QUARANTINE DIARIES, COMFORT FOOD & ALL THE SMALL THINGS THAT KEEP US GOING

A quarantine diary entry from a true London boy, no recipe required!

A few words about you, where did the quarantine find you?

The Time Of Corona found me locked down in West London wondering how much life was going to change, and as usual playing it by ear with no plan. 

What did it change for you ?

Day to day life in the neighbourhood didn’t actually change that much for me. Not going out or meeting people of course, but being forced to be antisocial isn’t as bad as I thought, I might even practice it occasionally in future. 

How many loo-rolls can you count in your cupboards?

One loo roll in use, one spare at the moment. I didn’t buy any extra, it wasn’t something I thought about really . .  It’s loo roll!! 

Comfort food, a dip in the cupboards

I cook most days, whatever is in the cupboard or at the market. No real favourites but all the usual standbys. Fava, gigantes and lots of chickpeas and veggies. My two usual butchers are Muslim so for pork and bacon I have a third. Also a good fishmonger a few minutes walk away so I’m well served for an English city boy. 

More important was my usual food supply. I avoid shopping for food at supermarkets and having to do that would’ve been a trial. Luckily my local market, Portobello, kept going, and my usual stalls made even more effort than usual offering free local deliveries from the outset. I did have ten days without my Greek grocery, The Athenian, but I had plenty of the basics in the cupboard, and they reorganised and reopened for Easter. Non of their home dyed eggs for us this year though

How do you cope?

I’m a reader so always have a pile of books waiting to be read, though my bookshop has just reopened . .  and they have a short list of new titles to order for me. Music is always available somehow and although I’m not going out to live shows many of my favourites are live streaming from their homes or studios. I’ve probably seen more than usual. 

Where will you go eat once this madness is over?

When things open up again and life returns to something like normal my first stop will be at my local Greek restaurant, Ormos, just around the corner. It opened last October and quickly became a favourite, and a regular, dropping round for lunch, dinner, or just coffee and a chat. 

Share a wish, just so we can finish on a happy note.

Hopefully we’ll learn from this experience and things won’t just return to how they were, but something better. Away from home I’m most hoping for a trip to Greece of course, the problem will be deciding between somewhere new or an old favourite where I feel at home .

from West London with love,

Martin

PS: You can be part of my quarantine cuisine diaries too. If you want to share your experience on Eat Yourself Greek (EYG), please drop me a line here. Thanks, Eugenia

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