Mushroom Trip X 2, or you say tomato, I say mushroom

Yes, it was a Magical Mystery Tour through the streets of NW8 today in search of ... mushrooms.

The planned menu item of Coq au Vin required a quantity of mushrooms. Accordingly, I set out for Panzer's Delicatessan to score some of the white variety. They have a lovely selection of produce arrayed outside the shop. The white mushrooms were loose in a bin, with no price nearby, and no implement other than one's own hand with which to select them. I asked the clerk if I should select them myself, or have him help me. He joked "call the police if anybody tries to stop you". I chose a little brown paper sack in which to place them. They were duly weighed and I owed 2 pounds 49 (for two handfuls of mushrooms!) I'm still a little iffy with the change denominations, so it took some effort to count out the change I received back. After pocketing the change, I grabbed the little brown sack and made my way home.

A few hours later, Hubster said "what's in this bag?" He looked, and low and behold, there were several tomatoes in the bag.

I went back out again, this time to Tesco, the little chain grocery store on the "Hi Street".
My choice of shrink-wrapped white button mushrooms were 77 pence for the regular, or 88 pence for the organic. It was almost exactly the same amount of mushrooms as the cute little brown bag of loose ones from Panzers.

We did eventually enjoy the Coq au Vin, including the delicious ragout of mushrooms cooked in red wine.