukThey sell home produced and local food, including their own high welfare, grass fed Lamb and their Venison Steaks are above and beyond any that we get elsewhere. On the odd occasion that we borrow a car this is our destination shop. They have recently started selling online and I intend to try this service out soon.
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