November of every year is a special time for bloggers to commemorate their art by dedicating themselves to publishing at least one post every day of the month. This can be quite a challenge for most bloggers, who often modify the rules and post every two or three days instead. Nevertheless, Wild Thyme and Sweet Pea will be following in the NaBloPoMo tradition with delicious new content by:
- Rigorously plucking new products from the bohemian orchard (otherwise known as the supermarket) to talk about,
- Editing upcoming recipes for publish with a fine-toothed cob of corn,
- Keeping all six senses aware of any food markets and festivals worth their weight in sea salt and finally,
- Filling our wicker basket with a variety of tips, tricks and anecdotes of interest to our readers.
Today’s plate will focus on the origins of your humble, dime-a-dozen peach and pear, cucumber and celery that we use in our cooking and healthy snacking everyday. We rarely (or perhaps have never) considered the arduous journey that these soldiers of soup and martyrs of minestrone must undertake before ultimately reaching your fork.
It occurred to me that if you were to ask me where my bag of green apples came from, I would probably stare at you for a good ten minutes with my eyes darting from side to side, eventually filling the awkward silence with “Umm…” and “Uhh….” before coming up with a clever response: “From the farmhand! You know, that person who wears overalls and gloves and picks with voracious pace?”.
Of course, all fruit and vegetables have their origins from the earth at some point in time, but it is of concern to the consumer-market to consider just how greatly the concept of “freshness” has been stretched thin by marketing ploys. It’s no longer a situation of produce leaving the farm to soon after becoming fabulous food – a new ‘F’ word has been inserted into the middle of the equation so surreptitiously, you’ve probably already forgotten you knew what it was…
The Wild Thyme and Sweet Pea project found its roots when it was plucked excitedly from the garden, washed briskly in a basin of water and lovingly left out to dry in a soothing marinade of vision and ambition ... More »
The Food of Italy, Kay Halsey
The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy, Odile Redon, Francoise Sabban & Silvano Serventi
The Silver Spoon, Phaidon Press
Jamie's Italy, Jamie Oliver
Italian Country Cooking, Loukie Werle
La Cocina de Mama: The Great Home Cooking of Spain, Penelope Casas