Diary of a Shopkeeper, 13th August

Shops evolve, and so do tastes. Back in the last century there was a butcher’s shop in Graham Place, Stromness. But for several years it’s been an exciting, ever-changing art space called Northlight Gallery. The current exhibition, Tang & Ware, features ‘algal art’ by seven Orkney artists. It’s amazing what delicate beauty and vibrant colour lies just below the surface of the sea.

Or on the front of a wine bottle! The best seaweed-themed wine label I know is Albariño Silandeiro, made by Bodegas Gallega, near Vigo in north-west Spain. It’s a startling blue colour – as blue as the waters of Ría de Pontevedra on a calm summer’s day. Or as blue as the cyanotypes of English botanist, Anna Atkins. Born in 1799, Atkins is a fascinating figure: one of the very earliest photographers, and the first ever to publish a book of photos. Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions appeared 180 years ago, but the images in it look as startlingly fresh as anything currently showing in Northlight.

Startlingly fresh is a good phrase to describe Albariño wine. Galicia, with its long, island-strewn coastline, is a paradise for lovers of Atlantic seafood. So of course the local wine must complement it. Albariño does that job brilliantly. Galicia’s cool climate ensures a crisp, refreshing edge. In this respect it’s comparable to Muscadet (a formerly fashionable seafood wine) or Picpoul de Pinet (a currently fashionable seafood wine.) Albariño (the fashionable seafood wine of the near future!) has extra appeal. It’s beautifully aromatic, with attractive notes of peaches and honeysuckle, especially in warm vintages. In cooler years, citrus aromas of lemon and even mandarin predominate.

With very few exceptions, Albariño is aged in steel, so there’s no oak influence: it’s all about freshness and fruit. Usually, Albariño is drunk young and zingy. Cheaper examples are probably best that way, but more ambitious wines can age for at least five years. We currently have the 2019 vintage of Granbazán’s Don Álvaro de Bazán on our shelves. It’s as complex and rewarding as any comparable Burgundy.

As noted above, Albariño is a fantastic seafood wine. When I visited Galicia six years ago, we ate scallops, mussels, spoots, and monkfish sprinkled with paprika. Delicious. But as I said at the start, tastes evolve. I’ll never stop loving fresh fish, but in recent times I’ve developed a taste for good tinned seafood. Partly, I think, this sprung out of the Covid lockdown, when fresh supplies were harder to come by, and store cupboard staples were a good fallback. I formed a habit of stocking up on tins of tuna, sardines and anchovies, and have never looked back. More importantly, there was the exciting example of small delis and restaurants around the coasts of Spain, Portugal and France, who specialise in tinned fish. They don’t do so because it’s a cheap version of fresh seafood, but because it offers unique flavours and cooking possibilities. Something as simple as sardines preserved in lemon and olive oil, crushed and spread on toasted sourdough, is a five-minute feast. As for anchovies…

I better not get started on anchovies: I could fill a whole column with those tiny brown salty creatures – and maybe I will.

‘And after you’ve finished picking the grapes, go down there and get me some seaweed…’

For now I want to concentrate on Albariño and seaweed. Launched to coincided with the Tang & Ware exhibition, is a new website, www.orkneyseaweedstories.wordpress.com. Created by photographer artist Rebecca Marr, it’s packed with beautiful images and erudite but engaging text. There’s a whole section about traditions of seaweed eating in Orkney and across the North. To sum up: we don’t do enough of it! The Japanese call it konbu and prize it; we call it tangle and ignore it.

Maybe our tastes will evolve further, and we’ll explore the possibilities of this free and sustainable foodstuff on our doorstep. When we do, a glass of good Albariño will be the perfect matching wine.

We have a free Albariño tasting in the shop today - Saturday 19th August. Drop in for a drop of startling freshness!

This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 16th August 2023. A new one appears weekly. I post them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions.