New York is a wonderful place to shop for food and cooking equipment.

Name: Crate and Barrel

Website: www.crateandbarrel.com

Location: Various outlets through USA

Recommended for: pots and pans

Description: Sells the whole basic range of cooking equipment and a few oils, bottled sauces and dry food such as cake mix etc. Nothing really special but when in season – around Thanksgiving, they do a turkey pot for pot roasting turkey. This is a seriously big pot and will easily take a 20lb turkey. As turkey is a fairly dry meat, pot roasting brings out the best. However, the downside is that you will need to have a “double oven”. Do not attempt to use this on top of the stove as a “Dutch Oven”. It will not work. However, it can be used to cook stew for 20-30 people. You can get similar pots in the UK but the pots are too thin.

Name: Dean and Deluca

Website: www.deananddeluca.com

Location: 560 Broadway, New York

Recommended for: herbs and spices especially Mexican and Italian ones. Cooking equipment.

Description: A sort of up market foodie store. Sells all the basic ranges of food and cooking equipment. Their own bland of spices and herbs comes in an air tight silver tin and will keep for ages. There is also a green grocer section, bakery and meat counter.

Name: Eataly

Location: 200 Fifth Avenue  923^rd Street), New York

Website: www.Eataly.com

Recommended for: anything to do with Italian food but not good on cooking equipment

Description: A huge warehouse style outlet combining various restaurants/bars and groceries. The best way to describe this place is that it’s an Italian Supermarket combined with a food court. It is operated by the Batali/Bastianich team.

Name: Kalustyan’s

Location: 123 Lexington Ave (29 street), New York

Website: www.kalustyans.com

Recommendation: Anything to do with Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi food. Spices

Description: This is easily the impressive place for spices. For example they have 5 versions of Zaatar – from Israeli to Lebanese, 15 types of paprika etc. They even have the whole range of chillies from mild to ones that will take your head off. They also have 3 foot long skewers for kebabs but no tandoori ovens. This place has been in business since 1944 and the owner also owns the Curry Leave Restaurant one block away – rated by Zagat as the top Indian in New York. They also carry over 30 varieties of rice including low GIs for diabetics.

Name: Zabar’s

Location: 2245 Broadway (80^th street), New York

Website: www.zabars.com

Recommendation: Any deli products (sausages, cheese, bread etc), cooking equipment

Description: This is New York’s premier deli and has been in operation for around 100 years. The range of food on sale is unparallel. At weekends, you can’t even get through the door without a fight. Upstairs sells the most complete range of cooking equipment that you can imagine. For example, I bought my turbot fish kettle here ten years ago. On this trip, I acquired a spatzle cutter. To give you an idea of the huge range they carry – they have over 30 different types of knife sharpening equipment (manual and electrical).

Name: Beekman Liquors

Location: 500 Lexington Ave (47 Street), New York

Website: www.beekmanliquors.com

Recommendation: wine and spirit

Description: Another of my favourite in NY. This place will sell you wines from under $10 a bottle to over $500 a bottle. Their collection of Sake is only second to a proper Japanese Sake outlet. The place is managed by a lady who knows her stuff. She is permanently on the floor (not at the till). You can’t miss her as she looks like the lady in Adams Family (long dark hair, white face). Please note that I apologise if this description is taken out of context.

Name: Whole Foods Market

Location: Several outlets but the biggest one is located at 95 East Houston St (Bowery).

Website: www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Recommendation: beer, wet fish, vegetables, meat, coffee, nuts etc

Description: Another huge warehouse. Sells nearly everything that are popular but not obscure items (for example, they only had 5 types of dried chillies but they have over 50 types of coffee beans). I was able to obtain dried corn husk there for tamales. The beer room is impressive and it is the only place in New York that will sell you a home brew kit.

Name: The market at Grand Central

Location: Grand Central Station, 42^nd Street/ Lexington Ave.

Recommendation: Fresh food

Description: The Grand Central is full of various retail outlets but on the Lexington side, there is an amazing market that can easily rival any of the bid food outlets. They are particularly good on fresh meat, fruit, vegetables and seafood. Good selection of coffee and tea too.

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October 2010

Parking : Various car parks – e.g. Worcester Street, Gloucester Green – in the city or park and ride.

