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Imagine my excitement. It was a normal morning heading to the ICA at 7am, squeaky trolley dragged behind me. A few people about but, basically, the walk was dark and quiet. The ICA was bright and welcoming as I shopped for the ingredients I’d need for tomorrow night’s dinner. Then, like a mirage, a new set of shelves surprised me.
One thing I have been missing about Waitrose is the easy availability of Middle Eastern type products. Nothing too elaborate but, given I make Persian food quite often, it would be nice not to have to improvise. Or go out of my way to find what I need. Istanbul was a long way to go, for instance.
Okay, I can go to Stockholm where, sometimes, I’ll find what I need, but even that is an out of my way chore given I generally go to Stockholm for more interesting expeditions than shopping for special herbs and spices. Mind you, last week’s successful discovery of the mother load of za’atar was the find of the century.
You can get South East Asian, Mexican, American, but the Middle East was usually missed out. But not any more because, the new display was…wait for it…full of Middle Eastern bits and pieces. Herbs, spices, sauces, almost everything I could ever need. I quickly loaded my trolley in case it suddenly vanished. Or I woke up from a mad dream about flavouring.
I obviously bought more than I’ll need for tomorrow just to stock the skafferi. I walked home a happy, whistling shopper. Thank you, ICA.
Sadly, though, they have yet to stock preserved lemons, a vital part of my Persian roast chicken and various other dishes. Now, if they had a suggestion box I could fill…
