Food Quality.

I have just spent last couple of months in Spain and Portugal, and found the quality of food ,meat fruit and veg first class.
I've only been home a week and I am sick of binning fruit and veg after 3 days.
The meat is no where near as good.
Any suggestions of fresh fruit and veg and meat please ?.
Without sarcastic comments like Spain / Portugal.
Any suggestions appreciated.

 

Tinned peaches are nice.

 

Biggest difference we found was the quality of the fridge. When we had our kitchen extension done 6 years ago, we went from a small under counter Zanussi to a big double doored Fisher and Paykel. We hardly throw anything away now and can often eat veg that's a month past its best before. Wasn't cheap, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if we've got our money back on it already.

You could also try grocers and farm shops, they tend to have better stuff that's potentially more local.

 

For tomatoes, order from the Isle of Wight farm. They're not available all year round and they're not cheap - but you really do get what you pay for.

https://iowtomatoes.co.uk/shop/fresh-tomatoes


For strawberries and raspberries, going to a pick your own place is usually pretty reliable. Not sure where you're based, but there's a superb one just off the A1 near Retford called School Farm.

https://www.brittainsberries.co.uk/retford

 

We have some lovely Blackberry bushes on the Cobblers Estate and an excellent Damson tree in the Valley Gardens.

 

I'm sure you love a good forage

 

I do. Recently started doing it on my evening walks. Inspired by Luke on Outdoor Boys and various other survival programmes such as Back to Basics and the Bearded Bushranger.

 

Are you sure these were not dogging sites

 

That's a thought this integral fitted fridge is quite dated

 

Where do you go at the moment mate? My advice would be to avoid supermarkets at all costs especially for meat. Find a good quality local butcher who knows what they’re on about and can tell you where the meat has come from etc . I live in Doncaster and go to Wilkinsons butchers and the Gentlemen’s fishmongers which are both first class. You pay a little more but it’s well worth it and the meat won’t shrink like it does in supermarkets.

There’s also an online place I can send you a link for ?

veg wise markets tend to be good but don’t last quite as long as supermarkets

 

Btw @Bazza I'm in Portugal at the moment and totally agree with your sentiment !

 

I've found supermarket tomatoes to be really good this year - but again, the key is paying the extra to get the ones grown in the Isle of Wight or Kent. Had some excellent ones grown in Yorkshire the other week - not sure how they managed that!

I've been making a concerted effort to buy only British fresh produce over the last year or so. It does limit you (especially over winter) but the quality of what I eat has improved massively, just because it forces you to eat seasonally. And it's nice to still be able to get excited about the first Jersey Royals, asparagus or IoW tomatoes of the season, even as a supermarket shopper. Even getting to have sprouting broccoli rather than savoy cabbage for the first time in a while feels like a bit of a treat, even though I love both.

 

Without going into too many details, I wasn't able to eat strawberries for about 40 years after my grandfather took me to a pick your own place and introduced me to "one for the basket, one for me"...

 

I wonder why?

 

I'm sure George Spicer will be along shortly he does know his onions or olives or .........

 

@Chef Tyke had a similar unfortunate incident when we were kids. I'd never seen pink vomit before and was quite astounded.

 

Only 37p at Lidl

 

Quality of fridge is key, I concur. Such an important piece of equipment. Same as your bed. Don’t scrimp on the vitals!

 

What on earth is a gentleman's fishmongers?
Do they offer you extra for the weekend, sir. No questions asked. Nudge nudge, wink wink.

 

The thought of the Bearded Bushranger in Valley Gardens made me smile.