I'm quite good at sticking to what I intend to buy when out food shopping. I never make a list, but I always know what I need and tend not to get too sidetracked. The exception is a good delicatessen. I used to work just round the corner from a shop called Valvona and Crolla in Edinburgh. As the name suggests, they are of Italian descent and the place is stacked with all sorts of tempting things. Not only is it almost impossible to avoid buying anything, there is the temptation to buy an awful lot. Many was the time I came away laden down with all sorts of cheese, olives, pasta, bread, wine and anything else that took my fancy. I can remain largely indifferent to supermarkets and their alleged special offers, but a good deli - or any other well-stocked specialist shop like a greengrocery or off-licence - tends to lead to temptation that cannot be resisted.
You and Antonio from Lewisham. Although his place is much smaller and low-key, the irresistible love of the delicatessen shows. I'm curious, because I love cheese, what is your favorite to go with Pinot Noir?
There are not many cheeses I don't like (well, apart from the mass-produced packaged stuff you get in supermarkets). I am especially partial to Durrus, a semi-soft cheese from West Cork. It is a little mild when young, but once it matures it has a rich, fruity taste. There are a couple of other excellent cheeses from West Cork, Gubbeen and Milleens and you sometimes see all three in Valvona. You can often get one or more at Mellis, a specialist cheese shop in Edinburgh. I love a really runny and mature unpasteurised Brie or Camembert. Another French cheese I like is St Albray, which is not too dissimilar to Camembert. Comté is also very good if it's ripe. A sharp blue cheese is nice as well. I like Cashel Blue, a Tipperary cheese and Shropshire Blue is a good English one. I had a lovely soft blue cheese in Copenhagen last week, doubtless a Danish Blue of some kind.
Thank you for that wonderful answer. There are a few you mentioned in your first paragraph that do not sound familiar to me but I'll watch out for them…I would love to try them now. I have a Swiss Gruyère in my refrigerator right now but I would like to find a firmer nuttier Comté. I love Brie and Camembert. I've never had blue cheese, except in a salad. I wonder if Cashel Blue and Tipperary cheese can be found in America. I want to find some Rogue River Blue Cheese from Oregon that is smoked in Hazelnut shells and has a smoked, sweet, caramel, and hazelnut flavors. I also like Manchego cheese that has been aged 12 months. I think it's from Spain.
Indeed, Manchego is Spanish, from the region of La Mancha to the south of Madrid. There are absolutely masses of cheesemakers in Ireland, particularly right down in the southern counties of Cork, Tipperary and Kerry. There is a lot of rain down there and it makes the grass very lush. One place I would recommend to anyone intending to visit Ireland is the English Market in Cork city. There is always a huge array of cheeses, especially local ones and while olives don't grow in Ireland, there is a fantastic olive stall there that sells about a hundred different varieties. It's also a place to buy wonderful fresh bread. Irish soda bread and wheat bread are two of the finest things you could ever wish to taste.
Oh yes, I've heard Kerrygold and Kerrygold Dubliner are the best. I buy Kerrygold butter and sometimes their cheddar cheese but have never tasted the more expensive Dubliner. Have you ever tasted the "Dubliner Irish Cheddar infused with Stout"? It's a new concept. I'm not a beer drinker but the stout adds caramel and coffee notes that sound interesting. I have mostly Scotch-Irish in me I'm told, and then a mix of things. I love a good crusty bread…but moderation is difficult when it's that good
We don't have many true delicatessens here, but I used to love to roam the aisles in the ones back home, and explore their offerings.
Love delicatessens a lot! You can get as much or as little as you want. Sometimes you can find at delicatessens the ethnic foods you crave for and can't find anywhere else! Safeway has $5 Fridays to include their deli section where you'll find applewood ham! I love Safeway's provolone cheese that they have on sale on some Friday's. Delicatessens are so nice to have so you can just get a snack or get party dishes! I love delicatessen food for they taste like homemade.
Edinburgh - about half an hour away on the train from where I live - has a very good stock of delicatessens. Scotland has quite a large population of people of Italian ancestry and many of the delis are Italian, though the people may be third or fourth generation now. Italian bread is especially nice and naturally, there is usually a good choice of pasta, olive, wine and things one would expect in an Italian grocery. There are also lots of independent off-licences, a very welcome development as far as I am concerned. When I first moved to Scotland in the early 1990s, it was hard to find one. Something else thin on the ground in Scotland then were breweries - I think there were about eight. Nowadays, there are around 70, nearly all small, independent brewers all of which offer something much, much better than the global giants and their hideous, mass-produced, fizzy dishwater.
Now, this is the sort of thing I like finding...a well-constructed craft beer. Even if I did have to go all the way to Denmark to get it.
I really like cheese but I don't have access to many varieties here. Only what I can find at walmart. Most of the ones mentioned sound good but I never seen or heard of most.
I really like that pretty much whatever we want is available online. I used to be able to order whatever small things I wanted, and hope to again someday, once I get past this bump in the road. There are a lot of unique shops and products online, and I particularly like the handmade items that I wouldn't be aware of if the internet didn't exist. I used to go to the Hong Kong Market a lot, but the last few times I wanted those types of products, I've ordered them online, to save wear and tear on my vehicle.
I'm not fond of beer but I shop at "Trader Joe's" often and have noticed rows and rows, shelves and shelves, of beer including craft beer and you can "build your own 6-pack". Brands rotate often. I've seen where people even pick one out of an existing 6-pack (you can see that in pick below). It's allowed there. I'm intrigued by al the label designs but always wonder if they're any good. I read that beer is best when it's fresh...under 90days (refrigerated). I entertain a beer loving couple occasionally so I went to Brewnette's website and found her critique interesting. Her recent favorite is: "Bohemian Lager DELICIOUS BEER! This is a pretty smooth lager. It’s just bitter enough and packed with the right kinds of flavor. I noticed so sweeter undertones which complimented the bitterness. Even my non-beer drinking friend, Natalie, loved it. A good lager that a would get again…and again." Here's her link: https://brewnette.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/hand-picked-6-packs/
Now there's a shop I could enjoy investigating...the "Session Black" looks interesting. I like a black beer, but then again I like a lot of different types of ale. It's certainly true that we can get so many things online now. I use a few sites that sell beer from all over the place - Beers of Europe is a particular favourite. It's a bit of a misnomer because they sell quite a lot that isn't from Europe. I also bought some gorgeous Romanian wine a few months back from an online seller. Not that I want to give the impression that I spend half my life drinking...