Message in A Bottle

I am currently reading a book about the "dangers" of Supermarkets. "Shopped: The Shocking Power of British Supermarkets" which is quite interesting and I may post a review once I'm done. However, what strikes me about it is that it entirely blames the supermarkets for our current food woes.

Now I acknowledge that supermarkets have made poor decisions and (always being up for a bit of corporate bashing myself) I recognise that this might be a consequence of their capitalistic goals. On the other hand, a lot of their misdemeanours are a direct consequence of our consumer wants (boneless fish anyone?). Consequently, we are not without blame and my new project is to remind supermarkets that no-one wants strawberries in January (which, hearteningly, apparently they don't because today the berries in my local store were being sold at half price).

My quest began a couple of days ago when I asked for Fairtrade coffee at a train station kiosk (which may have belonged to a large coffee corporation... guilty cough...). I will confess I never really think to engage the "baristas" beyond ensuring that they leave enough room for milk, however, on hearing my requestion for "Fairtrade" one of the baristas popped over to have a little chat with me about my coffee choice.

"That's one of our best Fairtrade coffees" she said. Whereupon I asked "is all your coffee Fairtrade?"
"Unfortunately not yet" said she "our espressos are all ethically sourced but some of our filter coffees have not been certified".
I asked her why this was and whilst she didn't really know but suggested "if all our customers came in and asked for Fairtrade filter coffee then I think that all our coffee would become Fairtrade pretty quickly. I will let our manager know that you asked for Fairtrade".

I really enjoyed my takeaway coffee. I feel a little bit more optimistic about life in the knowledge that people actively are trying to change the organisations they work for and that we can help them do it. So cue my new mission "Chat at the Checkout".

Today was day 1 and it started with Passata (it would have been better if it started with something a little less processed but meh we take our opportunities when we can). The checkout girl was doing her thing and scanning through my groceries when I caught her attention by clattering my 2 bottles of passata together (not entirely intentionally I must admit).

"Oh gosh, I nearly had a passata disaster" I said.
"That passata's lovely, almost as good as making your own sauce" said the girl. "Yes" I replied loudly "certainly at this time of year, when the tomatoes have to be shipped from so far away and so aren't very tasty".
"That's true" agreed the girl "sometimes they can be a bit watery".
"Absolutely" I bellowed "and you know with this passata that the tomatoes were probably picked and canned very quickly, potentially even in Britain this summer. Isn't it amazing how long tomatoes can keep in a can"
The girl then replied "it allows you to get that real tomatoey & basil flavour in the winter" (honestly I promise I wasnt paying her).
"If only I could remember to buy the best local tomatoes during their season and make the sauce myself". At this point the 2 middle-aged women in the queue start nodding their heads vigorously.
The girl says " we should advertise when the tomato season is and remind people to stock up for the winter".
I replied innocently "yes that would be really helpful". "Oh yes" agreed the women behind me.

Day 1 of "Chat at the Checkout" verdict: BLOOMING SUCCESSFUL!! OK I am willing to acknowledge that I had very eager and willing participants (had my fellow shoppers been 15 year old boys, I think the head shaking might have been for some other reason). Nevertheless, the Seasonal Beets project has taught me that people generally really do enjoy talking about food and that presumably includes supermarket workers also!

So this is my plea: next time you are in a supermarket try chatting with checkout people or the fish and bakery staff. Let them know what you are looking for and ask why they don't have it. It'll break up the monotony of their day and the message might get passed on up the line.

Engagement is the name of the game, and we want to play that game with you!

p.s. The passata was for Spaghetti Bolognese which I won't insult you by providing a recipe for, suffice to say that the secret to a good Bolognese is lashings of Worcester sauce.

p.p.s. If you are looking for ethically sourced and very tasty coffee in Skåne, check out Lilla Kafferosteriet in Malmö.

Tutti Rooti

Winter gets a bad rep for vegetables and unnecessarily so. This is the time when we can indulge in that hidden delight of the plant: the root!
Hearty, healthy and full of flavour this next recipe makes the most of winter's best produce.

