Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Noted from the bus in the past few days, today I got off and inspected.  The name of the shop is not exactly clear - there's a website address, something like theitalianfarmer.com on the awning that comes up as an un-owned domain online.  There's some other name on the frontage that doesn't stick in the mind.  Carrier bags are nameless but at least bio-degradable.

Run by Italians, of whom the female of the trio in the shop when I visited collars each customer and, if they make the mistake of saying it is their first visit, gives them one of those 'let me explain the menu concept' type of lectures (sorry, this is a subjective reaction to a certain kind of spiel that makes me want to punch the poor person giving it).

But once you get over that nonsense, there's some special stuff in this shop.  Said lady foolishly tells you that everything is organic and produced by farmers.  Yes, well.  Certainly no major brands and some of it is small scale production.

What really caught my eye were the meats.  If you appreciate good quality, non-mass-produced Italian cured meats, such as are not easy to find in London, then I strongly suggest you make your way asap to this shop.  Not cheap but well worth it for the quality.  I came home with an experimental purchase of a piece of Cinta Senese salami, a piece of liver salami, a piece of something like capocollo (cured shoulder) and finally something I have never seen before: a kind of pork jerky that is so good it has almost disappeared already.  I'm no good with unfamiliar names unless I see them written down so I haven't the foggiest what this is called.  The guy told me that you can only get it in Rome.  I'm not totally ignorant of Italian cured meats but I've never seen anything like this before.  He had one kind that was out on the counter but when I expressed curiosity, he went out the back and got another pack of a softer type, but lightly coloured and spiced with chilli.  Amazing stuff - like pork candy as someone commented at the dinner table, but with a kick.

Cheeses - a limited range but look decent.

To have proper Parmesan and pancetta on my doorstep in Crouch End makes me profoundly happy - I'm silly that way.

All proper Italian food businesses tend to have a regional emphasis depending on the origins of the owners: in this shop it seems to be Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo.  They also have some rather amazing Neapolitan cherry tomatoes on a rope that evidently keep and gradually dry if not consumed quickly.  More than I was prepared to pay but interesting.

In honesty I can't see this business surviving in its current form unless they get the online aspect up and running and some decent publicity.  I wish them all the best though.  Certainly well worth a visit if that kind of thing floats your boat.

v

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Il Piccolo Diavolo just up the road from there is a lovely little Italian restaurant where they serve their own home-made pasta. I've often thought, given the number of Italian voices you hear on the bus around here, that there is a dearth of decent Italian foodshops and restaurants - certainly none in Green Lanes except pizza.

And there's a new high end, high quality Italian restaurant close to Finsbury Park Station (corner of Lennox and Fonthill Roads) called Osteria Tufo. The owners are from Naples. Check out reviews. And if you don't venture to Finsbury Park often drop into the Park Theatre bar for a drink first (though not between 7.00-7.30 as its always rammed with theatregoers.

Sick and tired of upmarket Italian delis in London though, the only things you seem to be able to buy are sundried tomatoes, expensive tasteless olives and mediocre cured meats and cheeses! What we need is a real food shop, with the basic stuff that makes life as an Italian expat in London so much better! Why can't I find 1kg cartons of Italian salt anywhere, for instance? The only shop I really love is Camisa in Old Compton Street, proper old-fashioned, not gimmicky, authentic Italian food shop! But I'd love something more local!

Coppiette

I've managed to identify the lovely pork jerky strips.

v

That's the thing - I don't want things to treat myself with, I want normal stuff! Thank god for the Turkish shops on Green Lanes selling Mulino Bianco biscuits and merendine.

It's a collective. A Stroud Green local had a chat with them recently - here's his blog post: http://stroudgreenoliveoil.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/review-italian-fa....

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