Tapas

At Tastes Deli we sell lots of unusual and hard to find ingredients. I get to experience "The Delia Effect" first hand and see exciting trends emerging in what people are cooking and buying. Such as the sudden demand for pomegranate molasses, sumac and za'atar (thanks Yottam Ottolenghi) or marshmallow fluff (Hummingbird Bakery and their Whoopie Pies).

One of the most satisfying parts of my job is when someone comes to the shop for the very first time, driven by a desire to track down a particular item they need for a recipe but have been unable to find anywhere else. It's great to be able to say we have the elusive item and take them to it.  More often than not, a conversation ensues about the journey to find this ingredient, or the recipe(s) for which it is essential.

And so it was that I was told about the Morito App. Morito, the tapas bar of Moro, published its own cook book in 2014, along with an accompanying free app (i phone and i pad only). The app turns out to be a mini recipe e-book with enticing photography.

Queue, four happy hours cooking tapas dishes at home and far far too much food!

Peas, Gem Lettuce & Sweet Herbs.
Cous Cous with Broad Beans, Cumin & Yoghurt.
Grilled Onion, Pepper & Lentil Salad.
And my favourite: Beetroot, Almonds & Mint.
Plus some Morito flat breads which don't appear in the app, although the recipe is elsewhere online.



With the exception of the red peppers and the fresh pomegranate, all the veggies were English and every ingredient can be found at Tastes Deli! I made four portions of four of the dishes, plus two portions of the cous cous and spent just £15 on the vegetables. We ate like Kings for days afterwards!

Ultra Local Produce

The most local product on sale at Tastes Delicatessen at the moment are the gooseberries. Grown in Tom's "secret garden" less than 50 metres from the shop. Yes metres, not miles!

Tom harvests the fruits every year and usually distributes them among his friends and family (and his trusted deep freeze). Last year he started to supply our shop as well; to give those who he doesn't know a chance to enjoy the delicious tart berries.  Gooseberries don't seem to be available in the supermarkets and there aren't any wild bushes near here, so demand is high. Tom is picking at the moment and I have a waiting list of customers to reserve berries for when he comes in!

This year's supply started last week and already customers are returning for their second batch; having stewed them, made jam, compote and fools. There is something pleasing about being able to create a dish using a fruit picked just hours before and I'm sure the enjoyment is enhanced when you know it is unlikely to be repeated until next year.  I really enjoy hearing about the dishes our customers have created.

Today a customer popped in for spelt flour to create a cake with the gooseberries she bought yesterday. She even bought the recipe with her; from Diana Henry's A Change of Appetite. I had a quick flick through the book. Some really lovely looking dishes in there, mouthwatering and beautifully presented. The gooseberry, almond and spelt cake looks fantastic. If anyone else fancies trying it, the recipe is available online at www.sourdough.co.uk. I think I've found a week's worth of Diana Henry dinner recipes now!

Other gooseberry recipes I've heard good things about include:
Gooseberry Curd from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (while searching for that online I found 3 other good looking Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall gooseberry recipes)
Gooseberry & Vanilla Jam from BBC Good Food.
Gooseberry Fool from Nigel Slater.
Gooseberry & Elderflower Fool from the National Trust.
Gooseberry Cobbler from Delia Smith.
And Tom says just stew them with a bit of water and serve with a dollop of cream.

How to Cheat at Cooking

Whenever Delia Smith, "the nation's favourite cook", launches a new book you can expect a great deal of media attention. Her latest book and television series: "How to Cheat at Cooking" is no exception, generating both acclaim and impassioned debate about the ingredients used and the recipes themselves. Frozen mashed potato and tinned mince aside, a common challenge facing Delia's fans this time around is the difficulty in obtaining the ingredients featured in the book. Many are not carried by the major super markets. This is where we come in!

On hearing what would be in the new book, and realising that many of the items were already being sold at Tastes (and not in the major supermarkets), I set out to source a few more of the high quality and hard to find items. Whilst the series runs on the television and until the end of 2008 at least, Tastes will be able to offer more than thirty of the specialist ingredients used in Delia's book. Many of these are old favourites of ours, some are making a special appearance and will only remain on sale if sales are sufficient.

So if you are hunting high and low for any of these, pop along to Eton:
Vietnamese Spring Roll Wrappers (traditionally made with rice flour so naturally wheat free and essential for making spring rolls at home).
Smoked Spanish Paprika
Tracklements chilli jam
Baked Aubergines
Peraud fish soup
English Provender Company Very Lazy Caramelised Red Onions
Green and Black's Chocolate
Antipasto in a jar (olives, mushrooms and artichoke hearts)
Mother's Garden extra virgin olive oil
Nabisco Premium Saltine crackers from the US
Seasoned Pioneer Spice Blends (we carry the 10 Delia used plus a lot more).
Sapori di Napoli and Martelli Italian pasta
Jars of chillies
Coco Lopez creamed coconut (a sweetened coconut milk designed for making pina colada)