Straight from New York

“Signora, c'abbiamo le seppioline!” the nearby fisherman would cry out when, as a child, I walked with my mother through the market. She would buy whatever her favorite farmer recommended, and would often make a stop at Franco's wooden cart to check out his daily catch.
Her favorites were anchovies and baby squid. Even now, when I visit, she's cooking stuffed squid. It’s a recipe from my Ligurian grandmother and it is so delicious that I still dream about it from time to time. It is hard work: cleaning the squid, filling them with minced tentacles, parsley, egg and fresh parmesan, stitching them up and  finally cooking them in sauce.

Local flavours
I have travelled a lot since, and would be lying if I said that I didn't try to find a little piece of mercatino in every new city. This proved particularly challenging in England but less so in California, where I signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture share, receiving a weekly box of produce directly from a local farm. So what are my options in New York?

Big Apple markets
Like most major cities these days, the Big Apple offers a multitude of weekly farmers markets and gourmet stores which are not as authentic (or good) as a mercatino but are still worth a visit. My favorites are the ones in Union Square, where most New York chefs flock for quality ingredients, and in Hell's Kitchen, where you can get a good amount of fruits and veggies (say a bunch of bananas, tangerines, apples, pears, broccoli and peppers), for under 10 dollars. In Brooklyn, the choice is between the Grand Army Plaza  and the Red Hook farmers market, also a favorite of local chefs. Most of these also sell meat, fish and dairy. However, they remain expensive and impractical for many New Yorkers. After devoting the first few months’ Saturdays to shopping in far-away markets, and struggling to carry my big bags on the subway, I realised I needed a new strategy.
It was then that I learned about Fresh Direct, an online grocery store selling organic food and locally grown items as well as groceries you would normally find in a supermarket. The website is almost as appetizing as the produce. There are photos and daily updates on the freshness of each item and a "what's good" section offering seasonal delights (navel oranges, chestnuts and branzino, as I write).

Delicious alternative
Because the food comes directly from farms, dairies and fisheries, it is fresher and cheaper than anything you  find in stores. The home delivery fee is small (under 6 dollars with a 30 dollar minimum purchase and a yearly unlimited delivery pass for 99 dollars. The easy-to-use website is also great for budgeting. No wonder Fresh Direct has seen its operation soar in the past few years:  filling six million orders since 2002, and currently a quarter million customers.

Eco angle
Recently, it started addressing environmental concerns by packaging orders less wastefully and offering a sustainability rating system for seafood. The latter was a true revelation, as I vaguely knew about a number of fish species on the verge of extinction but ignored, for example, that certain varieties of cod can also be a hazardous purchase. These days, artic char fillet replaces farm-raised salmon in my fridge, and Fresh Direct's outstanding produce dominates the main shelf. A small way for me to pay tribute to the cornerstones of Ligurian food culture: sustainability, simplicity and flavor. With a New York twist.

www.freshdirect.com