Bermuda Groceries are EXPEN$IVE

If you think inflation has driven prices up where you live, consider Bermuda — out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Almost everything is imported.

Price comparison — a 5oz package of Organic Girl baby arugula costs between $3.29 and $4.49 in the US; in Bermuda the same product costs $5.99 on special or $7.99 at the regular price.

Royal Gazette – Understanding food supply chain and drivers of soaring prices

BUT there must be some good deals. Right? Right?

I found the downtown MarketPlace to have the best selection. Prices are often better, too, than the other 7 MarketPlace stores on island.

Two litre Diet Pepsi $4.49 on sale. New York price $2.28.

Red Baron frozen pizza $8.59 on sale. New York price $4.47.

1kg mixed flash frozen vegetables $8.29. New York price $2.28.

La Vielle Ferme wine $12.99 on sale. New York price $8 and up.

Family size Raisin Bran Crunch cereal $9.19. New York price $5.38

Whole rotisserie chicken $13.49. New York price $8.

1.5 quart (1.42 litre) ice cream $8.49 on sale. New York price $4.97.

Just Bagels 6 pack frozen $6.59. New York price $4.18.

Raisin Bran Crunch must be healthy, I ASSuME. So worth the higher price. 😀

P.S. Unleaded gas price February 2023 was U.S. $2.27 / litre. Only Iceland and Hong Kong were more costly that month. Norway was $2.20.

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly written by American chef Anthony Bourdain, was first published in 2000. …

… the book is both a professional memoir and an unfiltered look at the less glamorous aspects of high-end restaurant kitchens, which he describes as unremittingly intense, unpleasant, hazardous, and staffed by misfits. …

Bourdain has cited George Orwell‘s Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), with its behind-the-scenes examination of the restaurant business in 1920s Paris, as an important influence on the book’s themes and tone. …

In 2005, the book was adapted into a television show of the same name, starring Bradley Cooper as a fictionalized Bourdain. The series was cancelled partway into its first season, and only 13 episodes were produced. …

Very entertaining. Laughs on every page.

Olive-oil Mill in Spain

For the second time ever I toured an Olive-oil factory. And it was just as interesting the second time.

They are still making oil the way it was done hundreds or thousands of years ago. The traditional “First cold-pressed” system.

The olives are knocked out of the tree into a net. And physically “pressed”.

Strained through these cloths.

Then purified in a number of steps.

I’m not sure when glass containers were introduced. That must have been controversial! 😀

The leftovers come out looking like these chips. They are reused in many ways, including as fertilizer for the Olive trees.

Molino El Vínculo in Cadiz Province has been in the same family since at least 1755. And the family grew olives here since at least 1640.

It’s a colourful place with many old pieces of equipment displayed for tourists.

I did try the oil. But couldn’t tell the difference between it and every other olive oil I’ve eaten.

Visiting Cádiz, Spain

Of the places in Andalusia I visited November 2022, Cádiz is the least popular tourist destination.

I was still pleased to have seen it.

Cádiz is a rocky, long, narrow peninsula, popular with sailors and fishermen for thousands of years. In fact, that Italian (Columbus) set sail from here on his second voyage to “India”. He was financed by the Spanish Crown.

By far my highlight was the Castle of San Sebastián, the fortress in the sea. That connecting levee was built 1860.

At dusk I’d take my wine to enjoy sunset.

There are good beaches, deserted in November.

Cádiz Cathedral was decorated for Christmas

Clearly they don’t have the budget of the BIG European cities.

The central food market is a highlight for sure. I’ve never seen so many varieties of fish and seafood. PHOTOS.

Most days I simply wandered the old town. Snapping photos non-stop. Here are a few samples.

I love the look of the simple fishing boats at low tide.

I got lucky having one day of overcast. Rare here. But it makes for more interesting skies.

I would recommend you visit Cádiz.

P.S.

The longest bridge in Spain is here. La Pepa, opened 2015. But I didn’t cross it nor could I even get close enough for a good photo. This pic is from Wikipedia.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Seafood Market, Cádiz, Spain

The Central Market of Cádiz is memorable to say the least.

Over 100 food stands in an ancient stone marketplace.

Surrounding the Market are different stalls where you can sample the best of Cádiz’s traditional cuisine.

Street urchins.

I wasn’t all that adventurous, opting only for the very popular street paella.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Liverpudlian Scouse, Please

Scouse (/skaʊs/; formally known as Liverpool English or Merseyside English is an accent and dialect of English associated with Liverpool and the surrounding county of Merseyside.  …

Scouse is also a general term for this pan-ethnic community or Liverpudlians in general. The accent is named after scouse, a stew eaten by sailors and locals. …

You can’t be called a “scouser” unless you eat this stew — every day, I assume. 😀

Lunya restaurant was recommended. Their version has a Catalan twist.

The Shooting at Chateau Rock by Martin Walker

The more books I read in the Dordogne Mysteries series, the more I like them.

Bruno is the Chief of Police in a small French town in the Périgord region.

Bruno’s friends remind me a bit of the folks in Three Pines, Quebec.

Charming.

Each murder is almost incidental to the scenes of rural life. Especially the food!

In this one, after a death seemingly from heart attack, Bruno discovers that both a local retirement home and their insurance company are scams with links to a Russian oligarch.

An excellent tale.

To Kill a Troubadour by Martin Walker

To Kill a Troubadour (2022) is 15th in the Bruno, Chief of Police series.

Benoît “Bruno” Courrèges is the superhuman village policeman in a small town in the Périgord region of France.

The British author has a home there. Walker is an excellent writer though I found this book somewhat overly complicated and detailed. It slowed down the story which revolves around Russians trying to disrupt Spain around the issue of the Catalan independence movement.

… a wonderful mix of crime investigation, scrumptious food, Périgordian history, Bruno’s friends and colleagues, and of course, Bruno himself.   

And readers also get a healthy dose of Bruno’s basset hound, Balzac, and Balzac’s adorable new pup, “the Bruce”.  …

Review of To Kill a Troubadour

I do recommend the book.