Yesterday, New Year’s Eve, I spent the morning at Borough Market to visit with some of the merchants whom I have enjoyed knowing these past years.  It was an exciting morning because the locals were buying interesting items for their holiday celebrations.  My cab dropped me off about 11:00 AM, so the market was in full swing.  Before I knew what was happening, I had my camera out of my bag and was clicking away.  As I was talking these photos, I realized that this market and others like it have not changed in centuries.  The farmers were there with their fare, and stall keepers were selling their favorite produce.  I could feel Thomas Hardy’s market descriptions right out of THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE.  I could picture in my mind’s eye the market towns of Gloucestershire like Tetbury in the 18th century:  fresh food, apples piled high, fish from the sea, lamb-lamb-lamb, fresh eggs, duck eggs, and of course fresh and hard cider.   There were new additions to the British markets, of course, like Indian spices/curry, imported wines, oranges and avocados from Israel.  Stall after stall of cheeses from all over Europe offered samples where an expected sigh was hoped for and usually received.  Cuts of venison filled the meat tables along with fabulous cuts of beef, lamb, and pork.  People were talking about their favorite joint of beef which they were searching for their New Year’s dinner.  The bread tables amazed me.  There was no evidence of WONDERBREAD from Costco–only country breads with heavy crusts and fabulous aromas.  I bought two cheese sticks to eat with my oysters which I ate at the oyster bar across the Borough Market Lane;  the oysters were fabulous, but the cheese sticks were incredible!  Pheasant and all kinds of fowl were offered, and I enjoyed the debate over the roosters vs the hens.  A lady from Kent was standing next to me to purchase a free-range rooster to be stuffed and baked for her New Year’s dinner.  She said that during World War II, a turkey was simply unavailable.  She had an aunt that lived in the country and had chickens.  I learned that the hens were not killed for meat;  rather, they were saved for egg producing when eggs were in short supply.  Her stuffing sounded more like pudding than it did stuffing, but whatever it was, I was getting hungry all over again. 

I really enjoyed the egg tables.  All colors of free-range eggs were offered along with duck eggs which were apparently prized items.  I don’t think the duck eggs would have fit in our tea cups when we colored Easter eggs when children, but they were beautiful nonetheless.  Some of the most beautiful eggs were packed in small boxes with a bit of straw which said to me that this merchant prized her fine eggs.  These eggs were for show and for use in some special pudding or cake.  Yummy!

I want to highlight one stall particularly.  I was first attracted to the MUSHROOMS by the fantastic display.  I am including pictures. He was a specialist and knew a great deal about all kinds of mushrooms, but he was an artist as well.  He was very busy, but he told me to “hang around,” and he would talk to me between clients.  What he told people amazed me.  I love mushrooms myself, and I knew there were mushrooms beyond Costco packages, but I had no idea that I was missing out on a lot of wonderful flavors from hundreds of mushrooms.

Then the kill!  I was in New York a few years ago for my youngest son’s graduation from graduate studies in architecture at Columbia University. One evening, the entire family went out to dinner.  My son-in-law ordered the best steak on the menu.  I asked the waiter what made the steak so special.  The answer:  TRUFFLES.  I had eaten eggs “tainted” with truffles in my days, and I had even had truffles lightly cooked on my lamb.  I knew there were different kinds of truffles;  BUT, I had no idea about the “art” of cooking with truffles.  My mushroom stall keeper had a very special table at the back of the stall where he kept his large glass jars with truffles sitting on beds of uncooked rice.  He “allowed” me to enjoy the aroma from each jar as he talked about the black truffles vs the white truffles vs the truffles from this region vs truffles from the deeper woods.  My camera was just clicking away.  He told me about his brother’s dog who has been trained to sniff out truffles from under the soil–I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  Wonderful.  I began to understand the reason for the high cost of my son-in-law’s prized New York steak.  Yikes!

Then an apple merchant caught my eye.  She was an elderly lady who had been growing apples from Somerset for 65 years.  She specialized in the almost-extinct Gloucester apple.  They certainly weren’t pretty red like the ones in the Costco packages;  but, oh my goodness, the flavor was simply amazing.  She said that new varieties have lost the old apple flavors, but a few of the old West Country farms still had a few apple trees of the “old variety,” as she called them.  Again my heart warmed when she told me that there has been a new interest in the old style, quality apples since the Prince of Wales has been working to bring them back at Highgrove.  This grower named Nan said that it has been only lately that some of the fine old apple trees have been available–”thanks to the Prince of Wales’s interest in organic gardening.”  Nan told me that the Prince of Wales gave her three very fine apple trees because of her interest in the Prince’s experiments at Highgrove.  Lovely story!

Borough Market!  I felt like I was back at school.  I certainly realized that the food I have been eating has lost the flavor when compared to the foods from the organic farms in England that I tasted at Borough Market.  At home, I dislike carrots in any form.  So, I decided I would ask the green grocer at the market if I could buy one carrot;  he gave me one and then smiled.  I wiped it off and ate it.  It was sweet.  This little experiment made me think.

Don’t miss your visit to Borough Market.  The food is great;  the stall keepers are fabulous.  But, the atmosphere of the market is out-of-this world.  I love it every time I visit.  The merchant selling fresh cider told me that he can’t produce enough cider for all the demand and that interest in organic farming has helped Borough Market flourish.  By the way, try the oyster house at the market.  Great

Oh, it is heaven!  I will post several pictures.  Hope you like them.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

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