Spar was the local supermarket on the Midland’s council estate where I spent my teenage years. With humming fridges and strip lighting, it sold things like Vesta curries and crusty rolls in a giant plastic tube with a hole at the bottom from which you pulled your bread before decanting it into a polythene bag. A frequent source of entertainment was spreading the rumour “Spar’s on fire” (because it often was).
Brown Owl from the local brownie pack usually worked the deli counter with it’s meagre contents of spam, corned beef and scotch eggs.
“We’re going to make a campfire!” we enlightened Brown Owl. My friend Lizzy and I were in the guides and had a taste for adventure that included both cooking and matches. We were padding out our picnic. Normally we’d only buy sweets but today we bought CRUMPETS.
We headed off, Stand by Me style down to what seemed like the edge of the world, a huge solid bank of earth that divided the housing estate and an area known as “the lakes”. The bank of earth had been there so long that it was lined with well established shrubs. We picked a spot that was high up to look over the neighbouring allotments but with a hollow to sit in. Rubbing two sticks together to get fires started is a bad enough myth but that day, striking matches didn’t seem terribly effective either.
Brown Owl let on to Lizzy’s mother what we were doing and my mother guessed something was up from the stench of smokey clothes. But it wasn’t our parents who told us off, it was the guide leader. We knocked on her door on the way home intending to impress but she castigated us for potentially getting her into trouble because we’d started (or tried to start) a fire without adult supervision. Joan the guide leader* never was much fun.
*not her real name
How times change. These days children don’t get proper cookery lessons, are kept on a short leash so they will never have memories like this and even if they did escape to try and toast crumpets on fires, they get given an ASBO.
Spar has changed too. At least in Walthamstow Village. We used to have a horrible grotty grocery store/off license with mouldy vegetables and a dodgy fridge. Refurbished and rebranded as “Spar”, it has been transformed into something not unlike Budgen’s in Belsize Park. Around three quarters of the lines are Spar own brand or traditional groceries but the rest is an exciting blend of fresh meats, cheeses, imported goods normally only seen in places like Selfridges… Marshmallow fluff anyone?! Last week they’d even started stocking Whoopie Pies.
In this gastro micro climate that nestles in Walthamstow Village, I recently I chanced upon a wide selection of discounted cheeses. Previously some Edam or Philadelphia would have been as adventurous as it got but nowadays you can take your pick from Sage Derby, Taleggio and Dolcelatte.
I opted for Taleggio and paired it with something else I would never have been able to buy round the corner before (or at all in the 80s), my favourite vegetable, butternut squash.
Did you do anything as a child that wouldn’t be allowed now?
Butternut Squash and Taleggio Tart
Ingredients
For the pastry:
110g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting
pinch of salt
25g lard or vegetable fat, softened
25g butter, softened
a few tablespoons of cold water
For the filling:
250g butternut squash cut into small cubes
a little olive oil
200g taleggio cut into small cubes
3 large eggs, beaten
200 ml creme fraiche or double cream
salt and freshly milled black pepper
a little grated cheddar cheese
a small handful of sage leaves, chopped
You will need a 7 inch quiche tin with a removable base. Alternatively you could make 3-4 small quiches in 3.5 inch tins.
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 375F / 190C. Grease your baking tin(s).
2. Sift the flour and salt into the food processor with large blade fitted. Add the fats and pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs. Tip the breadcrumb mix out into a large mixing bowl.
3. Sprinkle in some cold water a tablespoon at a time onto your breadcrumb mix and gather together into a ball. It may take 2-4 tablespoons worth of water to do this. Shape the ball of pastry dough into a flattened disc, wrap in plastic and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
4. Lay the cubes of butternut squash on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Drizzle with a little olive oil but not too much and bake for around 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
5. When the pastry has rested, roll it out into a circle on a lightly floured surface.
6. Line your tin with the pastry, trim the edges with a knife but leave the sides higher than necessary to allow for shrinkage. Prick the base of the pastry case with a fork in rows and fill with baking beans. Bake for around 20 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, in a mixing jug, combine the eggs, crème fraiche or cream and seasoning. When the pastry case comes out, allow it to cool for a few minutes then remove the baking beans and sprinkle over the cubes of butternut squash and taleggio. Pour over the egg and cream mixture and lastly, sprinkle over the chopped sage and a little grated cheddar to hold the mix together.
8. Return to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until firm in the centre. It will puff up quite a lot by the time you get it out but give it ten minutes to sink back before cutting as this makes it easier to cut and remove from the tin. Can be served hot or cold.
That tart sounds delicous. Like, melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
Droool…this is going on my must-try list!!
I hardly make tarts but this one looks so delicious I would love to give a go.
How times change??? And for the better. I wouldn't mind a slice of that tart. It looks lovely and I better go find out what Taleggio is….
That makes me hungry!! I know that had to be delicious.
I have not seen or heard the word "grotty" since George Harrison used it in Hard Day's Night! I do believe he said "dead grotty"! LOL!!
