This post was originally intended as a guest post for another blog. When I sent the post however, the recipient said they wanted to cut it down to one or two photos, which I thought wouldn’t really work for a photo tour. As they hadn’t set any specifications beforehand, I was also a little confused. No matter, I would have happily written another post or re-worked and edited it but there is one thing Food Stories will not accept people – and that is rudeness! One line e-mails and never once a single utterance of thank you for the effort – unacceptable in my book. I put a lot of work into the post and so thought I would share it here instead. I’ve since found criticism of the attitude of said person on the internet (from other bloggers) and so feel a bit silly for not checking them out before - you live and learn.

Anyway, let’s get started shall we? Borough Market is London’s oldest food market, and a big pull for chefs, tourists and locals alike, bursting with the finest produce. It is run as a charity, the trustees of which are all locals, living in the area known as Borough. The market has won many awards, including, ‘Best Market, ‘Best Specialist Market’, ‘London’s Best Breakfast’ (for Roast restaurant) and ‘Best Beer Experience’ (for The Rake pub). There’s something to cater for all tastes – foods from all around the world – and it’s easy to find more novel ingredients such as ostrich meat alongside traditional fare.

When I visited yesterday, the sun was shining and streaming through the ornate Victorian roof with it’s tangle of rail lines, bridges and listed buildings. The place was buzzing with an energy that only comes from visitors and producers who really love their food and a heady mixture of sounds, smells and voices. It’s overwhelming.

These guys above are from my favourite fruit and veg stall. That’s my money he’s holding! These two are always up for a laugh and have the most beautiful selection of tomatoes and berries. This is the place to go for a bit of friendly banter with your purchase.

Calling all chocoholics! This is a deliciously sinful stall just for you. In addition to these amazing slabs of pure chocolate, you can find chocolate brownies (seriously squidgy), coconut drops cakes (nuggets of fresh coconut bound with a sticky syrup) and just about everything you can think of covered, smothered or dipped in chocolate.

Feeling a bit guilty after all that sugar? Time to stock up on some fresh veggies then. For me, this is the way that vegetables should be sold – untrimmed, unwashed and making no apologies for coming right out of the ground. It makes me feel healthy just looking at them.

This jolly man sells the most gorgeous cider (drinking at 11 am seems perfectly normal here), either warm and spiced or traditional cold and not too fizzy. It’s poured straight from the barrel, dry, medium or sweet. As you can see, the seller likes to keep a pint on the go himself…

As I mentioned, you can buy foods here from many different cuisines, such as these French cured meats and 3 year aged Comte. We couldn’t resist buying a slab of that cheese which is salty, rich and creamy – brilliant layers of flavour.

Speaking of cheese, the market is home to a branch of the famous ‘Neals Yard Dairy‘ (see cheese seller above). These people take cheese very seriously – great emphasis is placed on storing the cheese properly and selling it when at it’s absolute best. A passion for the products is apparent from everyone and you find yourself constantly munching on samples, the air thick with wafts of different cheeses that are stacked floor to ceiling in lovingly placed rows.

The range of cheeses is impressive and there is something for everyone – even the more adventurous palettes – such as the oozing Milleens and Stinking Bishop below.

Want some bread for all that cheese? The variations are endless. One of my favourite destinations is DeGustibus, outstanding artisan bread makers whom I also saw recently at The Real Food Festival (pictured below).

They sell breads from five regions, America, Britain, Mediterranean, Continental and Eastern Europe – all using traditional methods to maximise flavour. There are many other bread stalls here too of course and I just couldn’t resist taking a picture of these beautiful baguettes, so fresh looking. I bet they have a wonderful crust and a soft, fluffy interior.

There’s a wide selection for the seafood lover too – the fresh fish gleaming on their elaborate display. Watch out flip flop wearers, it’s wet around there! I love how the roof is weighed down with bags of water, I half expected to see little goldfish swimming around in them.

