Charles Campion is The Smart Shopper

10 April 2012

Here are this week's food shop must-haves, hand-picked by our critic Charles Campion...

A new home-grown fish
This East African freshwater fish has a good flavour and mercifully few bones. Now the Fish Company is farming tilapia successfully in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire and has managed to get the fish listed at the top 100 branches of Morrison's. As the fish are farmed there are no awkward questions about sustainability and the price is keen: £7.99/kg or £4 for a whole small fish. morrisons.co.uk

Ripe for Mont d'Or
Stellar Parisian cheese shop Androuet proudly boasts that it has been selling seasonal cheese since 1909. The Androuet shop and café in Old Spitalfields Market opened in spring 2010 and specialises in presenting perfect ripe cheeses. One of the proprietors, Leo Guarneri, waxes eloquent about this year's Mont d'Or cheeses. (Due to an ugly squabble a decade or so ago, Mont d'Or cheeses are not allowed to be called Vacherin, and visa versa — rather foolish as the cheeses are almost identical and made about 30km from each other). While last year's Mont d'Or were rather inconsistent, this year's are superb. A 500g cheese costs £9.90 or you can buy by the slice for £17.60/kg.
Androuet, Old Spitalfields Market, E1 (020 7375 0642, www.androuet.com)

One-stop ravioli
For the Smart Shopper, this time of year usually presents a dilemma — do you buy your pumpkin ravioli from Lina Stores or I Camisa, both Soho stalwarts? This year the choice is simple as Lina Stores has closed for refurbishment following a change of management. Which leaves the field clear for I Camisa, whose excellent pumpkin ravioli are on sale for £11/kg. The perfect pumpkin ravioli is delicious — silky pasta and a rich, nutty, sweet filling.
I Camisa, 61 Old Compton Street, W1 (020 7437 7610)

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