(this recipe can be found in its original form on the BBC Good Food Website... but trust me its better this way)

Turnip and Bacon Pie

Ingredients
1 turnip (peeled and chopped into 2 cm cubes)
1 onion (chopped)
1 carrot (sliced)
12 rashers of bacon ( devoid of fat and chopped into slithers)
3 potatoes (peeled and chopped into chunks)
1 parsnip (peeled and chopped into chunks)
300ml chicken stock
lots of parsley (chopped)
1 tbls butter
1 tbls milk
salt and pepper

Method

• Boil your potatoes and parsnip until soft and then mash with the butter and milk.
• Fry the bacon in a little olive oil (or you can use some of the discarded fat)
  
• Remove the bacon from the pan and sauté the onions in the same oil (adding more if necessary) until soft
• Then add the turnip and carrot and cook for 2 minutes.
• Pour in the chicken stock and cook until the vegetables are soft but not smooshy.
• At this point you might want to add a little cornflour (about 2 tsp mixed in 2 tbls of water) to thicken the gravy
• Season the mix and stir in the parsley.
• Transfer the filling into a medium sized pie dish and cover with the mashed potato/parsnip.
  
• Fluff up the potato topping with a fork (this gives nice crusty bits later on)
• Grill the pie until the topping starts to turn crispy and light brown.
• Serve piping hot from the oven for a great winter supper.
  

I'm "fishing" for the one I love.

We hope that any readers of this blog are aware that vegetables are not available locally all year round, however, less appreciated is that fish and meat products also have a season. Unfortunately our supermarkets don't seem to realise this and they are constantly stocked with our regular fishy favourites: which in Northern Europe tend to be cod, salmon and tuna.


Now farmed fish is available pretty much all year round (which is partly why supermarkets love it so) but wild fish - like any natural product - has spawning periods when the fish are best avoided, not only for taste purposes but also because eating baby fish is just plain mean (and unsustainable).

This week saw the start of the Fish Fight campaign in the UK: fronted by sustainable foodie (and a Seasonal Beets fave) Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. The campaign is focused on the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (the Common Agricultural Policy's less famous, but no less uglier, cousin) and the problem of discards (check out the video for more info).


Whilst Hugh and a host of other celebrity chefs are encouraging us to sign the petition to have the issue of discards discussed within the European Parliament, they also maintain that us average cooks can do our bit by diversifying our fish choices(yes of course Jamie Oliver is in on it too).

One of the easiest ways we can diversify what we eat without thinking too hard is to eat seasonally!

Unfortunately it doesn't even matter if you are equipped with the knowledge of seasonal fish, your supermarket will rarely stock much beyond the big 3 (although asking always shows demand!). So rather than equip you with a list of sustainable and seasonal fish, I suggest you hot foot it to your nearest fishmongers and ask the experts.

However, that said there is one fish of which I am aware of the season. Actually it's a shellfish... MUSSELS!

Mussels should only be eaten in a month with an R in it (which handily works in both Swedish and English!) and so as we are currently in JanuaRy we can feel safe in the knowledge that its perfectly alright to chow down on these little guys.

Super cheap, super tasty, super seasonal. Mussels are win win win in my eyes!

Mussels in Cider (serves 4)


Ingredients
1 onion
Mussels (enough for 4 people for a starter, I confess Ihave no idea how much this is but let me refer you back to that handy fishmonger chap, who will definitely have the knowledge and weigh you the correct amount accordingly)
butter
1 bottle cider
Parsley

Method

• Clean the mussels by removing the "beard"
• Give them a good scrub and run under the cold tap (you don't want to be eating sandy mussels)
• At this stage if any of the mussels are still open, give them a sharp tap on the worktop. If they close then they are still alive and can be used. If they fail to close they should be discarded. Somewhat gruesomely mussels should always be cooked alive.
  
