This Month through my Lens #4

"The hurrier I go, the behinder I get" | Confusing Blackberries | French Market Joy | Pop Nostagia

Hello! And welcome back to the monthly newsletter from Lens Soup.

My aim with these is to share the things that have caught my eye in the world of Food and Photography, and occasionally random things that I think this Lens Soup community might love.

French Food Market ©Kirstie Young

This being summer, and me being more than a little disorganised, means that July’s newsletter is actually dropping in August. I’m determined to get better at this scheduling situation, but somehow here we are in August and I’m chasing my tail. Anyone else embodying the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, trying to fit everything into the summer months?

August is also really confusing seasonally - it’s hot¹ but the Blackberries are bursting out of bushes everywhere? I am, without fail, annually surprised by this - I associate them so completely with crumbles and pies and AUTUMN. Yet here they are, winking their purpley black eyes at me, bold as brass from the hedgerows. I’ll be retracing this mornings dog walk later with a bag in my pocket to nab all the beauties I spotted, and will then stick them in the freezer until the appropriate crumble moment arrives. I’ll even try not to mumble “It’s too soon for these” as I do it …

The First Pick ©Kirstie Young

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I’ve been in France all week with some of my oldest mates and their families, with all the restorative wine drinking, cheese eating and late night bad singing that comes with it. It’s something that happens every couple of years and it’s one of the biggest highlights in my calendar. The food is always front and centre with some evenings being catered for by a chef, and others where we split into shoppers, chefs and washers uppers, each playing to their strengths. We had a huge BBQ evening, and made this Chimichurri sauce to go alongside the steak with some of the vast bunches of fresh herbs we’d nabbed at the market. It’s up there in my husband’s top five foods, and something we just don’t make enough, partly due the the piddly little packets of herbs that don’t cut the mustard compared to the huge generous bunches you see in France. But if you have an abundance in your garden, or a decent farmers market nearby, then I urge you to give this a go.

The food markets, and even the supermarkets, were a massive guilty pleasure. So many incredible options in both that not for the first time I’m baffled why we do this so badly in the UK. Our shelves are increasingly stocked with UPF’s², theirs have rows upon rows of fresh produce, cheeses, meats and fresh fish. Time to get growing I think …

French Food Markets ©Kirstie Young

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Things that grabbed my attention this month

• Talking of Growing …

A little behind the scenes video of the first shoot with

Kathy Slack

for Rhino Greenhouses is up on both our Instagram pages. I feel like I am giving plant paparazzi vibes, and I’m here for it!

(@kirstie_young_photography and @Gluts_Gluttony) or follow the link here

If you’re in the market for some solo dining during the school holidays (I can dream!!) then the new feature in the Simple Things embraces the idea of treating yourself like the absolute queen you are and cooking some perfectly simple food to enjoy without interruption (did I mention the kids are off school?!). It’s called “Please Yourself” with recipes from Kathy and photos by me. One of my absolute faves is given an upgrade - the Spanish classic of Pan con Tomate, AKA Grated Tomato on Fried Bread. Hard to top as a quick but unfailingly delicious lunch. Good bread and good tomatoes a given.

The recipes are in this months Simple Things magazine which you can buy online, or in Waitrose, M&S, WH Smiths.

If the Bread and Tomato combination hits your sweet spot then can I really recommend these recipes too, which are very much in the same wheelhouse.

Baked Tomatoes with Crumbs and Herbs by Nigel Slater here

Fattoush, that ubiquitous Middle Eastern Salad. A recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s here

Or the Italian take on it, Panzanella. I love the one in Antonio Carluccio’s book Vegetables and you can find his recipe is here

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• TV

I don’t generally watch that much TV at this time of year, but needed to slump in front of the big black box when I got back from holiday, and had been recommended this gem of a documentary on Netflix - The Greatest Night in Pop

It’s a behind the scenes Documentary of the recording of the 1985 charity single “We Are The World”, where 47 of the biggest stars of the time, people like Lionel Richie, Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, all squeezed into a studio to record the charity single for African famine relief.

In my knackered post holiday tiredness it had something of the quality of a fever dream as I watched Diana Ross ask Daryl Hall for an autograph, and Smokey Robinson criticise Micheal Jackson’s songwriting. The song itself is awful tbh, but watching the worlds most impressive supergroup is jaw dropping, a great bit of nostalgia for those of us who remember it and a fantastic musical history lesson for those that don’t.

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• Book

I managed to leave my fully loaded Kindle in the taxi from the Airport on Day One of the holiday. Gah. However the silver lining was borrowing this absolute gem of a book by Claire Keegan, called “Small Things Like These”. A really understated, tender but powerful book set in Ireland in the mid 80’s, the horrors and traumas of the Magdalen laundries running throughout in the background. The main character is the (now adult) son of an unmarried mother who escaped the laundries because of the kindness of her employee, yet is still defined by his background despite being married with his own family. The iron rule of the church, and the poverty that defined whole communities is chilling, and the writing has a fragile quality that makes the story all the more unsettling.

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• The Best Baguette in France

  I wanted to finish by celebrating the fact that the winner of the best baguette in France this year was a Sri Lankan born baker. And to link to the charity Hope Not Hate if you are feeling powerless right now.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, do please share this with your friends

1. I mean, sometimes I have even taken my cardigan off

2. Ultra Processed Foods