Outdoor Market

Location: Gloucester Street, Oxford, OX1 21BN

Opening time: weekdays 9.00-16.00

This is an open air market full of bric-a brac stalls. There is a small wet fish stall (selling out of the back of a van, 2 large vegetable stalls (standard and not exotic veg) and a small bread stand.

Covered Market

Location: Market Street, Oxford OX1 3D( ? depending on the shop) Market Street is located between Turl Street & Cornmarket Street.

Website: http://www.oxfordcity.co.uk/shops/market/ (history) or

http://www.oxford-covered-market.co.uk/the_shops.html# (shops plan)

Opening Time: 8.50-17.30 (Monday-Saturday) 10.00-16.00 (Sunday until18/12/10)

This is an absolute jewel and has been around since the 18th century. Besides an array of food shops, they have leather goods, hat shops, café etc (see shops plan). Only sad thing is that the deli is now closed. This is a great place to do your food shopping. Only problem is that there is no nearby parking facilities.

Butchers

There are 4 butchers all competing within 20 meters of each other.

John Lyndsey and son: pies, and various meats and sausages.

Hedges 01865 247536: meats and sausages.

David John 01865 249092: meats, sauces, cooked meat, pies and sausages.

M Feller: game, smoked meats and meats.

Bakery

Nash’s Oxford Bakery 01865 242695

Pies, sausage rolls and breads from bloomer to muti seeds. There is a light rye but no dark rye. I was informed that they do sourdough for the weekend.

I bought a pasty each from Nash (£1.30), John Lyndsey (£1.25) and Davis John (large @ £1.90) for a comparative tasting. The inside of these pasties were similar. They all had the requisite beef, potato, onion. They use carrots instead of swede. However, they all used finely minced meat (is this a sign of nasty cuts and left overs?) instead of chunks of steaks. They all tasted similar (not surprised) but the bakery had the better pastry and David John’s was the most mushy inside. Nash’s pasty had nearly 50% potatoes in the filling. The other two had more than 65% meat in the filling.

Best pasties I have tasted to date are still Ann Muller’s

http://www.connexions.co.uk/lizardpasty/index.htm

and the Chough Bakery

http://www.thechoughbakery.co.uk/

They are both available by mail order.

Cheese

The Oxford Cheese Company

Strong on the common British and French cheeses. A nice selection of goat’s cheeses There are also a selection of Oxford ISIS cheeses which is not easy to come by outside Oxford.

Vegetables

McCarthy Brothers 01865 246975

A large vegetable stall selling in season vegetables. I could not see fresh wild mushrooms – they are in season now. However, they sell a selection of dried mushrooms. Unique vegetable available include: cobb nuts and okra (bindi).

Fishmonger

Hayman’s Fishes 01865 242827

The only fish monger in the covered market. Huge “live” crab tanks. Dry salted fish – Chinese and Bacalao , various types of fishes and a large selection of crayfish and tiger prawns. The smoked counter has the usual suspect and eels but no Abroath Smokies. Smoked Haddock is available dyed or un-dyed.

Other interesting food shops

Pieminister – take away or eat in pot pies with peas (or mushy) and mash.

Michele’s Creperie

Ben’s cookies

MoMo’s milkshare – also cakes and cookies

The Cake Shop – serious large cakes and all the extras to go with cake making.

And also – near the station ,

Lung Wah Chong (Chinese and Oriental Supermarket)

Location: 41-42 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EP

Telephone: 01865 790763

Website: http://www.lungwahchong.com/ (not much on this website. Its all about their head office)

This is an oriental supermarket sited next to The Paddyfield Chinese Restaurant and opposite So Jo restaurant.

It is small but seemed to have a bit of everything with quite a few Korean and Japanese food and sauce products. There is a fresh vegetable counter and the shop also operates a travel agency.

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Sept 2010

Address: The Talbot, Knightwick, Worcestershire WR6 5PH (B4197 off A44)

Telephone number: 01866821235

Website: http://www.the-talbot.co.uk/teme_valley_market.htm

Date of visit: 12 September 2010

Opening hours: every SECOND Sunday, 11am-1pm

Parkling: ample parking on site.