I expect you’re getting a bit hungry after all this shopping – sample tasting aside – so how about one of these tasty lamb skewers, served with warm flat breads, tzatziki and salad. There’s plenty of snacks to choose from, sizzling chorizo sandwiches, burgers, bangers and seared, hand dived scallops which remarkably, were free!

And where to eat your lunch? Outside the adjoining Southwark cathedral of course. When built it was the first gothic church in London and the gardens provide some picturesque surroundings perfect for a Borough picnic.

To wash it all down, let’s make a final visit to the pub to quench our thirst with an ice cold pint of Sierra Nevada beer. This we actually discovered at The Taste Festival in Regent’s Park and were thrilled to find they have an outlet in Borough.

So, cheers everyone! It’s been a pleasure to show you around a little. I hope you enjoyed the mini visit – I certainly enjoyed being your guide. Even though this post didn’t reach it’s original destination (and I had to miss this month’s Daring Bakers challenge to write it), I’m always thankful for a good reason to visit Borough (even though it does put a strain on the wallet – it is a tourist attraction after all). I also want to give you a little heads up to watch this space over the next couple of weeks – I have some exciting projects in the pipeline for Food Stories. Over and out!

The annual Taste Festival in London’s Regent’s Park has been hailed as ‘one of the world’s greatest food festivals‘ by Time Magazine. Now I haven’t been to every food festival in the world but this one definitely came up trumps. We visited on the final day when the weather was perfect, hot and sunny but refreshed by a slightly crazy wind. The whole place had the air of a super civilised music festival, people relaxing and enjoying the sun, eating, drinking, dancing (yes, really) and generally having high jinks, don’t you know.

Shades on, camera at the ready and beers in hand, we launched ourselves full throttle into the experience. Now, if you are a bit totally skint, the Taste festival isn’t really what you call a cheap day out but we still managed to get by on a budget that went out of the window, emerging fully Michelin star fed and watered. I must say though, the beginning of the month would have been preferable!

The whole idea of the festival is to showcase the food from the kitchens of some of the capital’s best restaurants, among the exhibitors were The Boxwood Cafe, Le Cafe Anglais, The Cinnamon Club, Le Gavroche, Theo Randall and loads more (over 40) together with stalls selling yummy looking produce such as these pies (below) and breads – we bought a white spelt loaf – white bread but with goodness inside? We thought it was impossible!

You purchase mini portions of the restaurant dishes with pieces of paper that someone decided to call ‘crowns’ instead of using real money. Dishes ranged from 6-10 crowns each (1 crown = 50p ). Each restaurant had it’s own stall which basically consisted of a front serving bar and then a screen from behind which you could hear lots of shouting, a fair bit of singing and some serious sizzling. The smells from all these different stalls wafted around the festival and mixed together – all of a sudden that wind would change and you got a full on whack of seared beef or some such – it was fantastic.

So, here’s what we ate! Being on a budget, the idea was to take it easy to start off with and try to choose something we really wanted, rather than just diving in and running out of money, the overall strategy was to buy a different dish each from the stand and then go halvers. We didn’t really manage this as it was all just too tempting. Note to self – take more money next year.

First up, Benares. Being a massive fan of Atul Kochhar, the so-called ’spice master’ – I just had to try this. We chose the chicken tikka and the squid salad with coconut passion fruit dressing. The chicken tikka was without doubt the best I have ever tasted. I know everyone says this about Atul’s food but you really could taste all the individual spices, none overpowering the other. It was just so flavoursome, I feel sad for my own previous tikka efforts.

Next, the squid salad. We weren’t expecting battered squid for some reason, and this was the least exciting of the dishes we tried. That said, it was perfectly cooked – not a hint of chewy rubber bands here – but the highlight was actually the coconut passion fruit dressing. I didn’t get much coconut but the passion fruit sang through and really lifted everything – cutting through the batter. Definitely one to experiment with.

Next up, Trinity. This I made a beeline for. First, we gobbled pig’s trotters with crackling, pain poilane and sauce gribiche (below). This was my first experience of eating trotters – it was delish, although very rich and a little bit fatty for my taste. One was definitely enough. That crackling was absolutely perfect though, as you can see.

