Thursday, February 08, 2007

Street and a few veg

In an increasingly pathetic last-ditch attempt to keep this blog thematic, I can now reveal that last week while in London I walked right past the entrance to Peckham train station, completely oblivious. And it was all because of those pesky vegetables. Not a potato or a talking dog in sight, mind you. Instead, the cunning greengrocer had to make do with:

boxes of crinkly red scotch bonnets
shiny white globe aubergines
piles of the green bumpy cucumbers that are bitter melon
the stinky durian fruit beloved by bats
long white daikon
leaves, many, many leaves
bitter gourd
bottle gourd
snake gourd
calabash (isn't it a gourd, too?)
cassava
plantain
purple mangosteen (note to self - this would be a really good name for a Victorian-era disease: Galloping Purple Mangosteen. Cured only by Dr. Proctor's Patent Syrup of Centrifuged Worm Fungus and peat baths.)

I should probably point out (if it wasn't already obvious) that the selection of fruit & veg in Prague has been rather limited of late. Apparently, now all someone has to do to lure me off the straight and narrow is to leave a trail of okra for me to follow. I'm so weak-willed that all this vegetable glory, which included the humble carrot looking a bit perkier than I've seen lately, made me late for work.

5 comments:

Unknown said...
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The Richard said...

I must say that my abiding memory of Prague is one of root vegetables.

On my return to London, I recall running to Tesco (or whathaveyou) and purchasing...

> Spinach
> Lettuce
> Avocado
> Courgette

... in large bags and devouring them hungrily.

It's almost like Czech soil will not sprout anything greener than trees or grass. Only potato!

I feel your pain, is all I am saying.

Bob & Muffintop said...

I too equate Eastern Europe with root vegetables for some reason. Mangosteen does not sound at all like a vegetable ought.

Anonymous said...

Ohhh, mangosteens... I miss them so. Cry. Also durian, but they're available in grocery stores here. But not mangosteens.

EvilAuntiePeril said...

rpc, will be headed londres-way ce weekend. Break out the rocket and leafy fodder.

bookwormom, I shouldn't complain, really, because compared to some places I've lived, Prague is a veritable cornucopia of fruit & veg. The problem is that it's a very small, bland and expensive one. For example, there are avocados, it's just that price and texture-wise, they work better as antique decorations for the mantelpiece.

candy, mangosteens are a bit of a find, even for me. These ones weren't ripe, but did leave me the dilemma: is it better to have eaten an unripe mangosteen and spat it out, or never to have eaten one at all? I left it, and was worried about bringing half a durian on public transport without one of those lead containers.