3 Things to Order-In to Make Your Summer Infinitely BetterBy Claudine Levy
Lockdown has taught us many things (we’re not cut out for Joe Wicks’ workouts, our omelette skill could do with some work, and online shopping is a godsend). To get more bang for your British buck, here’s 3 things you *need* to order in this summer.
1. For a Taste of the Sea: Loch Fyne Oysters
The Lowdown: The thing about oysters is…they feel hard to procure. Unless you have a really decent fishmonger nearby, it’s hard to access fresh, reasonably priced oysters by the dozen. That’s where Loch Fyne Oysters comes in – they deliver gorgeous fresh oysters straight from the rugged shores of Loch Fyne itself, delivering Scotland’s finest seafood straight to your door. They currency supply various Michelin starred restaurants across the country, as well as Selfridges.
You can bag yourself 2 dozen oysters for just over 20 quid, and the oysters themselves are shipped in specialist chilled containers and last surprisingly long in the fridge (they can keep up to 3-5 days). These oysters have a more subtle taste than other varieties, and so make the perfect introduction for oyster novices…
See the website here
2. For Dairy-Based Treats: La Fromagerie and Paxton and Whitfield
The Lowdown: Comte is the best cheese. We won’t be taking any questions at this time. It’s deep nuttiness makes it perfect in every context; whether it’s in a very special grilled cheese sandwich, grated on top of a caramelised onion and cherry tomato tart (puff pastry + 3 onions, slowly caramelised with a bit of sugar for 30 mins + halved cherry toms + grated comte + hot oven for 25 mins = perfect mid-week dinner).
See the website here
For Parmesan: Paxton & Whitfield
The Lowdown: Paxton & Whitfield offers a cornucopia of cheese. You can create your own cheese board and they deliver up and down the country (free delivery if you spend £60). We know what you’re thinking. Cheddar is the most bog standard cheese you can possibly imagine. And Parmesan? That stuff in the sweaty plastic sheath stocked in every supermarket in the land? No. This is very special cheddar, and very special Parmesan.
The cheddar is aged and deeply creamy yet astringent, the tang will reverberate on your palette – coming back in wave after wave of complex deep flavour such that you will question if you have ever really tasted cheddar before in your life. And the same for the Parmesan – stalagmite-ish shards of salty granular hunks of glory. An umami WHACK of flavour which will knock you out.
See the website here
3. For All the Meat: Field & Flower
The Lowdown: This award-winning indie meat producer delivers fresh incredible quality meat straight to your door – perfect for the summer Barbie season. We love their chef’s BBQ box – incredible value (currently reduced) at just over 50 quid for Toulouse sausages, beef and chorizo burgers, sharing rump steak, Scottish salmon, lamb loin chops and teriyaki marinated pork belly. The website says the box serves 1-2, but take it from us: you could feed 4-5 hungry friends with this box. They also deliver charcuterie, a selection of gorgeous looking West Country cheese.
This is the kind of place you could easily replace your supermarket meat with – with a monthly order of affordable sustainable free-range and high quality treats you’d be hard pushed to find in the Sainsbury’s chilled aisle.
See the website here
