🖇 Versió en català (Ara tens totes les meves publicacions disponible en català aquí!)
While living in Sweden, I discovered the concept of the produce delivery box. I would get a box of seasonal fruits and vegetables delivered to my door on a regular cadence, but I could not choose what I got.
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I remember getting my first one and being slightly intimidated by the selection. I had never voluntarily brought beets or conference pears into my home. I didn’t really grow up eating these, and I had no idea how to enjoy them.
Over time, I started to look forward to the regular arrival of unfamiliar produce, even though each delivery provoked a minor panic. That panic would turn into frantic Google searches and questioning of friends and family on how to cook what I had, and eventually, something tasty would appear on my dinner table.
Ever so slowly, this regular discomfort started to change the way I cook. Instead of going to the supermarket and always buying the same three vegetables (in my case, broccoli, carrots, and zucchini), I was forced to stare a new, unfamiliar vegetable right in the eyes, introduce myself, and get to know it. I’ve since forged deeper relationships with beets, fennel, carrots (on the days they give me, like, 15 of them), pears, potatoes, and more.
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I now like to think of myself as the “manager” of my produce, on a mission to understand and unlock the potential of each vegetable. A good people manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of each of her reports, and uses that knowledge to help the team reach its fullest potential. A good cook, I think, does the same. The more time you spend with a fruit or vegetable, the more effectively you can leverage its strengths, and the more easily you can create a cohesive, delicious result.
But I don’t think it’s possible to do this by hand-picking your veggies. At least it isn’t for me.
I still choose to get a vegetable box every month because I don’t trust myself to walk into a grocery store and voluntarily pick out a fennel or 15 carrots. I may have ideas for carrots #1-4, and maybe I’ll look up something for carrots #5-9, but once we’re on carrot #10+, I’m panicking and actually starting to have to exercise some creative muscle. And that’s where things get interesting.
A case study
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Here’s a meal I really enjoyed, inspired by a recent box that included multiple items I would never buy myself, either because I’m lazy to prep them or because I’m afraid of them.
Butternut squash
Excuse: They’re big and intimidating and I don’t have arm muscles to chop them up
Result: A delicious roasted butternut squash from Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem
Beets
Excuse: They’re annoying to peel and get your hands dirty
Result: A beet yogurt dip from the same book that you can literally eat by the spoonful
Cabbage
Excuse: They’re also huge and after I use half of it, I’m out of ideas
Result: A bright salad to accompany all the rest - spiced chickpeas, roasted carrots with rosemary, etc.
Could I buy produce more cheaply by just picking random ones myself at the grocery store? Yes, probably. But I don’t. And if I don’t, I continue to fall back onto the same dishes day after day.
I think life requires a bit of discomfort, but sometimes that discomfort needs to be manufactured. That’s what a produce box does.
These days, I’ve found that I’m able to walk into a grocery store and think of at least 3 or more ways to use each plant, and I feel like a wizard able to turn stone into gold. It’s a very satisfying feeling.
I’m inspired by this reflection from Noma chef René Redzepi in his book Work in Progress, which I think sums things up very nicely:
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👩🏻🍳 Cooking tips
This week’s tip is to try getting a produce box once, if you haven’t already. The ones I’ve used are Ekolådan in Sweden and Talkual in Barcelona (though there are plenty). Talkual is a company based in Lleida and their mission is to rescue vegetables that big supermarket chains reject for being visually “imperfect” - though honestly, apart from one bump on a carrot I saw, the produce all seems perfect.
But Janey, why would I spend 20eur on a produce box when all that produce is cheaper at my grocery store?
I asked myself this question too. It’s because the mind and body do not like discomfort 🤷🏻♀️ That’s why capitalism enables us to pay 💸💸💸 to make ourselves uncomfortable for our own good.
But if you truly don’t want to sign up for a box, one way to make sure to randomly get produce you wouldn’t otherwise is to go into the grocery store with the challenge of getting one product of every color.
This idea is inspired by the Korean traditional color palette known as obangsaek, which goes way back to ancient Chinese philosophy and can be seen in art, food, architecture, and clothing. The idea is to make sure you always have one element of each color. “By cooking in balance with these five colors, one is believed to obtain and absorb the energy of the universe through each meal,” they say. I don’t know about you, but that universal energy sounds pretty great.
3️⃣ Barcelona tips for you
If you want to explore local products from Catalunya
Farmers’ markets! There are so many. The couple I’ve been to are:
Mercat de Pagès: Saturday or Sunday mornings in Fort Pienc, Esquerra de l'Eixample, Guinardó, and Sants-Les Corts, depending on the location
Mercet de la Terra: Saturday mornings 9-13:30h at la Plaça de Tres Xemeneies (Poble-Sec)
I still remember the creaminess and freshness of the soft goat cheese I got in the Mercat de Pagès in Fort Pienc a while ago from Formatges Veciana. Highly recommend.
If you like deep frying stuff at home
One of the biggest problems with deep frying at home is having a bunch of oil to somehow throw away. Barcelona makes it easy: just go to any Punt Verd and ask for the yellow bottle. It looks like this:
You take it home, put your oil in there, bring it back, and they give you a new one.
(You can learn more about the city’s oil recycling system in this 2024 report from the Agència de Residus de Catalunya + Generalitat de Catalunya. Turns out cooking oil can be recycled for biodiesel, paints, lubricants, cosmetic products, etc. and this program is preventing tons of oil from contaminating local waters.)
If you like good artisanal tofu or mochi
Somenoya, a Japanese food shop in Eixample, has some of the best tofu I’ve tasted in the city. It’s not the cheapest (~4eur for a box) but it is very tasty and they make it onsite. It’s also approved by the teacher of my Japanese cooking class, so if you don’t believe me, believe him.
Also, Petit Japó, a super cute Japanese cultural center in Gràcia, is hosting a mochi workshop on the Sunday July 13 from 11-13h (45eur). Sign up by DM’ing them here or emailing info@petitjapo.space.
🌏 Language corner
I visited a friend in Mexico City once and she told me that you can use the phrase “taco de ojo” to refer to something or someone beautiful or attractive. Like, a taco for your eyes rather than your mouth. I love it. Careful though, the internet says it’s often used in non-G-rated contexts so maybe refrain yourself from using it at work 🙊
🤝 A cool volunteer opportunity!
Centre Civic El Sortidor (Poble Sec) is hosting a “Sopar popular d’aprofitament” with food leftover from local shops in Poble Sec and Sant Antoni on Thursday July 25 at 19:30h. Read about it here (page 5) and reach out to them to volunteer at ccelsortidor@bcn.cat or on Instagram.
📌 A quick piece of admin
I recently realized that I haven’t been receiving any email responses to my Welcome email for new subscribers. If you responded to that email, I didn’t get it! I’m sorry 🙇🏻♀️ I’ve fixed it now, so I should receive replies from any email I send. Apologies for the confusion!
🖋 And finally, a poem from a bakery in Rupit
Because it rhymed and I liked it. Also, Rupit is a beautiful town in La Garrotxa and you should go if you haven’t already.
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Signing off edition 2! I’d love to know if you have any experiences with produce boxes, or any ‘boxes’ of food-related surprises for that matter. Bon Sant Joan! 🎆
Until July 4,
Janey