Yesterday, it was chilly in London. My friends and I suddenly felt like FOOD. We didn’t want to go to a sit-down restaurant, so we headed for Borough Market. Well, let me tell you about it. We called Borough Market the SOURCE!
Because it was chilly out, we grabbed a taxi, and smiled as we got closer and closer to Borough Market. Our driver had a strong cockney accent, and he knew all about Borough Market because he grew up in the neighborhood–Southwark. He pointed out a good pub and told us where we should start our food search.
It was fantastic. We first found the bread stalls with every kind of country bread you can imagine–all cooked in village ovens and filled with country grains. Then the country cakes and a few French cakes. Then we arrived at the heart of the market. There were huge containers of curry of all kinds cooking away with people standing round with containers from the hot curry pots–smiles on their faces.
We wandered over to Neal’s cheese company which is matchless anywhere in the world. The great restaurants were buying large supplies while tourists were gathering varieties to take home. Smelly, luscious, creamy stuff! Some of the cheeses were in rounds the size of wash tub. Some from Gloucestershire, some from Cornwall, some from Scotland, and some from the Isles. People lined up everywhere tasting this and that. This is what I call FUN.
The fish market was amazing. Some of the fish I had never seen before. I chatted with the fish monger who told me the catch was fresh this morning and brought from the North Sea and off the cost of Norway. Wonderful fish were sticking up from the mounds of ice while other fish were being baked for the on-the-spot takers whose hunger was evident. By then, I was ravenous.
We finally got to the meat stalls with whole pigs, even heads for Christmas stuffing. NOT FOR ME! Bacon and side of pork was amazing. One lady was standing at a machine slicing bacon as fast at the shoppers hauled it away. I have never seen such beautiful sausages of all kinds: apple/pork sausages, cumberland sausages, pork and herb sausages, pork and wine sausages. They were all strung together in mounds on trays. Absolutely beautiful. The pheasants were hanging on the balls, bound in three, for the gourmet cooks in London’s fine restaurants. I got a laugh watching the shoppers pinching the poor pheasant’s breats to determine the quality of meat. Who in the world ever things of all these things? You are right! THE CHEF.
We found a mushroom stall with the funniest looking mushrooms; I had never seen such a variety. The sales lady said they are fresh and are village collected. I had had mushroom soup the evening before, so I had a great affection for these funny looking creatures. The sales lady was from the country and comes to the market four days a week with her baskets and bins of mushrooms which her family gathers in the fields and forests near to her home. Her cheeks were very read, and she had the most beautiful blue eyes. There was something truly wonderful about her country manners and humble appearance. I really enjoyed her. SHE CERTAINLY KNEW HER MUSHROOMS.
One stall was very busy. I walked up and saw large rounds of beef cooking away while the two ladies cut generous pieces to be stuffed in wonderful rolls and then dunked in au jus. A big lump of horseraddish sauce topped this most magnificent sandwich. Tourists as well as residents were buying up sandwiches–some were off to restaurants while the others disappeard as tourists smiled with delight. There was a hearty soul, a worker I would say, with a pint in one hand and a beef au jus in the other. I just didn’t feel courageous enough to take his picture–but the scene is captured in my mind’s eye.
The chocolate merchant really interested me. She had huge wood bowls of country chocolate treats, all hand made. There were orange chocolate rolls, raspberry chocolate balls, ginger hand dipped in chocolate, and mounds of dark chocolate, sweet chocolate, bitter chocolate, and then bags of chocolate flakes which she prepares for restaurants for their desserts. Check out the photo which accompanies this blog; you will see the bowls of country chocolates. FABULOUS.
I love all the merchants, the country people, the restaurant people, the locals– all gathered around the Borough Market stalls sampling and buying the freshest food you ever saw. There is something wonderful being with people who like good food, fresh from the country. The merchants know their goods.
What a wonderful place. Don’t miss it while in London. It is a good change from all the galleries and shopping, monuments and collections which attract people from all over the world. YOU WILL NOT GO AWAY HUNGRY. I suggest you not fill up at the first stall. I could have made my dinner off the breads, but what would I have done when I got to the curry? Do the tour first and then go back and collect the goodies.
My oh my!
Tom
http://www.londonconnection.com
