Friday, May 18, 2007

Nami-Nami In Print: London Borough Market @ Eesti Ekspress

Ka selle nädala Eesti Ekspressis (17.5.2007) on minult väike kirjatükk - seekord kirjeldan Londoni suurel Borough turul nähtut-kogetut ning mõtisklen veidi turu- ja söögikultuuri teemal üldisemalt. Huvilised leiavad artikli ja fotod taas tagantpoolt lapates 5. leheküljel. Nii et kohe lähimasse ajalehekioskisse ;-)



Somehow my blog posts are lagging behind these days. I've been back from London for almost a month now, and I have only just blogged about the fabulous meal I had with K, Johanna, her husband and the wee boy at the Petersham Nurseries Café. Note that I had a full-page restaurant review published in a major Estonian weekly newspaper _before_ I wrote about it here on my blog. And now - déjà vu! In this week's copy of the same newspaper, Eesti Ekspress, there is an article where I write about the London Borough Market, and about food markets and food culture in general (and yes, that's me buying cheese on the photo you'll see if you click through). It should have been other way around, surely, shouldn't it?



Anyway - the Borough Market was exactly as exciting as I expected it to be. We had the most knowledgeable tour guide with us, The Passionate Cook Johanna herself, who expertly took us through the must-sees, like Brindisa, Neal's Yard Dairy, Booths Mushrooms, the Monmouth Coffee and such like.



The picture at the very top is of Australian finger limes (Citrus Australasica, you can read more on Wikipedia). These unusual citrus fruits come in a range of gorgeous colours (incl. green, yellow, orange, red, purple, brown and even black), with matching insides (that is to say that green finger limes have green pearls or 'citrus caviar', pink ones have pink pearls inside - I checked it:) The stall holder proudly informed us that El Bulli's chef Ferran Adrià buys finger limes from him as well. But of course there was much more than just finger limes at the market. We had a great day out, taking in the market buzz and stocking up on British cheese, truffle salami, Brindisa's membrillo & fig wheels, buying argan oil, nibbling on various roasted nuts, tasting cutely-named vegetarian dishes (Hallou Gorgeous, Quinoa Superstar, Silly Sausage, Kiss Kiss Salad, anyone?), trying to tell a differece between variously seasoned foie gras, sniffing the aromas of chocolate, apple & pineapple mint, studying the displays of goji berries and green barley grass powder, and eventually trying the ubiquous wheatgrass shot (mmmh - interesting).

Thanks again, Johanna! You can read more about the Borough market here and here and here and here and here (in the words of Johanna x 2, Jeanne x 2 & David, respectively). And if you speak Estonian, then from this week's Eesti Ekspress, obviously :)

View all our photos from London Borough Market.

12 comments:

thepassionatecook said...

...ans my perennial favourite, Brindisa's prune wheel! shame you couldn't get a taste of the smoked swordfish my italian deli usually has... but there's always a next time, right?

K and S said...

what a great market!

Hedgehog said...

Used to live in the Borough neighborhood - thanks for the photos that prompted nice memories!

Anonymous said...

mul on nii kahju, et ma nii ebasobivatel päevadel seal vaba olin.

ja muideks hommikust kommi su sparglijutule ma ei saanudki panna. kirjutasin jutu valmis ja ei midagi.kadunud.

Anonymous said...

I'm so envious - Borough Market and Petersham Nurseries! I really have to get myself down to London. Funny how you can move to Estonia and still manage to go there more frequently than me :)

Congratulations on your articles in print - that must be so exciting!

Anonymous said...

We spent the day wandering around burough market...what a fun place! You see everything from fresh cheese to fresh chickens.
A great piece of London~ thanks!

Freya said...

Looks like a great, culinary time was had by all! I am longing to go to borough market and have no excuse really as it's only about an hour away on the train!

reog said...

wow, nice market. I really dreaming about clean market. I my country, there are few market with clean space.....:(

greeting from : reog-foodie

christine said...

Don't worry, I'm the same way. It takes me a whole month or more to write about a trip because I turn out like a post a week.

Gosh, all that food - membrillo, foie, truffle salami (!), fig wheels, swoooooon, I'm so jealous! :)

Jeanne said...

Mmmmm, Borough Market. It really is one of the nicest places in London to visit! Great post and lovely pics. Arent those brownie stacks impressive?? And I just love the finger limes. Thanks for the link-love too :)

Valentina said...

Pille, I love borough market.When I used to work in the City I was only a walk away so I used to go there more often.Mostly on Fridays lunch time when i could also get some lovely chorizo and rocket sandwhiches. I love eating membrillo's paste ( quince paste) as it makes up for all the lovely homemade guava paste I don't get in the UK. What a great trip you had. I particularly loved the explanation about the colourful Australian finger limes. And congratulations on the articles you have been writing.

Pille said...

Johanna - there will definitely be a next time soon:) And then I'll pick up one of those prune wheels (this time K took a picture only)

K&S - it's a great market indeed!

Hedgehog - you're very welcome:)

Mann - no eks Sa lähed teine kordki Londonisse.

Melissa - it was exciting to see these articles published:) I hardly ever went to London during my years in Edinburgh when I was still a student - I think about once a year was common (apart from one year when I went about once a month). And Edinburgh has plenty of nice restaurants, too, and I liked the Castle Terrace farmers market..

Sandi - I didn't see fresh chickens!? But there was some fabulous fresh fish!

Freya & Paul - we did have great time:) I think it took us about 45 minutes to get there from Johanna's place, so an hour is quite reasonable indeed.

Reog - but I bet Indonesian markets are lively and vibrant and full of amazing exotic fruit & veg!

Christine - I do post more frequently than that, but there's still a backlog..

Jeanne - you're lucky to be able to pop to the Borough Market so frequently! The brownie stacks were impressive - but we didn't try any, as a certain foodblogger thought they were not the best brownies in the world:)

Valentina - we didn't queue for the chorizo sandwich this time, but I do plan to have a bite next time I'm in London. Membrillo is nice, but I've never tried the guava paste before. Another item to keep my eyes open for (there's a good little Brazilian place in Edinburgh, so I can ask them next week:)