ribs, fries and slaw at...you know where...
The seeming lull in cooking activity is deceptive. The most exciting food event of the last two weeks was my visit in Atlanta to the De Kalb Farmers Market, my excuse being to pick up my boyfriend from the airport. It's a strange place. For the English among you, this is nothing like the Borough Markets of the world. It's a huge supermarket, flying in food from all around the world, hidden in a massive anonymous-looking warehouse in an Atlanta suburb. Endless aisles of exotic vegetables, a huge fish and meat section, and shelves stacked high with the trademarks goods of the foodie middle classes - extra-virgin olive oil, couscous, tofu, spices, dried pulses, red wine. And also the mundane - boring red peppers, rather washed-out tomatoes, large white onions. They don't have free-range chicken, only 'farm raised, all natural' which as we all know is a euphemism and if you were in any doubt, the pallid white skin on the beasts betrayed their upbringing. It made me uneasy, shopping for 'real food' in this environment so redolent of the international food trade and all its excesses.
Nevertheless, I was excited by the fish section. Mainly, because they sell off-cuts, the pieces that normal people don't like to deal with. Especially exciting were the cod heads - 99c each - and the bluefin tuna offcuts - $1.49 a pound, as well as wild salmon offcuts and grouper. A steal, for great fish soups, stews, stir-fries and really good stock. So at the moment, I have a fish stew simmering on the stove, and a pile of bones from which all the meat have been cut, waiting for the one big saucepan I own to become free, so I can make a good batch of stock to freeze Considering the utter impossiblity of buying fish here in Greensboro, this is really exciting stuff. The offcuts section was frequented by Asians, who know that the cheeks of fish are the best bit, while all the white people shoped for tame skinned, boned fillets.
Nevertheless, I was excited by the fish section. Mainly, because they sell off-cuts, the pieces that normal people don't like to deal with. Especially exciting were the cod heads - 99c each - and the bluefin tuna offcuts - $1.49 a pound, as well as wild salmon offcuts and grouper. A steal, for great fish soups, stews, stir-fries and really good stock. So at the moment, I have a fish stew simmering on the stove, and a pile of bones from which all the meat have been cut, waiting for the one big saucepan I own to become free, so I can make a good batch of stock to freeze Considering the utter impossiblity of buying fish here in Greensboro, this is really exciting stuff. The offcuts section was frequented by Asians, who know that the cheeks of fish are the best bit, while all the white people shoped for tame skinned, boned fillets.
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