• Chop the onion and sauté it with the butter in a large flat bottomed pan with a liduntil nice and soft.
• Add the mussels and the cider, place a lid on the pot and cook for 5 minutes until the shells are open (at this point you want to get rid of those mussels that haven't opened).
  
• Worrying tales of food poisoning mean it is sometimes tempting to overcook fish. Don't, it tastes ghastly: especially mussels which when overcooked taste like small rubber pellets (and is why I think they are disgusting on pizza)
• Remove the mussels from the pot, keeping the liquid.
• Boil the liquid for 1 minute or 2 more (to remove any alcohol and to reduce it slightly)
• Add a handful of freshly chopped parsley to the broth and then pour back over your big bowlful of mussels
• Serve with crusty bread to dip in the broth or make like a Belgian and serve with chunky potato chips (and by that I mean pomme frites)

The Seasonal Bible

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral

Barbara Kingsolver ed (2007)



I didn't think I'd ever find another book about seasonal eating that I would enjoy as much as The Omnivores Dilemma. I was wrong. Barbara Kingsolver is better known for her fiction; the highly acclaimed The Poisonwood Bible being perhaps her most famous novel. In this Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, however, she chooses autobiography as her genre and tells the story of a year in her families food life.

Barbara and her family's adventured in locavarianism (i.e. one who eats local foods) is somewhat different to that of Alisa and James in Plenty; yes they shop at farmers markets and forgo strawberries in January and bananas all year long, but they also endeavour to grow and produce much of their own vegetables and meat in their small(ish) farm in Virginia.

The book is a culinary delight with tales of boundless quantities of courgette (something I can certainly relate to), encouraging turkey mating (something I'm less familiar with) and their trials, tribulations and triumphs in growing, storing and cooking with their own food.

In terms of the writing Barbara takes the helm and it is really her journey and memories of food that we are given insight into. Elder daughter Camille provides short essays on her own teenage approach to seasonal eating and gives a small selection of favourite family recipes at the end of each chapter (which are available online at their website, but which- truth be told - I didn't find particularly inspiring). Husband Steven is not left out and the book is littered with his short, yet informative, knowledge pieces on seasonal eating.

This book was both less sciency and political than the other foodie books I've read recently. I've read some reviews that say it was self-righteous and preachy, however, I completely disagree. I thought it struck the balance between informative discussion and cosy family yarn perfectly.

It was a joy to read and Barbara and her family sound utterly delightful.

beetroot sandwiches with seaweed salad and wasabi

This is super good and very simple. I am actually not sure about the origin of the seaweed, but the beets are seasonal!

Ingredients:
Two round beets (around 250 g)
100 g fresh seaweed salad (you can buy it at the fish store)
around 2 tsp wasabi
2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Method:
Cut 24 very thin slices of the beets. For this it is good to use a mandolin iron if you have one of those.
Put the slices together two and two with some seaweed salad in the middle. Put a dab of wasabi on top and sprinkle with the roasted sesame seeds.
Three sandwiches per person for a little starter or a snack


(this recipe was found on the website of Politiken.dk)

Revolution starts on the dinnerplate

I stumbled across this beautiful quote recently, which I think sums up the Seasonal Beets' approach to life perfectly:

"Ultimately, what sustainability requires of us is a change in global society as a whole... To start the global task to which we are called, we need a specific place to begin, a specific place to stand, a specific place to initiate the small, reformist changes that we can only hope may some day become radically transformative. We start with food."

Kloppenberg et al (1996) 'Coming into the Foodshed' Agriculture and Human Values 13:3 33-41; p39.

Oh the joys of chain emails

I hate chain emails. Really, who doesn't? They clog up your inbox and every time you pass them on to 5 people, your wishes never come true!

This one was opened with distain but as it was from a good mate of mine I thought I'd give it the benefit of the doubt and was pleasantly surprised! Now cucumbers aren't in season yet but this will make you prepared to utilise this wonderful veggie to its full potential!

13 Wonderful Facts about Cucumbers....

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5 Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6.. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.


13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!