9. Local Farmers' Markets
I try to get to local Farmers' Markets whenever I can, but I wish we had more really good, local, daily food markets in this country. It's so frustrating when you see all the amazing examples in other european countries.
I've spent many an hour in La Boqueria in Barcelona... the fish alone, the sea cucumbers and urchins... it's brilliant. But it's not just Spain or France or Italy you find them. In Ireland, Cork has its excellent English Market. Every city needs one. They're great for everybody, fascinating for children and great for encouraging local produce.
When I first came here, meat was a problem, but it's sorted now thanks to a fantastic high-street butcher at New Ferry on the Wirral. His name is Callum Edge.
Through him I source excellent, locally produced meat, like my Gloucester Old Spot pork. He supplies my lamb and beef too, and when they have a rare breed, they'll let me know and we'll talk about hanging and for how long.
For so many of us today the connection from beast to frying pan is broken. You go to the supermarket and it's some product in plastic. There's no sense that it was ever a beast. Some kids you speak to might never, ever, have seen a cow. They don't realise where their bacon, or any other meat they see in a packet, really comes from.
It's very, very easy to switch off from the real relationship, but it's important that we don't... as the recent national debate about battery chickens has shown.
At Fraiche we only buy free-range chickens and free-range eggs, organic as well. It's not that I'm an organic obsessive, but what I buy must taste good and it must be reared well.
With thanks to Deirdre Morley of the "Home Grown Cookery Book"