From Trinity we ordered the beef short rib cottage pie – onion, bone marrow and anise carrots. That beef is so succulent with real depth of flavour. I could have eaten mouthful after mouthful but unfortunately had to hand half over to Chris as promised. I was really looking forward to the bone marrow but it didn’t quite deliver for some reason, perhaps our expectations were too high. Nevertheless I was still excited to discover that Trinity is in the very nearby Clapham, a definite must visit in the near future, making the most of British ingredients always gets my vote.

Speaking of British, here’s a classic – fish and chips from Tom’s Place, the much talked about and super-trendy new posh fish and chip restaurant opened in 2006 by Tom Aikens. Chris is a massive fan of this classic combo and this promised to be no ordinary offering but beer battered gurnard and chips with tartar sauce. Now I have a little bit of an obsession with tartar sauce, always dipping both chip and fish into the sauce to get maximum tartar coverage. It was a good one, no doubt about it. The gurnard was also excellent, flaky, perfectly cooked with a light, crisp batter. The chips were less impressive, which is a bit of a shame for a fish and chip joint. Chris and I still maintain that the best chips in town can be found at Gourmet Burger Kitchen – seriously. They are so crispy without and so fluffy within that you will not believe your dancing little taste buds. Their smoked chilli mayo is also a winner. Just don’t order a salad, they are terrible – order a burger and be very happy you did.

Finally, we were drawn to Cocoon, here we ordered wagyu beef on hot rocks with champagne teryaki (that’s the hot rock underneath) – absolutely delicious but not made for two to share! Well, you do get a free rock….Next, we had hoped to indulge our love of dim sum with some prawn hark au, scallop siu mai and squid with superior soy sauce – instead we found they were serving crispy duck rolls with hoisin. They were delicious as it goes, succulent with a crispy casing although I admit to being a little disappointed to be dim sum deprived.

There were so many places that we didn’t get to try. I am totally kicking myself for not trying the beetroot gazpacho with avocado sorbet and vodka jelly from Aiden Byrne and the parmesan custard with anchovy toasts from Le Cafe Anglais. I’m not worried though, Niamh from Eat Like A Girl ate there last night and told me it was delicious it is so I’m going to check it out asap.

To wash it all down we ordered a pint or two or four of this spectacular Sierra Nevada beer. Chris and I both agreed this is the most interesting beer we have tried for ages. I would have put money on the fact that it contains elderflowers but the website mentions nothing of the sort – hmmmm, curiouser and curiouser… Anyhow, it does say it is reminiscent of orange blossoms so that will do for me. It also has a great tang which really cuts the flowery flavour. Ultimate refreshment. I was pleased to learn they are in Borough Market, which I handily happen to be visiting in a couple of weeks time, better make sure I get the shopping done first….

Finally, I want to shout out to all you London based food bloggers! Niamh from Eat Like A Girl and I have started a facebook group so that local bloggers can have a good old mingle. Well, it’s was Niamh’s idea really and I just tagged along…So come on over and join in. Don’t forget that Food Stories has it’s own facebook group too – I’d love to see you all there – not just the Londoners!

I’ve been tagged by Manju of Three Tastes – the task being to pick out my top 10 favourite photos from Food Stories. My photos are technically appalling, no doubt about it, but I still enjoyed trying to capture the moment. I must say that Chris and I relished looking back through the archives and remembering the meals we’ve shared together. These are the favourites for the happy memories that they evoke. Here goes, in no particular order…

The garlic starfish. This wet garlic was an absolute revelation – the skin peels off effortlessly and the cloves pop right out of their skins like a dream. It’s beautiful. Yes, I think that garlic can be beautiful. This was the day we also completed our mini garden on the balcony where we ate the crab-cucumber rolls (see below).

