Saturday, July 01, 2006
Country Life Comes to the City
As expected, I was a tad late for the market and
Jenny had nothing left but some salad greens and fresh garlic. Luckily, I've given up on getting this dissertation of mine ready for publication on the weekends and therefore had all the time in the world. I had a leisurely stroll across the whole market in an attempt to make myself believe that I was somewhere far, far away in some farming village stocking up on food for a day or two, not a whole week. I got two plaice fillets from the fishmonger and some mushrooms, asparagus and herbs from Dennis... Oh, and tomatoes for my test: A vine tomato, a regular tomato and a small handful of cherry tomatoes on the vine.Next I headed off to Fallon & Byrne. Besides more tomatoes - little tiger tomato with green
and red stripes, some more cherry tomatoes, a beef tomato, a vine tomato, a regular tomato, a plum tomato and a plum tomato on the vine - I got a beautiful loaf of bread that I felt would be the perfect accompaniment for my testing tomatoes, some clotted cream for no particular reason other than the fact that it called out to me to buy it and some more mushrooms.Next stop was Liston's. I didn't really need any more food, but one can never stop in there more often. As I have said many times before, Liston's to me is more than a shop. It's an oasis of peace and quiet and an inspiration for my cooking. This time I really didn't need anything, so it remained just that and I left without having spent a cent. Wow, that was definitely a first. I've gone there not needing anything before, but I've never come out completely empty handed. Oh well, there's a first time for everything.
And while I was at it, I decided to add another first to my list: A visit to Dublin's kosher bakery, The Brezel. It's been hyped up by everyone
I know as the best thing since sliced bread (excuse the pun), so I was bound to experience either a heavenly revelation or a sobering disappointment. Unfortunately, the experience came closer to the latter than the former. The biggest problem was not the quality, selection or kinds of the bread and cake on display, but the fact that most products were also available at Fallon & Byrne. I had basically spoiled the experience by visiting one of their big corporate customers before coming straight to the source. Although, on second thought, the inattentive service from the two young ladies in the shop who were more interested in
their little private chat than in serving their only customer. Oh well, another myth busted and another load of money saved. I was going to invest that in some goodies at La Boulangerie, but then I remembered the cheesecake that I've been meaning to make for a week and headed straight home.Dinner was a simple, but exquisite affair: A mixed salad with blanched asparagus spears, freshly grilled scallops in garlic butter and lots of fresh crusty bread. The only thing missing to make the evening perfect were a couple of comfy chairs on a balcony for the two of us to watch the summer sunset from.
Christine at 10:13 pm
