Random food purchases
Does anyone else go shopping, come back, unpack and wonder what on earth they have bought?
If so, what was it and how did you use it?
My recent one was 3 little tins of steamed Spelt from Waitrose. No idea whatsover how it jumped into my trolley! Barely knew what it was and even how to use it! However I did use it in my lunch today and very nice it was too, a bit like a firmer, less wooly pearl barley with a light nutty sort of taste. Went very well with my poached chicken, radish, black olives and cucumber chunks :)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kate the Bake on -
Yes. I have just bought a dark green squidgy square packet from the japanese supermarket in Picadilly and have NO idea what it it, but had to buy it anyway. I love buying unidentifiable ingredients and go out of my way to visit food shops whenever I can - whether that is Turkish shops on Green Lanes or supermarkets in Japan :)
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Permalink Reply by Choclette on -
Yes, I'm also guilty of this foible. I recently went on a visit to Greenlife - the wholefood supermarket in Totnes - expressly to buy raw cocoa powder to make some raw chocolates (which I still haven't got around to making) and came out with coconut flour, some more lucuma powder and a big pot of barley miso. The miso will be used up without much effort, but I'll need to be a bit more creative with the other two ingredients. The lucuma in the lucuma chocolate cake I made a while back was a bit overpowered by the chocolate. I made a cake this weekend using some of the coconut flour which didn't work as I expected, but have no idea if that was because of the coconut flour!
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Permalink Reply by Bare Cupboard on -
Coincidentally, I just posted about something along these lines. In Istanbul last week, I bought what was described to me as lemon salt. On investigation, I discovered it was nothing more than citric acid! But, determined not to waste it, I tried it out on a sweet and sour aubergine salsa. And it was not good!
http://andthecupboardwasbare.wordpress.com
I don't really want to chuck it away though. Does anyone have any ideas of how to use it properly?
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Permalink Reply by Jenny on -
The random food in my cupboard at the moment includes several types of dried chile, a can of tomatillos, and ground hazelnuts. I try not to buy random stuff any more as I don't really have the budget. It's so tempting though!
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Permalink Reply by Matt Hall on -
I would say that most of my food purchases are planned, but that doesn't mean I don't have a cupboard full of weird and wonderful ingredients - At the moment I have half a shelf full of flour, which includes plain, self raising, buckwheat, wholegrain, strong white, granary, cornflour and 00 flour for pasta. I have a lot of baking to do!
I bought some turtle black beans, thinking they were regular black beans, and attempted to make a veggie chilli. YUK. Those things are nasty.
Lastly, I work round the corner from a Chinese supermarket, so often nip into there and see what's on offer. As so much of it's in Chinese I have no idea what it says, but buy it anyway. We've tried some weird desserts and delicious miso soup, as well as some really good curry pastes.
You know what's tempting me there at the moment though? Pigs legs, including the trotters!! I have some crazy idea that I can make a kind of ham hock or terrine. My girlfriend does not approve, but I may feed it her anyway. :P Their frozen dumplings are also very good and cheap...and random.
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Permalink Reply by anne on -
I've not been to the chinese supermarket in ages! Definately fab for dumplings and curry pastes! I've had all sorts of noodles, congees and god knows what! Mostly good quality though, never found a good enough oyster locally compared to the one they stock, will have to clear down freezer and pay a visit very soon!
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Permalink Reply by Kate the Bake on
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grab those trotters ~ our butcher does 4 for £1, that is great value and a real incentive to buy some just to try out, even if you don't like what you make.
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Permalink Reply by Martina Griffin on -
I would not say I am an expert in all oriental food but if you need some help in that area, let me know - I may be able to be of of assistance as I cook a lot of asian/oriental food.
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Permalink Reply by Sasa Hashimoto on -
Good idea for a topic!
I bought some beans called cicerchia when I was in Italy and they turned out a bit like chickpeas in a soup. I made minestrone but I suppose a puree would be ok too.
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