My first challenge as a member of the Daring Bakers. Initially I thought it was a silly idea to make lollipops from a cheesecake, but after eating the first 2 6, I was totally converted. They are flavoured with rosewater and pistachio – my favourite ingredients at the time – and the baked cheesecake recipe is one of the best ever.

These gluten-free amaretti biscuits I made for my friend Louise – she has both an allergy to gluten and a serious taste for Amaretto (as do I). They did turn out a little chewy but it added to their charm and I polished off quite a few myself by way of ‘quality control’.

These crab rolls are perfect summer eating. Thin strips of cucumber containing Whitby crab meat, alphonso mango, chilli and coriander. Gorgeous textures too.

The colours of these young globe artichokes are stunning. I like the way a little hair from the choke has settled itself on the centre of the artichoke, making it look like the light is bouncing off it and sparkling.

This lamb rack was flavoured with lavender flowers and honey. I remember being so excited to discover lavender as a cooking ingredient. I put the remaining stems in a vase on my desk as an aid to concentration during exams (the reason I haven’t posted so much the past couple of weeks).

This baklava is from the early days of Food Stories. I found the recipe a little heavy on the butter, even for my taste, although it did win me over on the sin factor. The summer light streaming through the window does something that takes me back instantly.

One of my favourite ever food photos – I just want to stick my finger in the bowl and scoop up a big blob of unctuous-gooeyness and then again, and again and again…..Just like I remember feeling at the time when making the uber-challenging Opera Cake.

If you are looking for a new way to enjoy asparagus, this could be it. Pare thin strips from the spears with a vegetable peeler, top with crumbled goat cheese, parma ham and a raspberry vinegar dressing.

OK, so this isn’t a picture of food – but it is a fantastic photo, taken by Chris on our balcony garden. Check out the way that bee has his foot on the petal. Awesome.

 Edit: Um, so I just realised I forgot to tag some other people – doh! Here we go….

Wendy from A Wee Bit of Cooking
Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie
Johanna at Green Gourmet Giraffe
The White on Rice Couple

I know, I know, it’s another recipe using asparagus. I was going to save it until next year but I’ve decided that it tastes too damn good for that. This is one of those dishes that has me stuffing my face uncontrollably – only when I finish my second third helping do I realise I am over-full. The broad beans I laid my hands on were perfect and young, so most needed only an initial podding, the outer skins were so soft and edible. I still take some pleasure though, from squeezing the cooked beans from their wrinkled jackets and watching the almost fluorescent green buttons pop through.

This is the kind of salad I like to lay out at a barbecue, it looks so summery and smells so fragrant. I demand that, as you stir the vinaigrette, onions and herbs through the hot beans and bacon, you put your face close to the bowl and take a deep breath, the reward will be a momentary intoxication. Imagine this, the freshness of the beans and asparagus, crispy, salty bacon, punchy spring onions, all glistening and flecked shades of green with herby vinaigrette. You could use just about any mixture of soft herbs for this salad – I used parsley, chives, mint and dill.

I’m still catching up with my life after a hectic couple of weeks taking exams so I apologise for not posting as frequently as I usually do – don’t worry, things are getting back on track and I am planning some exciting projects for Food Stories over the coming weeks. Watch this space! Finally, I just want to share with you this incredible picture of a bee (?) taken by Chris a few days ago in our little garden. The way he has his little leg on the flower is amazing, talk about great timing….

Broad Beans, Bacon, Asparagus & Spring Onions with Herb Vinaigrette

900g broad beans (unpodded weight)
10 asparagus spears
4 rashers smoked bacon or pancetta
4 spring onions, finely shredded
A small handful each of 3 or 4 herbs of your choice. I used dill, parsley, mint and chives – roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 heaped teaspoon wholegrain mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (or other wine vinegar or lemon juice)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper

- Pod the beans and trim the asparagus by bending each spear until it snaps and discarding the woody end (not the tips). Wash thoroughly.
- Simmer the asparagus and beans for 3-5 minutes, depending on size, until just tender (I cooked my asparagus and beans separately).
- Grill the bacon or pancetta until crisp and chop into bite size pieces.
- When the vegetables are ready, remove the tough outer skins from any larger broad beans and add to a serving bowl with the asparagus and bacon/pancetta.
- To make the vinaigrette, crush the garlic in a pestle and mortar with some sea salt. Add the mustard and some black pepper and stir in. Add the vinegar and then the oil, whisking to emulsify.
- Add the onions and herbs to the bowl, pour in the desired amount of vinaigrette (I used the lot) and stir to combine. Serve immediately – although it is also delicious cold.

