London | Borough Market
Really..what is a ‘foodie’? It seems it’s a term that gets bandied about on UK television cooking shows by z-list celebrity chefs however, although it is a very pretentious, I guess you could describe Borough Market as ‘foodie’ heaven.
The market, which has operated in some form or another near the site on the southern end of London Bridge since Roman times, is becoming more and more popular as the public cooking pendulum swings backtowards organic, farmers produce. Only open on Friday’s (12 - 6 pm) and Saturdays (9 am - 4 pm), with trains thundering overhead across the Victorian bridge, it gets jammed very soon after opening.
There is food of all varieties so you’d be hard pressed not to find something lovely to cook..or eat on the spot. The chorizo sausage sandwiches have people queueing right around the side of the stall in the middle of the market. There’s also some very interesting meats on sale…such as Wild Boar and Ostrich.
On passing by the stall that sells braces of unplucked pheasants, beheaded young deer and large hares, I heard a man…whose nationality will remain anonymous…looking up at the deer, remark to his female companion, “WOW, I didn’t know hares grew that big!!!”. The stall holder was deserate to confirm the carcass was indeed a giant english hare but held his tongue and then busted out laughing as soon as the couple passed by. I had to go and share the laugh with the stall holder and he assured me it happens all the time!
We stocked up on everything we needed fo a fancy cod dish (at Applebees), bacon and eggs and hearty barley soup for much less that we would have paid in a retail supermarket. The quality is much better and much more tasty. It really is possible to taste the difference between store bought and organic market bought food.
My favourite stall of the day was the Herbs from Heaven, Spices from Hell which I popped into a seperate post. Whist purchasing our saffron at this stall a very random man came up asking under his breath “d’ya smoke?”. I suspect he was trying to sell home grown tobacco but I could be mistaken…smoke what?? I didn’t have time to ask. He was on his way quick smart when he realised it was a no-sale!
Grab your goods, grab a chorizo sausage sandwich, grab a coffee from Monmouth and walk around the corner to the Southwark Cathedral green. Grab a patch of grass and relax knowing you’ve got some of the best produce in London.