The Thinking Behind Her Grocery List

I was thinking about what I felt like having for breakfast this morning when my grandmother came to mind. Before I knew it, I’d made fish and chips. Masala chips and a very nice lemony fish. And then I started thinking about strawberry milk.

I wouldn’t have served any of this for breakfast to my children. Mind you, mine would ask what we were having. We didn’t ask my grandmother. There was no menu. At school in Wolverhampton, you knew Wednesday was sandwiches and Friday was stew. At home, dinner time meant dinner time. Whatever was on the table was dinner.

We might have the odd fish and chips growing up, but most of what we ate came out of the kitchen. My grandmother did her shopping on Saturdays, and whether she cooked or my granddad did, dinner was on the table. Bread was always on the table. In some houses it was bread and butter, in others bread and margarine. There was salad, there was meat, and there were potatoes or rice. Sometimes both, depending on how many people you had to feed.

As a child, I didn’t know what payday had to do with any of it. I knew there was bread. It was only when I started buying groceries for my own family that I began to understand what my grandmother was thinking about on a Saturday. You want them to go to bed full or go to work full. Why? Because they’ve got to perform. And the groceries have to stretch until you can buy some more.

Old memories die hard. I can still see that table. Eggs and bacon or beans on toast haven’t been on my breakfast table in years. Cereal? Depends what’s in it. Although I play, I am very careful of ingredients. I’ll read the side of a cereal box and then come home and make masala chips for breakfast.

Lemony fish and masala chips for one

Cut a large potato into thick chips and toss with a little oil and salt. Roast at 425°F (220°C) for 25 to 35 minutes, turning halfway, until golden. While they’re hot, toss them with a pinch each of ground cumin, ground coriander and smoked paprika. Add a little cayenne if you feel like it.

Pat a fillet of haddock or cod dry. Season it with salt, pepper and finely grated lemon zest, then dust it lightly with flour. Pan-fry it in a little oil over medium heat until golden and cooked through. Squeeze fresh lemon over it at the table.

I’m still thinking about the strawberry milk. And for dessert, a baked apple with ice cream.

Doesn’t everyone have dessert for breakfast?