This is an entry for Joelen’s Blogging Adventure: Salad Spinnin’ hosted by Joelen’s Culinary Adventures.

As much as I love a good stew, soup, pie etc, there is something about summer food – vibrant colours, fresh flavours, prettiness on a plate. Food is relaxed in an elegant way, something that cannot be easily achieved with stew and dumplings (although, YUM). As soon as the days start getting warmer, my appetite for carbs starts diminishing and I crave something a bit lighter for my belly. These crab rolls are perfect, like sushi rolls but without the rice. The two knobbly cukes turned up in the box – I pared thin strips with a vegetable peeler and used them as the wrappings for some crunchy ’sushi’ rolls.

I got to thinking about seafood with fruit after Chris’ brother told me of a lobster and mango salad he ate recently in Dubai. In the UK, Alphonso mangoes are available right now. You buy them by the box and can find them in Indian grocers, which means just about anywhere in London (I can’t be sure of their availability elsewhere, although I used to find them with no problems in Oxford).

The flesh of the Alphonso is considered unsurpassed in terms of sweetness, juiciness and flavour and they are smaller than your average specimen. The fact that you buy them by the box coupled with an incredibly short shelf life is no issue as you will gobble them up quickly. The flavour is like a super enhanced mango.

The crabs landed at Whitby Bay which you can see on this webcam . You could even watch the catch come in, if you like that kind of thing… I bet they eat the freshest crab in Whitby Bay. I remember very clearly some crab eaten while holidaying in Cornwall with my family – spanking fresh, caught that morning and landed literally feet away from the shop/front of someone’s house. We ate it with brown toast, a squeeze of lemon and a green salad – I remember thinking I’d died and gone to heaven.

So for the rolls, we have a strip of mango, a pocket of succulent crab meat, a thin strip each of red chilli and spring onion and finally a leaf of young coriander. All of these I picked up from my favourite local shop which I am lucky to have, as the shopkeeper really cares about great produce and his finger is completely on the pulse without being pretentious. I am hoping my preference for shopping locally might offset my carbon footprint a little considering that the Alphonsos came from Mumbai… Look, I don’t even drive ok?

In the same shop I also discovered some wet garlic – fresh, paperless and an absolute dream to use. The shopkeeper was happy we bought it, peeling back the skin slightly and inviting us to smell it’s pungency. It’s beautiful. You know how that paper can sometimes drive you crazy? No problem with wet garlic, the skin in still fresh and the cloves pop right out. They are crisp, crush like a dream and the whole bulb is a bloomin’ revelation. I want all my garlic like this. The cucumber acted as a perfect container for the fillings – you get crunchy cuke, soft crab, fruity mango, a hint of chilli and fragrant herbage.

This you dunk into the dipping sauce of finely chopped kaffir lime leaves, wet garlic, galangal, rice wine vingear, fish sauce and a touch of honey and oil. Great finger food and perfect for sharing. We ate them on our balcony which is fast becoming a mini jungle, listening to sounds of people in the park and the London traffic which I now find strangely comforting. I love sitting in our little oasis with the chaos of the city below.

Cucumber Rolls with Crab, Alphonso Mango and Chilli

- I don’t think this really needs a recipe does it? Pare thin strips (lengthways) from a cucumber with a vegetable peeler, fill with white crab meat, mango strips, chilli strips and a coriander leaf. Roll them up. Voila! Dip in your sauce of choice.