Delicious UK - (05)May 2020

10

And,finally,

mindfulnessisnot

a fadAsa friend

WhatsAppedmerecently,“I’m

hyper-focusingonthingsI usedto

takeforgranted.I atea cookie

yesterdayandI meanI REALLYate

thatcookie.Everybiteobservedand

considered.”Thecircumstances

mightbegrim,butlet’ssavourthis

time.Andhere’shopingwe’reall

a littlemoreawareofwhatreally

matterswhenwefinallycome out

the other side of this.

W

ell,thatgotverystrange,veryquickly,didn’tit?

I’mstillnotconvincedit’sallsunkin,butmaybe

that’sforthebest?That’snottodownplaythe

seriousnessofthesituation.Fearnot I’mfollowing

Governmentguidelines.I’mwashingmyhandsa LOT.I’m

stayinghome,I’mavoidingpeople althoughasa middle-

aged,grumpyfreelancejournalistI’vesortofbeenintraining

forthoseforyears.Butit’simportanttofindthepositivesin

this, be it dazzlingly clean fingernails or any of the following...

2

LOCALSHOPSROCKWhilethesupermarketslooked,atthe

beginningoflockdown,likea scenefroma biblicalepic,it was

a chancetoexplorelocalindependents.Closetomethere’san

Italiandelithat’sconsistentlyhadtopqualitypasta,whilethe

TurkishsupermarketstocksEVERYTHING– andalthoughthebakery

hasbeensobusyyouhavetoorderthreedaysahead,they’vebeen

giving away pots of sourdough starter. Which brings me to...

3

There’stimetobake

There’sa reasonableclaimthat

sourdoughstartershavebecome

Tamagotchisformiddle-agedmen,

witheveryoneclaimingtheirsis the

best.Whichis daftbecausemineis.

Breadmakinghasbeendiscovered

bythousandsasa wonderfulhobby.

Sure,youcanbuildmodelrailways

orcollectstamps,butcanyoucover

them in melted cheese? Exactly.

4

COOKING’SGOT

SERIOUSWhat

was,formany,

a funthingtodo

atweekendshasbecomea

wayoflife.We’replanning

mealsandmakingthe

mostofingredientswe’re

not sure we’ll see again...

5

THEINTERNETISBRILLIANTWhata resource!Recipes,community

supportandsiteslikeEatYourBooks.com,whichindexesyour

cookerybookcollection,meaningyoucansearchforrecipes

basedontheingredientsyouhave.Which, right now, could be anything:

“Bovril. Anchovies. Digestives.”

6

Thekitchenis a cave

ofdelights

Probably.I thoughtwewere

hugelyorganisedandknewexactly

whatwasinourcupboards.Turns

outweweren’tandwedidn’t.

Therearesomanythingswe

don’trememberbuyingthat

I suspectthetopshelfmaybe

a portal to another dimension.

7

I’VEFINALLYUNDERSTOODTHE

DIFFERENCEBETWEEN‘USE

BY’AND‘BESTBEFORE’

Also,it turnsoutthata fabulous

deviceforworkingoutwhat’s

edible and what’s not is my nose.

8

It’sa golden

chancetolearn

a newkitchen

craftBeenmeaningto

masterThaicookery?

Now’sthetime.Always

meanttopickle?You’re

goingtobesograteful

you learned that one.

9

ONLINESHOPSAREAMAZING

Supermarketdeliveriesarea lottery:“You

are188,973rdinthequeue,somaybehave

a thinkaboutwhatyouwantforChristmas.”

BUTtherearelotsofgreatonlineoptionsforproduce,

meat,cheese,fish– andwine.Manyrestaurantsuppliers

haveturnedona sixpencetodohomedeliveries,

meaningyou’rehelpingbusinessessurvive,supporting

livelihoods – and probably eating better as a result.

We’vecometogether

wonderfully.We’veputthe

socialbackinsocialmedia.

WhereI livewenowhavea

WhatsAppgroupforourflats,

whichmeans,after 24 years

here,I finallyknowmorethan

three neighbours’ names.

Ahem.Evenwiththousandsof

cancelledweddings,holidays

andsoon,peoplehave

generallyshrugged,put

theirplansonholdandnot

complained.Here’shoping

kindnessandcommunityspirit

last when this finally ends.

People are, for the most part, lovely

1

PICCALILLI

PORTRAIT: THOMAS BOWLES. PHOTOGRAPHS & ILLUSTRATIONS: ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES

deliciousmagazine.co.uk 87

finding an upside.