It’s only day 3 of my no-supermarket-for-30-days challenge, and I’ve already realised that supermarkets have made me lazy and dependent in an almost childish way, and created a mental food-universe that consists of whatever brands and products they happen to be pushing.
Here’s an example. I have two favourite cakes, both of them by Nigella Lawson, and both involving a lot of ground almonds. One is her lemon and almond cake, and the other is her chocolate lime cake. Yesterday, I had more or less decided to make the chocolate one for a birthday today.
To make it work, you really need good quality chocolate, and normally I’d use Green & Black’s. What I’ve discovered today is that Green & Blacks chocolate, nice though it is, is a supermarket phenomenon. It’s in your face constantly at Sainsbury’s and Tesco, but none of my local shops stock it.
So I made the lemon cake instead, as Daily Fresh has plenty of lemons and almonds. At £1.99 for 200g the ground almonds are 1p cheaper than Sainsbury’s. The unsalted butter (Emborg – Danish, nice shiny silver packet) at £1.29 was cheaper than some of Sainsbury’s unsalted butter brands. And of course, I didn’t have to walk all the way to Sainsbury’s to get it, and I was served quickly by a human with a genuine friendly smile.
Only 3 days without a supermarket, and I already find myself thinking more independently and creatively about food. Far from being a nuisance, this challenge feels like a liberation.
I heard that Green & Black’s had been bought by Kraft Foods, which is another good reason to shift brand. I didn’t go shopping all weekend. Lived off my booty from Borough Market and all the stuff I already had in the cupboard. Consequently, the challenge hasn’t really started full force for me yet. WIll keep you updated though.
I guess the full force has yet to hit when I’ve got right through what I already have. On the Green & Black’s thing, it’s not just about brand – it’s about buying expensive chocolate at all. Would I even think about it wasn’t there? No. Sad for Thorntons and all that, but nobody needs or wants that much chocolate in a year. You have to just keep pushing it at the customer and telling them they want it.