Borough Market in London

London's Borough Market is foodie mecca, but like Mecca, it gets dangerously crowded on certain days.

Like gorgeous Saturday afternoons, I discovered yesterday. Last time I visited during the week, when the crowds were manageable, but yesterday it was just about impossible to move.

I was hoping to get some great food photos, like the one of the bread at the top of this page, taken about two years ago at Borough Market. But with human bodies outnumbering the bread loaves, it was difficult to get any photos that didn't involve reaching hands or talking heads.

I did see some interesting mushrooms. Several places were selling thick slices of giant puffball mushrooms, which I was too chicken to try. (Click below for the photo.) And for £15 a kilo, you could get a wild mushroom mix, but again, with the exchange rate not in my favor, that didn't seem like a good idea either.

More affordable, and practical, was the produce—smoked garlic, rocket, sage, chiles, Comice pears, smoked tomatoes. An intriguing loaf of twisted olive and thyme bread I bought turned out to be so oily it seeped through the paper wrapper and the paper bag. I also got a cupful of a lentil and bulgur salad, which I'm now determined to recreate at home.

One thing I noticed, since I was primarily looking for Asian ingredients: the market, like London's food scene in general, is very Euro-centric. Olive oil from Spain, Italy, Greece; breads from all over; meats from England and Germany; and the place positively reeked of cheese. But there were no Asian foods except for a couple of Turkish and MIddle Eastern stands. I did see a lonely little stand selling fresh tofu. Compared to the farmer's market in Madison, Wisconsin, where many local Asian farmers sell much more exotic produce than mushrooms, Borough Market is a cultural disappointment.

Take that, London foodie snobs!

The best part of the day was actually visiting Southwark Cathedral next to the market. It was uncrowded, an oasis of calm. An organ was playing, and for the most part, the visitors were respectfully quiet. Such a contrast to the bustling market in its shadow!

More photos below.

Portions of giant puffball for sale.



Pumpkins and squash and carotes, from Italy

Tomatoes take such great photos; shame about the taste though!

Comments

[bazu]

I know what you mean about farmers markets- it's very rare, even here in the U.S. for me to find a market that has a good Asian representation, and even more rare to see anything represented from, say, South America or Africa. My old one in California was really good, some of the best stands were Mexican (green mango!) and Korean (kimchee!)... and the stench of cheese and meat is always there. I'm sure it's a shock to the system for many vegans every time they walk into a market and remember "oh yeah, some people consider cheese and meat produce..." !

The squash shots are interesting- for some reason I didn't think there was much of that in Europe...

[KathyR]

Tomatoes are good and good for you! Don't be such a hater.

-snort-

[Rodney]

I would like to commend you on your ahead of the curve reporting a number of weeks ago on "umame". I heard a story on NPR this morning on my drive to work. The interviewed food scientist pronounced it "ooh-mommy".
Remember, you heard it here (or over there) first.

[KathyF]

Always ahead of the curve, that's me.

[Kittymoose]

I'm assuming there are more Asians near Madison, WI than there are in London (I'm from WI myself). I know that many of the Asian population of WI live in rural areas (easier to do the whole multi-generational living thing in a large farmhouse than in a small city apartment). Thus, more Asian farmers.

[Kittymoose]

I'm assuming there are more Asians near Madison, WI than there are in London (I'm from WI myself). I know that many of the Asian population of WI live in rural areas (easier to do the whole multi-generational living thing in a large farmhouse than in a small city apartment). Thus, more Asian farmers.

[KathyF]

Well, there are certainly more Asian farmers near Madison! Even though London is surrounded by farms, farmers in England are almost exclusively white.

And when I say Asian, I mean that in the American sense, of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc., not the British sense of Middle Eastern or Indian.

[Kittymoose]

I know, I love the farmer's market up there, because its so hard to do veggie chinese in the city. There aren't many non-meat items to begin with, and trying to find silken tofu is IMPOSSIBLE here.

Most of the Asians in Wisconsin, in my experience, are Laoasian or Hmong. I've met a few Chinese and a few Japanese, but not many.

[KathyF]

You're right; they are mostly from those smaller Asian countries. My daughters had several Hmong classmates in Madison. They were great farmers, and the children were excellent students.