Food provisioning

Suffice to say that food in Britain is not food in France.  However, like the U.S., there has been a movement here for fresh and organic food for quite some time.  Therefore, you can easily find decent vegetables at the farmer's market in the centre of Cambridge.  The potatoes in particular look very tasty.  Chard is very cheap (a huge bunch for 1.20 quid).  With the weather being as warm as it is, I'm already looking forward to the first tender asparagus of the season.

Although Britain is an island and not that far from the sea, it's surprisingly difficult to find fresh seafood.  The fish monger at the market (not cheap) is easily one of the most taciturn sellers I've ever dealt with.  But when he has fresh fish, it is fresh.  I bought a kilo of mussels the other day for 3 pound something.  They were small, but plump and very delicious.  His scallops didn't look so hot but their price (some 28 quid a kilo) prevented me from buy a few.  Maybe some other time.

British cheeses are different from their French and Italian cousins.  I would say they tend to be firmer and the flavor is distinctly different --- I seem to lack the adjectives for a description.  I buy my cheese from the market's cheese monger-ess (who has an uncle in upstate NY).  One cheese is lightly covered with hops and invites the consumption of beer.

And that leaves meat: our local butcher has quite a selection, although we haven't been in a carnivorous mood.  I did buy a goose breast and it was superb.  The selection of game is extraordinary along with a huge selection of venison and lamb.

Finally, let me mention bread: You can expect to find scones everywhere all of varying quality.  The bread baker at the farmer's market has reasonably nice bread but his scones are not only expensive but also not as tasty.  I'd like to find a real artisan baker, but I haven't found one yet.  The Sunday market (the most local market) has a stall devoted to a local cake baker.  Her carrot cake with a creme cheese frosting could have been found in the US.  And, alas and alack, there are no bagels here.  What purports to be a bagel looks like a very foul imitation.