Summary:

After the disastrous journey to Ludlow, I came across this market whilst dining at The Talbot.

It’s a small market but it sells pretty much anything to do with food except savoury pies (cornish pasties etc). There is a stall selling sweet pies and jam.

Amongst the stalls that I have made purchases were:

Parsons Nose http://www.theparsonsnose.com/.

This is a 200 year old family firm specialised in sausages and pies. However, they were only selling their wild boar sausages (several varieties at £8.81 a kilo) and cooked sausages on the day. The Talbot serves Parsons Nose sausages on the bar menu.

Teme Valley Brewery

http://www.temevalleybrewery.co.uk/ (Rick Stein Local Food Heroes)

This is the brewery owned by the Clift family. It started in 1997 and is attached to The Talbot pub. The 4 beers: This, That, T’Other and Blonde starts at 3.5% alcohol and goes up to 4.7%. They do cask and bottle conditioned beer. Only the bottle conditioned beer (The 3 Ts) are available in the market at £7.10 for 3 pint bottles. In the pub, the cask conditioned beer starts at £2.70 a pint. The beer is a winner of the Taste of Worcestershire competition for 3 years running.The beer is pretty nice. Hoppy but light.

The Handmade Scotch Egg

www.handmadescotcheggs.co.uk

This is another interesting find at the market. They offer an amazing selection (over 30 varieties incl vegetarian versions). I bought ones made with scrumpy and black pudding. The producst are highly rated by Sophie Grigson and Matthew Ford.

Update: The sausage meat around the egg is a thinnish layer and its all meat. It is therefore prone to breaking up when you re-heat it.

Lorentzen Bakery

 www.Lorentzenbakery.com

This is a new bakery. They are based behind The Talbot and specialise in long-fermented loaves. The sourdough comes as normal white as well as a wholemeal version with seeds and rye. The breads retail around £2-3 depending on size and type. The breads felt heavy in the hand and they normally come in the size of a bloomer.

Update: Just had a few slices of the wholemeal/rye sourdough. It is “lighter” than I thought. The bread in more Paul (London) than Poline (London).

Frome Valley Vineyard

www.fromewine.co.uk

The vineyard is sited at Bishops Frome (WR6 5BJ). They offer several types of white wines and a rose. I bought a bottle of 2006 Schonburger (£8.10) which is a German grape that taste like a Spanish alberino as it has a citrus tang to it. They also offer cassis and framboise alcoholic cordial.

Vegetables Stall

This is a local organic (garden market stall). They offer the usual arrangement of vegetables but what caught my eyes was a basket of fresh Borlotti with its lovely red marbling colour at £6.90 a kilo. In London, you easily pay over £10 per kilo.

Lightwood Cheese

www.lightwoodcheese.co.uk (Rick Stein Local Food Heroes)

Another meeting with Phil Hulland. Now that I have had a chance to taste his cheese. I can recommend the Elgar and especially the Chaser which is like a creamy version of Camembert.

Olivers Cider and Perry www.theolivers.org.uk

Pretty clean tasting cider from Herefordshire. Around £2.50 a bottle. They do not have a totally dry cider.

In all, it was pretty rewarding to come across a small market with so many good stalls especially after the shambles at Ludlow.

You also have the added benefit of being able to drink and dine at the Talbot (see review on The Talbot). By the way, they also sell Sunday Papers at the market.

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I have always been interested in artesian food.

Whilst spending a weekend in Worcester with friends, I discovered that Worcester is still alive with small suppliers and shops.

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To start with, I tried Lightwood Cheese.

Lightwood Cheese is sited on Heath Grange Farm – Grange Lane, Lower Broadheath, Worcester, WR2 6RW. Tel: 01905 333 468.

The owner (Phil Hulland) supplies only small outlets and not large supermarkets. His cheese is available in a variety of outlets as well as mail order www.lightwoodcheese.co.uk

His farm is just off the A44, near Elgar’s Museum. He sells from his farm (by appointment). There is no shop but you get to walk into a large chiller and choose your cheese. Tasting is not available as all the cheese are wrapped. Phil offers an award winning mature hard cheese (Elgar), a smoked version, soft cows and goats cheeses. I bought the Elgar as well as the Lightwood Chaser (soft cows milk cheese) and his goats cheese. I shall report back later this week on what it tastes like.

