"Nothing is as good as buying food"
It's not true of course. There are lots and lots of things that are better than buying food, but still there is a tiny grain of truth in it. It's a quote from Nigella's first book, How to Eat, and she's actually talking about the dangers of buying too much stuff for your store cupboard. The dangers of being sucked into buying rare things, gourmet things, and just too much of good things. Which is a whole topic in itself.
I was short of inspiration, and knew that I had underlined various things she said in that book, and so I decided to flick through to see if anything caught my eye. And voilà - topic for the day. So I searched for photographs that would illustrate the statement and chose this one because it shows the good and the bad of buying food. It's a terrible photo, and this is not healthy food, but here we are in Cassis, France, near the end of our final European holiday I think. We are eating cassis sorbet - our absolute favourite French ice-cream. It's blackcurrant and for some reason you cannot get it here, so it's the only ice-cream I eat in France. It's divine. We bought it because it was hot, because we were on holiday and because we might never have it again. Although we don't look particularly joyful in this shot - it was a joyful experience and a treasured memory. I even remember the experience of buying it, because we chatted with the salesgirl about why Cassis the place, and cassis the fruit were pronounced differently. You pronounce the final 's' when talking about the fruit. She didn't know why by the way.
I'm rambling I know. 'Nothing is as good as buying food'. Let's think why that might be.
Number one - it reassures you that you can - that you have enough money to buy food, indeed can pick and choose at will. There are more people that cannot do this than can in the world and being able to buy any food you like is a very comforting thing. It makes you appreciate how lucky you are.
Number two - the pure sensual joy of all those gorgeous looking foods on display in markets and supermarkets alike. All those beautiful fruits, and vegetables, the meat, the cheese, the cakes and pastries, the bread ... It's a natural art gallery.
Because one tends to only take photographs when on holiday I don't really have any of beautiful displays in supermarkets, and the above two holiday shots are not my best in my collection, but I have too many to trawl through. Anyway the point is that just looking at all those beautiful things is a sensual delight - sight and smell mostly as one generally is not allowed to touch until you do actually buy, but the overall smell of a market or even a food shop - think bread here - is a wonderful thing. Well I suppose that sometimes it isn't - a meat or fish market for example - or many Asian markets. But that too is an experience. And if you are buying fruit and vegetables then you should handle it if possible - to feel whether it is too far gone in ripeness, to smell whether it is at its optimum freshness, and to see whether there are bruises or discolouration. And if possible you should taste the cheese you are buying. We are lucky here in Australia that we can still do this in our supermarkets. In England virtually all fruit and vegetables are pre-packaged, so only one's sense of sight is available to help you choose.
Number three - buying food is anticipatory of pleasure to come. Yesterday I bought some mushrooms in the market because they were so fresh looking and so cheap, and as I bought them I was planning in my head what I could do with them. Whilst you are selecting your fruit and vegetables you can enjoy planning a dinner for two, thinking about inviting someone to join you in tasting what you are buying. Now that is fun.
Number four - greed. I won't say greed is good but I do think it's sometimes alright to enjoy something forbidden - like the cassis ice-cream - or the beautiful patisseries of France that my husband loves so much.
Number five - social interaction. When one is on holiday perhaps one makes more effort. Our purchases in Europe are almost always accompanied by a chat to the vendors - even in the hypermarkets, where they let us try lots of cheeses before we buy. But even here in Melbourne you can interact. I have always been impressed by Australian checkout chicks. I know they are told to say hello and how are you, but they always seem to do it with sincerity and often one chats to them as they do their thing. Even if you are doing a self checkout you often get to speak to either one of your fellow shoppers or the lady who is there to solve problems - because we always seem to have a problem or two - well we're old. And in Aldi they are particularly friendly, as are the shoppers. And then we often actually meet people we know - as do others - and so you stop for a chat. Shopping for food is a social excursion.
Number six - intellectual curiosity. This could just be me I guess. But I find supermarkets in particular are a microcosm of society. Contemporary mores, technology, fads, trends and fashions can all be seen somewhere in the supermarket. And every country has its own peculiarities when it comes to supermarkets. Off the plane and into the supermarket - and you might get a good idea of what to expect in the country you are visiting - from the food that is there, through the way it is presented, the way you buy it, to the people you encounter in your visit.
And last of all - memory. Memories of times gone by - rationing, high street shops, overseas holidays, the shops of your various home towns. Buying food is often such a large part of this because it's what we have to do to feed ourselves, and the experience varies through time and place, wealth and paucity. I see that Coles has increased its online sales by 30% and no doubt this will rise. And I can see the benefits to some - the busy, the time poor, those in remote areas, the old and the disabled, but for everyone else it would be a shame to lose that everyday shopping experience. It may not be the very best thing you will experience, but its certainly up there, not to be underrated, and more important than you might think.