Haha we used to rely on our dodgy Costcutters back in the days but once we moved out of undergrad halls, it was Sainsbury's all the way and the odd M&S indulgence. Your SPAR sounds like it stocks some really great goodies though, from when you tweeted me 😀 This tart looks very yum and the colours are just calling out to me.
I love butternut squash, and this looks amazing. I especially like that photo of the puffed up tart – divine!
Having you mention Brown Owl reminds me of the Brownies I used to work with. They decided to call me Snowy Owl, ironic as I come from a tropical country! It was much better than Princess Owl though…
looks amazing and great memories
Loved the trip down memory lane, and the inspiration that came with it! Loved your adventurous spirit! I spent my childhood climbed up high in tamarind and mango trees, jumping off 7 ft high walls, hanging off school buses from open doors … days gone by happily!
Love the cheesy tart, and what luck to find such delicious cheese on discount. Love how you combined the squash with the cheese. Congrats too on nearing th 100th ost milestone.WOW!!
Talking of memories … here's a blog from a lovely lady who talks about half-forgotten memories!
http://halfforgottenmemories.blogspot.com/
This look amazing! I've not been making any tarts but after seeing yours, i think i should bake soon! You are making my to-bake list longer!
Sarah this looks amazing – I am bookmarking this one for sure to try out.
Wow, beautiful tart! I am just . . . well over come. I love the post, the pictures and the recipe.
I love the styling here Sarah! Love the teatowels and plates. It looks very elegant yet very inviting too! 😀
what a mouthwatering recipe! Loving your photos. We used to have a Beejams and a Safeways (I feel really old now…!)
@bethie "grotty" is in common parlance here. A grotty person can be referred to as "grotbags" after character in the kids' tv show "Emu's World"
@diva I had a costcutter at the bottom of road when I lived in Shepherd's Bush. The tiles on the floor were always missing and you had to watch you didn't trip up.
@su-yin Snowy Owl sounds cool but you are right, the whole name thing is a bit weird
@deeba How I miss Routemaster buses where you could hang off the pole at the back with the wind in your hair!
@cristie Thanks!
@lorraine Thanks – though I wish I'd ironed that tablecloth first
@gastrogeek Did you have a VG too?
This tart looks gorgeous Sarah! You make me feel hungry each time I visit your lovely blog!
Have a great day
Khadija
Your butternut tart looks really delicious. I enoyed reading this post-nice.
Don't know where to startç My in-laws owned a Spar in the Parisian suburbs when I first married and they sold nothing fun like yours did! And I so totally agree with you that kids just don't live the adventure like we did in the (ahem…- 1960's). We would get out of school at 3 and have all afternoon to do anything we liked. Personally, though, I DID NOT play with matches, you naughty girl though I did get in trouble once in the Girl Scouts for trying to be an adult when they assumed that we would think like kids. Only goes to show….
This tart is fabulous! Husband fell in love with Taleggio in Italy and he'd go nuts for this gorgeous tart!
Looks lovely – I love the photo of it all puffed up before the top comes down.
Ah, spar. Village shops/local shops can be incredible now. I don't know that I've ever had Taleggio, though, what's it like?
Your pics are amazing. I'm seriously impressed. I kind of miss those old corner shops. Now it's just tesco express etc. Everything's the same. When we were in London my 11 yr old daughter's rite of passage was walking two blocks to our corner shop. I stood outside and watched her all the way there and back! Thanks for sharing your memory.
Lovely pictures and a delicious sounding tart Sarah, and very funny about the memory. I actually, besides sipping vinegar behind my bed, also lit matches there, both because I liked it and because I love the smell of a match that's just been blown out. I know, I'm a closet pyro. I intend to make sure that papoose gets to run around outside some as much as possible after school wherever we are, I remember that fondly and seems like kids don't do that anymore what with computers and video games.
What a beautiful tart! Marvelous!!
I never started any fires growing up, but my mom let us run around anywhere we wanted to go all day long. The tart looks delicious!
So exquisitely wonderful, Sarah! The pictures alone make me feel all happy and cozy inside. My tart pans are unpacked at last and I'm ready to start baking. Thanks for the fabulous inspiration. 🙂
Perfect! I have a couple butternut squash that I need to use up be for they go off!
I might add you have excellent taste in plates! I think we have matching blue trimmed side plates.
Ah, Brown Owl. Just hearing about her brings back a lot of Brownie and Guide memories!
This tart looks amazing. Well done, Spar. I've never actually seen a tarted-up Spar. Is it the way of the future?
I love this post. Loved hearing about Spar (I had a Saturday job in Gateway. Had a few Spars in the West Country where I grew up.) And my Brown Owl, who I loved, died recently so hearing about yours brought back many happy memories.
My questions for your 100th blog post would be:
What's the best macaroon you have ever eaten?
(I was also taken in by that magazine – delicious I think it was – which had macaroons on the cover). I know your blog is cupcake but apparently macaroons are the new cupcakes.
And what food brings back a certain memory for you (like Proust and his madeleine for A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu – not that I have ever got through that book).