During Thanksgiving week I found that shopping for plain or fancy ingredients or common or hard-to-find provisions in Greater Portland was mostly a successful endeavor, an undertaking that sometimes proves futile or frustrating even in larger cities.

An essential ingredient for my stuffing recipe was chestnuts. I was looking for whole chestnuts packed in water, which are vacuumed packed and canned. The brand that’s most often around is a French import with a label name of Clement Faugier.

I’ve found it before in town but not always easily. In the past, Browne Trading and the old Portland Greengrocer had a good supply of the Faugier brand.

This year I was surprised to find it at Wild Oats. There were three left on the shelf and I bought them. AT $8 per can it’s an expensive item. Area stores that did not have them but thought I meant water chestnuts when I inquired were Hannaford’s, Micucci’s and the Whole Grocer. There were fresh varieties around, but they’re a pain to prepare.

Next on my list was white cornmeal to use for cornbread that would go into my stuffing. You’d think this was a simple staple to find. Wrong. The supermarkets carry Quaker Oats brand in the white variety but I wanted the stone ground organic kind, which offers more flavor and texture. Ultimately whether you use white or yellow cornmeal is a matter of taste and custom. In some parts of the south, only white cornmeal is used whereas in other regions, yellow is the meal of choice.

The white variety was not to be found anywhere. I tried Wild Oats, Whole Grocer, all the supermarkets and specialty food stores such as Browne Trading, the Rosemont Market and the bifurcated Portland Greengrocer to no avail.

After searching the websites of Hodgson Mills, the White Lily Flour Company and King Arthur, I discovered that none of them produce the white cornmeal either.

After a quick Google search I found three companies from the South that offer stone ground white cornmeal, among other products: Martha White,
Anson Mills and Oakview Farms Granary . If you’re a purist or curious, try these.

On more familiar ground my two favorite cooking ingredients are butter and heavy cream. Of course this is in plentiful supply everywhere. But getting organic cream or butter that’s from a local farm is another story.

The Royal River Foods in Freeport generally carries the Post Family Farm organic unpasteurized cream and butter. And the Whole Grocer carries White Orchard unpasteurized organic cream and milk products. I bought two pints of the cream and 2 pounds of the butter at Royal River and another pint of the White Orchard cream from Whole Grocer. The creams from both places are terrific, though lately the Post Farm heavy cream has been lightened up and does not whip as easily as it should. Their butter is, however, one of the best around.

I began to question my need for so much butter and cream since I cheated a bit this year and didn’t make my own cakes or pies. Alas, the cream and butter served me well in such dishes as creamed onions, vanilla ice cream, giblet gravy, etcetera.
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The desserts that I bought were a great success and I relied on Two Fat Cats and One Fifty Ate Bakery and Café for the sweets. From the former I ordered a vanilla cake with boiled icing. They made a slight error and frosted it with butter cream instead. But it was utterly delicious anyway. I also got their apple pie, which was a monumental creation of perfect crust and filling.

From One Fifty-Ave I selected a pumpkin pie and a cranberry chess pie. These were also taste sensations and very well received.

My newest food find, right beneath all our eyes and noses, is the Maverick Butcher Shop in the Portland Public Market. I had my doubts about this shop, but I’ve changed my mind. They have trained butchers on hand most every day, a necessity for success.

I bought their breakfast sausage meat for my stuffing. This, of course, is the specialty of Maurice Bonneau, the sausage king of Maine and manager of the shop.

The sausage meat was wonderful. It’s made with very lean pork, heavily scented with cloves and plenty of other spices.

Since these finds been frequenting the market. The latest purchases included their special cuts of loin of lamb as a whole roast. It's natural lamb from Iowa. Most butchers don’t offer this and instead sell cut up chops. The whole loin roast is a much better cut than the rack, too.

Another good Maverick product is Maurice’s own house cured bacon. Maverick’s also carries butter produced by a local farm. It's from the Bisson Farm in Topsham. I tried it and like it very much. I’ve noticed the difference when I’ve used it in pie doughs.

Today, when I went there the butcher suggested that I try Creton, a Canadian pork spread, which is like a rough pate. I spread some of it on a cracker when I got home and enjoyed its coarse, rich, zesty taste. It’s heavily spiced with cloves and other sweet flavorings.

Turkey, the main event, was the clear winner of the Thanksgiving meal, and why shouldn’t it have been?

I actually bought two turkeys. One was from Spring Brook Farm in Cumberland. They raise their own turkeys and I ordered mine about a month prior. After the fact I had learned that the Whole Grocer would be offering special free-range birds and I bought a smaller one there that I’ve frozen for later use.

The Spring Brook turkey was about the best turkey I’ve ever had. Cooked at 15 minutes per pound in a 325 degree oven it emerged perfectly cooked.

My technique for keeping turkey moist is to cover the entire breast with a large piece of cheesecloth that has been heavily soaked in melted butter. On top of that I put a layer of fatty bacon. I remove it all about 45 minutes before the turkey is done to allow the breast skin to brown thoroughly. The turkey should still be basted with pan juices while it’s roasting.

Speaking of bacon I also tried Spring Brook’s house cured bacon. It’s very thickly cut, very heavily smoked and great tasting.

One item on my general shopping list that I’ve not been able to find anywhere is green peppercorns. These are canned and brined. I don’t use these very often but they’re good in certain sauces and can add a lot of interest to simple sautés. If anyone has come across it, let me know.

This week I rediscovered a recipe from an old James Beard Book for a pate made with fresh tongue. I haven’t tried this in years but I remember it being quite swell. I’m planning to make up a big batch to give as Christmas presents to various friends.

Tongue is not easy to find or on everyone’s list of favorite foods. Hannaford’s has it frozen as does Pat’s Meat Market and Smaha’s in South Portland. Ultimately the butcher from Hannaford’s called up to say he had fresh calf’s tongue, the notion of which made me squeamish.

It’s such a good pate, however, and I’ve rationalized the purchase of veal tongue for the sake of culinary purity, though I’m sure some of you will think I’m wrong.

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