At Little Hadham Stores I work with some wonderful suppliers. I simply refer to them by their first names in the order email that goes out every week. So, as we have many new customers I thought I should take the time to introduce them.
Paola makes our Italian meals and is an amazing cook. I do not know how she puts exactly the same ingredients into her sugo (passata) as me and yet hers tastes so much more complex. I love Italian food; I lived in Bologna for 6 months, travelled throughout the country and have close friends that I have visited regularly in Florence, Venice and Sardinia. Paola's food is still some of the best I have ever tasted. And my children are massive fans of her cooking, I quote; "...anything Paola makes will be perfect" (Louis, aged 11)
Paola grew up cooking with her Nonna (grandma), mother & aunts. She loves the very simple thing of ingredients turning into something that is delicious. Very interested in regional Italian cooking, Paola has travelled extensively in Italy, trying all the regional foods, Emilia Romangna is one of her favourites. Poala's Nonna was from Venafro a beautiful little town in between Rome & Naples. On her paternal side she is Pugliese. She hopes to gather her knowledge and pass it on to her customers with her cooking. She is increasingly becoming more adventurous in her handmade pastas stuffed or otherwise!
Fiona I secretly think is a magician. For me it all started with her soda bread, but Fiona's cooking is an adventure with seasonal, foraged and forgotten ingredients. My weakness is the food of my childhood, I love sweet potatoes and coconut and Fiona can make them into muffins and macaroons to die for. I had the absolute pleasure of going on my first fermentation course with Fiona and I love her kimchi and krauts. In fact if you tell me Fiona has made it I will eat it.
Her ingredients are always certified organic and she sources what is available in the UK & locally as a rule. The traceability of ingredients is hugely important to Fiona.
Fiona also forages in Bishop’s Stortford in order to appreciate nature’s pantry and the changing seasons. This also adds flavour & important nutrients to her selection of products so they can be at their best.
Fiona is a member of the slow food movement, & believes in the sustainable food system and local food economy which they support; she wears her snail with pride.
Part of Fiona's interest in slow food is the cultivation of wild bacteria, to transform raw ingredients into products far more complex, flavourful and digestible to us, which give us the all important healthy gut we need right now to boost our immune system.
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