The Quest for Flour!

For the last couple of weeks, we've not been able to find flour in the regular supermarkets... not entirely sure why that is, perhaps we just keep coming in at the wrong times and are just unlucky... or perhaps there is a bit of a sticking point in the supply chain for flour! Anyway, there are temporary shortages of other things... but for the most part, they have been restocked within the week. After all (for the moment at least....), we are generally in a demand spike and not a supply shortfall!

The girls made some nice biscuits and cakes the other week... however, with the lack of flour, we've been reduced to eating bread instead of cake... in a sort of reverse Marie Antoinette sort of moment (yes, I know that the quote is quite possibly mis-attributed!).

So, my neighbour yesterday went to the food wholesaler and mentioned that there was flour there! So, my mission today was to go to the wholesaler (which we normally do only once a month to pick up some interesting little things that we don't normally find at the supermarket...) and bring back flour... over the dead bodies of other cake-deprived zombies!

I figured I would take the e-bike for the 10 km round trip... after all, it wasn't that much faster by car... and it would prevent me from going crazy and buying too much if I had to fit it all in a backpack! Even though it was windy, a steady 25 kilometres per hour (I think that is about 67528384752.7245 slugs-lengths per nanocentury in the American Imperial system) is a very nice way to travel!

Thankfully, during this soft lockdown period in The Netherlands, it has been pretty decent weather. Today, it was windy but the Sun was out... in the usual deceptively warm looking way that the Netherlands has a habit of. However, for my kids (who were born here) they are already stripping off their jumpers to get into t-shirts and shorts...

There were quite a few runners and cyclists... all consciously keeping their distance to each other. I guess everyone wants to get for a little bit during the day to keep their sanity... I know my wife does... me, I can sit indoors for the rest of my life!

When I took the above photo, I was still riding on my bike... so, I didn't want to do it around people, just in case I slammed into someone whilst riding just under 30 kph... that would be seriously painful!

So, a roughly 15 minute ride (it would have been about 12 by car and 20 by normal bike) brought me to the food wholesaler in Delft... quite close to where we live in Den Haag. This place is huge... and if any place had flour, this would have to be the place! Plus, lots of little goodies and interesting things to eat... which is why I only brought a small backpack!

During this time of restaurant and cafe closures... the wholesalers have opened their doors to the general public. Normally, you need to be a registered business to apply for membership to even step in the door. Now, seeing as we are freelancers, we need to register as a self-employed business... which means that we are eligible for this interesting culinary perk! A really well kept secret if you ask me.. the food that you can get here is really really good... and you can find things from all over Europe and the world!

... even a practically unlimited supply of toilet paper! Thankfully, I'm a weird person that normally stocks a couple of packs of toilet paper in normal times... so, we have had no problems on that front! Still, it was interesting to see huge stacks of toilet paper here when the normal retail supermarkets are running short!

... but, don't get distracted by the potential gold mine! I was here with a mission... flour for cake and biscuit baking... and some little treats that I might find interesting!

Mission accomplished! I was wondering how much we would really need... but 3 packs is more than enough... after all, I can always come back... and the next time we need flour, it is likely that the retail supermarkets will be restocked anyway!

So, some little treats that I also got... spiced cous cous, duck breasts and confit de canard (preserved duck)... some Japaneses rice seasoning and pesto. So, not really a big shop... and I did resist the urge to walk up and down the wine aisle... although, I was on the lookout for some French cider... but I didn't find any....

Looking forward to eating cake again!