Update: The Chaser was fantastic. It was a creamy version of brie/camembert

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Next is the Foregate Patisserie – an old fashion small baker. www.foregatepatisserie.co.uk

They have 2 retail outlets:

14 Foregate Street, Worcester Tel: 01905 22991

22 St John’s, Worcester Tel: 01905 427134

I visited the St John’s branch. Most of the products looks very good but I was paticularly interested in their batons (granary or white)they are about 2 inches by 6 inches and will take two large frankfurters. I have had them before and thought that they were wonderful. On the day I bought 24 of these rolls , a granary cobb loaf, 4 cornish pasties and 2 suasages rolls for just over £18. By the way the pasties were all right but not great as they use mince and not chuck steak. I am a connoisseur of pasties and will usually tried one when I come across a new outlet.

Their bread tend to be light and soft not heavey – see Lorentzen Bakery (Teme Valley Sunday Market|)

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Across the Bakery is a butcher – 9 St John’s. Tel: 01905 422 459.

This is an award winning butcher and they are Gold Medal winners of meat products (sausages, pies etc) in the national competition.
They do a wonderdful pork pie – two versions, with or without chives and also scotch eggs (with or without chives) and a nice range of sausages. When in season, they offere game.

For St John’s, park in the street round the corner. You get 45 minutes or park in Sainsbury around the back of St John’s high street.

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September 2010

Address: Penderyn Distillery, Penderyn Wales, CF44 0SX. On A4059, Brecon National Park.

Telephone number: 01685 810651

Website: www.penderyn-distillery.co.uk

Date of visit: 13 August 2010

Opening hours: 9.00-17.00

Summary:

Penderyn is the only whisky distillery in Wales.

As you drive up the A4059 towards Brecon, you will see a large black building with ample parking.

The distillery has a visitor centre (shop). Tours are by arrangement and it cost £3. You get to sample the products if you go on the tour. Otherwise, you will have to ask for a taster.

I didn’t go on the tour as all distillery, brewery and winery are similar to other distillery, brewery and winery. One you have seen one, you have seen them all. The most impressive brewery that I have ever seen is the Henry Funk brewery in Luxemberg. You also get unlimited free beer there.

The distiller has been around for nearly 20 years and they offer gin, vodka and whisky.

I tried 3 malts: matured in Madeira wood, Sherry wood and a peaty one. The peaty one tasted like a Lagavulin that has been diluted down with Highland Park. I wasn’t sure about it. The sherry wood one was very similar to Glenmorangie. Now the Madeira wood one was superb. It was rich and sweet without being sugary. I bought 2. All malts are priced at £31.50 for a 750 ml bottle.

They also sell a grain whisky which I did not taste. Within the shops are various bric-a-brac – glasses, welsh teabags, chocolates etc.

They also have a special malt matured in Madeira wood  that they sell for over £100. Apparently, their first malts were matured in Madeira wood.

If you are interested, you can buy through the web site.

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August 2010

Address: Cross Inn, New Quay, Ceredigion, Wales SA44 6NN

Telephone number: 01545 560822

Website: www.thehoneyfarm.co.uk

Date of visit: 4 August 2010

Opening times: Easter – Oct 10am-5.30pm. Nov-Dec 11am-4.30pm

Summary:

This is supposed to be one of the largest honey farm in Wales. On site are an exhibition of the history and the making of honey, a meadery, shop and café.

The shop offers a variety of honey and honey products – honey vinegar, mead, honey beer, honey mustard etc. It is not cheap as a jar of honey is over £4 – Gales of the same size retails at around £1.60.

The café or tea shop offer snacks and tea (no alcohol) of a high standard. For example, pot of tea is £1.60, open top sandwiches £4.50, welsh rarebit at £5.50 ….

The sandwiches and welsh rarebit were advertised with white bread whilst the hummos was with brown bread.

I asked for an open top egg mayo sandwich with brown bread. The lady at the till said it was all right to change the white bread to brown. However when it came, it was on white bread. I took it back and the lady at the till apologised and said that she would sort it out. Then, the chef came out and said that they only do sandwiches with white bread because the brown bread is the wrong size!

I had to go back to the till again and complain. Finally, they decided that it was better to let me have my brown bread than to argue.

Well, what a load of nonsense!

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PS  The Honey Farm is sited about a mile east of Cross Inn. Within Cross Inn, there is a shop which sells wonderful bread and cakes – especially Welsh Cakes. The store has no sign and is sited opposite the post office. There is a rack of vegetables outside the shop.

Address: 181 Piccadilly, London W1A 1ER

Telephone number – Store: 0207 734 8040 Ordering: 0845 300 1707

Website: http://www.fortnumandmason.com/

Date of visit: 13 July 2010

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 10-8, Sun 12-6 or shop online 24/7

Summary:

This remains one of the “top” grocery shop for the gentry. Increasingly, the shop is full of tourists as most of the gentry will order over the phone or online.

The shop has had a refit several years ago and the “food” shopping is now over 2 floors – ground and basement. The rest of the floors are occupied by cooking equipment, bric-a-brac, clothes and restaurants. The fountain restaurant is still located on the ground floor where you can have cakes, welsh rabbit, salads etc.

On the ground floor, you can purchase, jam, mustard and various condiments, wine, tea, coffee, chocolates and cakes.

In the basement, you can still get pies and various smoked fish, pate at the deli. They also have a rack of green grocery – why anyone would come here to buy leeks is beyond me.

The various oils and vinegars located at the back of the basement still contain all sorts of wonderful stuff including proper aged balsamic vinegar and single estate olive oil. I was not so impressed with the spice and herb section – they only have the basic stuff (years ago, they had a wonderful selection like Dean and Deluca in New York).

They also have an unusual counter that sell insects from chocolate ants to deep fried tarantula – apparently a delicacy in Indonesia.

On the ground floor, they have various types of coffee and tea – The Algerian Coffee Store has a better selection at a lower price. Mind you, I don’t believe people shop here for anything other than the label as whilst I was there, people were going for all the pre-pack stuff in containers which bear the shop’s name.

Prices here are astronomical - for example, a caddy of this year’s Darjeeling First Flush (Spring tips) is now £25 for 100g – it does come in a nice box. When I  first started drinking this several years ago, it was £17.50 for 100g. A 250g box of Chocolate is £20 (c.f. a box of Leonidas is around £20 for 800g. Well, you get the picture.

They also do a roaring trade in wine. Their own label wines are usually quite good. On the whole, please nopte that F&M does not manufacture anything – its all sourced in and most are re-labelled under the F&M brand to “add values and price”.

From a shopping point of view, it’s worth going because it is a well know historic institution. However, nearly all their products can be purchased elsewhere at a lower price – under a different label.

By the way, they do not sell wet fish. You have to go to Selfridges or Harrods or a fish monger for that. 

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Address: 52 Old Compton Street, London W1D 4PB

Telephone: 020 7437 2480

Website:http://www.algcoffee.co.uk/scripts/default.asp

Opening time: Mon-Wed 9.00-19.00, Thur and Fri, 9.00-21.00, Sat 9.00-20.00. Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Datre of visit : 13 July 2010 (please note prices were correct on 13 July 2010)

Summary:

If you like coffee and tea, this is THE place to visit. They have been trading for over 100 years and is a key supplier to restaurants in and around London. I have been coming here for over 20 years.

They have over 80 varieties of coffee and 120 varieties of tea. You can also order online.

The shop front is painted red (the only one in Old Compton Street) so you can’t miss it.

They sell coffee, tea, coffee and tea making equipment and chocolate ONLY.

The selection of tea is amazing – you are talking about tea from around the world. My favourite chinese tea Dragon Pearl Jasmine (white tea) is available here. In fact they do a bigger range of chinese teas than any shop in China Town, Harrods or Fortnum and Mason. I used to source my tea from Hong Kong, Singapore and Vancouver until I discovered this place.

On the coffee side, they have the famous Copi Luwek at £12.50 per 100g. They also have Jamacan Blue Mountain ……

My favourite coffees are:

Formula Rosa – a house blend which is usually on special offer at around £15 for 2.5 kilo (beans – vacuum packed). This is a strong robust coffee which is used in most restaurants. My other favourite one is the Columbian High Roast decaff. They offer 2 versions, the water treatment or “chemical” treatment. I always take the “water” version which retails at £21.00 for a kilo. By the way, they are happy to sell you any quantity in the shop. However they only offer vacuum packing at 500g and above when they are busy.

