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> Editorial
> What's the Story?
> Mrs. Fixit
> Desperately Seeking Ingredients...
> Passionate about Mill Road
> Caribbean Masterchef
> Everything is Possible!
> A Sanctuary on Mill Road
> Boat People
> Going Green with Al-Amin
> The Akashi Project
> Open All Hours
> Mesmerised by Meze
> Come Together
> The Girl from Arapau
> Still Sweet and Spicy
> A Real Neighourhood
> Lei Si Fan Mei?
> Flight from Baghdad
> Streets of Revolution
> Stepping up the Ladder
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Desperately Seeking Ingredients...
“A couple of Christmases ago I decided I’d had it with buying unwanted presents. What do you give family and friends who already have everything? Instead, I’d offer delicious homemade foods, each individually targeted at palates I knew well: nougat for my sisterin-law, mango chutney for my niece, cheesy oatcakes for my brother-inlaw… Research done, armed with a long shopping list, I (somehow) found myself in the shrink wrapped, refrigerated aisles of Marks & Spencer. Not one thing on my list could I find! Not even flour. When I asked a uniformed assistant for help, she looked at me bemused: ‘Oh, we don’t do ingredients…’
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Somewhat disgusted with the high street giants, I resolved my Christmas presents would be home made and locally bought. Popping in and out of twenty little shops on Mill Road, my rucksack was soon bulging with fresh green mango, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, ricepaper, flour (several kinds), lemons, spices, rose water, dark and milk chocolate, orange liqueur…. The only thing I couldn’t source was glucose syrup. Even Al Amin’s didn’t seem to have quite the right thing. As I was asking Abdul Arain, the owner, where I might track some down, another customer overheard me. ‘You want glucose syrup? I’ve got some at home you can have.’ He turned out to be a highly trained chef from South Africa, and cheerfully gave me enough syrup for a batch of lovely nougat. He, and the wonderful shops on Mill Road, have all earned my eternal appreciation.”
Valerie Neal
Neighbourhood Resident
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