Non supermarket shopping
One of the reasons for the move to Dorset was some misguided Fearnley-Whittingstallesque vision of an idyllic countryside life. Fruit falling free from every tree, fish literally jumping out of the river and organic free range pigs throwing themselves into the nearest frying pan.
Well surprisingly to an extent it is all true. Like anything you pay for what you get and in some cases its probably the same ingredients you can get in London at the same prices.
My vision of local folk shopping at the butcher, baker and greengrocer is again partly true.
Like anywhere in the UK, Dorset is high street Britain. With usual collection of Tesco's, Sainsbury, Waitrose etc.
Having said all that there are butchers, bakers, greengrocers and fishmongers. That is actual high streets with actual shops! More important they are not there simply for the middle classes, but do vary in price and quality.
So where do we shop?
Well the simple list is as follows:
Fruit and Veg - Wimborne Market
Meat - Pamphill Dairy
Fish - Frank Greenslade Ltd
Bread - Long Crichel Bakery
Other stuff, like everyone else at the supermarket.
Is it cheaper to shop with local suppliers. The answer is a resounding yes.
This is because you are making specific choices about what you want to buy and unlike the supermarket you are not constantly tempted by so-called offers. So you don't end up with 4 packets of biscuits when you only wanted the one! You do have to take into account the petrol and the inconvenience.
Having said that the shopping experience itself is much more pleasurable. When you go to a supermarket you are not really dealing with a specialist, although I suppose the specialist counters in these shops count?
So when you go to a decent butcher you get a personal service. They know the cuts of their meat.
The other benefit is a lot less packaging, which has some benefit for the environment and I am starting to think that the wrapping of everything in plastic or cling-film does have an impact on the flavour and quality of what you buy.
I have also noticed especially with the veg that everything lasts longer and stays fresher. There is a genuine pleasure in having potatoes covered in dirt and I am coming to the conclusion that maybe the dirt on veg keeps them a bit fresher?
The other thing I've noticed with the veg is that it tastes good. I used to think you had to go to France to get decent tasting veg. But it is much more about allowing products to ripen naturally and to also try and buy in season.
The stall we go to in Wimborne market (I'll try and remember to get the name), isn't organic. It is local and claims to grow naturally. I also like the fact that although there are some staples, whats on offer varies from week to week. So you end of looking forward to the surprise each week and planning meals around what is available.
Its got to the point now, that although we hadn't been to the market and were in yet another mega-Tesco's I wanted to wait until we were back at Wimborne to stock up on fruit and veg. The Tesco in question is actually pretty good, but you do get used to veg tasting good. Who cares what is looks like. I think we are all getting sick of the con of uniform fruit and veg. I know this is a EU directive, but the French get to eat decent tasting food so why don't we?