The shop also sells a variety of coffee pots, cafeteria and tea pots. They are not as good valued compared with the coffee beans.

If you are in the area, try to visit Dennys and The French House – both on Dean Street, just round the corner – Shaftesbury Ave end. Denny has an amazing collection of kitchen knives – this is where chefs go to buy knives. The only type that tehy are poor at is cleavers. You will buy better cleavers in China Town.

The French House (bar and restaurant) is famous because the French Cabinet (in exile) used to camp down there during the second world war. Many famous artists drank there and this is one of those landmark place that all Foodies should pay a visit to once in their life. There is a restaurant upstairs which I dined in about a year ago – it’s pricy and the food is ordinary.

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Address: 14-16 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4PH

Opening hours: From 10am till 9pm, Monday-Saturday. On Sundays 11am till 7pm

Telephone:020 3405 1246 (shop), 020 3405 1151 (online shopping)

Web site:http://www.japancentre.com/

Date of visit: 29 June 2010

Summary:

If you are into Japanese food etc, this is probably the place to come.

It used to be sited on the Piccadilly but has moved here since early on this year.

The centre has taken over one wing of the Mitsukoshi Department Stall http://www.london-mitsukoshi.co.uk/top_en.htm. The department stall is well worth a visit – it makes Harrods look cheap (price wise). There is a Japanese restaurant within the department stall.

Within the centre, there is a restaurant, bakery and supermarket. The sushi, rice and noodles are very reasonably priced but they do not sell alcohol with the meal.

Within the supermarket, they do sell Japanese whisky, sake and beer. Lets start with the sake – they range from under £10 to nearly £100. For explainations on sake see my previous article (2009).

The bakery sell all sorts of Japanese bread and there is a fresh food chiller for take away food and vegetables.

At the back of the store are a mixture of things. For non food, they sell good knives, cooking pots and electric rice cookers etc. There is a small stand that will sell you cookbooks – Japanese and English but all on Japaneses recipes.

There is a tea counter where you can buy all sorts of Japanese teas including 100g packs of Sencha at £10 a packet.

The best counter is the sauce counter. Here you can buy hundreds of cooking sauces, vinegars and oil – definitely my favourite. Try the seasme salad dressing or the Udon dip.

There is a frozen section at the back.

They also sell everything online so there is no need to carry that 50kilo sack of rice on your back.

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Address: Oxford Road, East Hanney, Wantage, OX12 0HP

Direction: On A338 between Wantage and Oxford. If you are coming from Wantage, the farm shop is on the left after the turning to West Hanney. Plenty of parking outside the shop.

Opening Hours: 8.30- 17.00 Monday-Saturday. 18.00 on Friday. They have a stand at various farmers markets in the Thames Valley. They also deliver – see website.

Website: www.dewsmeadowfarm.co.uk

Telephone: 01235 868634

Date of visit: 9 June 2010

Summary:

Dews Meadow is a pig farm. The pigs are reared out door and no growth hormones or routine antibiotics are used. They do not claim to be organic.

I have been buying their products – especially the faggots – from their stall in the Reading Farmers’ Market for sometime. Their faggots is more meatier than Baines and so has a more meat ball like texture. Try using minced faggots and beef mince in a shepherd pie. It works really well.

The farm shop also offered lamb and beef (sourced locally). Apparently they are not allowed to sell anything other than their own products in the various farmers’ markets (http://www.dewsmeadowfarm.co.uk/markets.php) unless it is pre-ordered.

There were several types of sausages on offer as well as offal (kidneys, liver and sweet bread) and various cuts of pork and gammon. Vegetables were available on a stand and pates and cheese (only Gould from Somerset) from the chillier.

The chap that served me was very helpful and offered various types of advices including the offer of roast bag to cook the gammon in. I was also told that their cure is not too salty and there is no need to soak the gammon prior to cooking.

Other products available through the farm shop – sorry, no mail orders – are gluten free salami, hogg pudding, black pudding, pork pies, Cornish pasties, sausage rolls etc……

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