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I’ve been planning to write about Borough Market for a very long time, the draft has been in my folder waiting for the right moment, and now the time couldn’t be more poignant. After last weeks terrible events where the market was the victim of a senseless attack I knew I had to write this. Now over a week later, the market is finally opening again and now more than ever the market traders and surrounding restaurants and bars need your support.
Most of the traders are very small often family owned businesses. Loosing a week of custom, and getting over the fact that this beautiful multicultural market was soiled with violence is tough. We all know the way forward it to ‘keep calm and carry on’ so please if you are in London, take the tube to London Bridge Station and do your shopping at Borough Market. Meet there for lunch or dinner or after-work-drinks. It’s safe, probably safer than it has ever been. But mostly, it is a statement, that we will not let terrorism dictate our lives.
On my first ever visit to Borough Market 7 years ago, I never thought that today I would be working for them and writing for their mag and website. Now nearly two years ago I became a photographer for the Borough Market magazine called ‘Market Life’. It is beautifully produced and jam-packed with interesting content. Stories about the market traders and their lives, the produce, the provenance and the events at the market which have become plentiful over the years. There are panel talks, tastings, cookery demonstrations and there even is a Cookbook Club. It is such a community. I’ve worked with many of the market traders, sourcing produce for shoots, they’ve been generous with advise and for some shoots they’ve even been on hand to help me. That is why I was especially shaken by the sadness that happened last week. My first thoughts were with the traders and the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes in the Borough Market office. The people I love to work with.
Borough Market is life, it is hope. It is a place where gender, sexual orientation, colour, religion or political preference doesn’t matter. It’s food, only food. That what keeps us alive, that what we live for, that what brings people together. The market sent out a statement and I want to share with you:
Now more than ever, we need to remind ourselves that what we do here matters. A food market has nothing to do with hate. A food market is about sustenance and wellbeing, pleasure and sharing, companionship and family. That’s why it’s important.
This post was supposed to be about the history of Borough Market, but for now, it is about the present and the future…
If you can not make it to the market but wish to show your support, many traders have an online shop, but there is also a crowdfunding campaign where you can donate to help the businesses and individuals who suffered financial heartache because of the closure. You can find it here: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bmrelieffund
Visit the Borough Market website for updates and to learn about the different market traders and businesses that form part of this rich and beautiful food community: http://boroughmarket.org.uk/
Also see this ‘where to eat’ guide compiled by Ed Smith who like me also works for the market: http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/where-to-eat-in-borough-market-a3557376.html
My personal favourites, while are traders are equally lovely are:
A Bread Ahead donut – best eaten somewhere in a corner, slightly private, to enjoy the full finger-licking experience.
Also there brioche burger buns, large white tin loaf (perfect for summer pudding and bacon sarnies!!), and decent sourdough loaves
Karaway Bakery Poppyseed and coconut and white chocolate bun – I always take these home for our breakfast the next day.
Also their caraway sourdough loaves and mini rolls.
Olivier Bakery for their round milk loaf… so good with plenty of butter!
Flour Station for EPIC English muffins and decent sourdough loaves. They make a mean Chelsea bun too!
Excuisite Deli have a great cured Biltong, Brindisa for spanish cured meats, Bianca e Mora for great Emilia Romagna cheese.
Speaking of cheese, Alsop & Walker sell the Lord London Booby shaped white cheese which is ah-mazing, there is also great cheese from Bath from Bath Soft Cheese Co. Borough Cheese Co for everything cheese and Gorwydd Caerphilly for … Caerphilly of course!
Kappacasein makes a mean raclette and cheese sarnie with cheese from Bermondsey which is just round the corner. And don’t forget all the others and Neils Yard Dairy who has a large selection.
For all things meaty I go to Dom from Northfield Farm who patiently cuts and wraps all the cuts of meat I carry home in my suitcase after working at the market. Go there for excellent beef from their own farm and friend-farms, check out their meat maturing cabinet thingie! Dom is proud of his mutton, and his lamb is excellent too. And if you are feeling peckish after your meat shop, turn around and order a burger at their stall, they are excellent and have long been my favourite in town.
Furness Fish & Game have excellent game and poultry. They usually have a very lush display of fish.
Cumbrian Speciality meats for some Herdwick and other rare breed meats
Gourmet Goat make mouthwatering dishes with kid goat meat
I’m told one of the Borough Market office workers has to bring home a pie from Mrs King’s Pork pies or the spouse at home is very very disappointed indeed. They are very good and award-winning, coming from pie-central: Melton Mowbray
For fishy situations my first stop is always Paul at Sussex Fish. A lovely fellow always in a good mood and always selling smashing fresh fish from his own boat and sustainably caught. He wraps them carefully for me to stock up my freezer at home.
Richard Haward’s Oysters have been my little treat for years, I usually get a pint of Stout across the street in the pub and have my oysters with it, proper old school and VERY good.
Shellseekers Fish and Game are usually where I get my lunch when I work at Borough Market, a quick dressed Dorset crab and a ciabatta from Bread ahead. The most luxurious fast food there is.
There is also an excellent mushroom paté that is so delish and the only thing Paté Moi has been selling for years, made to her own family recipe.
For after work drinks Wright Brothers Oyster and Porter house are your spot for oysters. And why not Fish and Chips at Fish!
Fruit and Veg there are plenty of options so browse the whole market. Turnips, Ted’s Veg, Elsie’s and if apples are your thing then definitely check out Chegworth Valley.
Spices can be found at Spice Mountain, in handy little pots. The local honey man sells a very good honey.
For lunch there are so many options it is hard to pick a few, so have a browse and see what takes your fancy: goats dishes, Indian food, melted cheese sarnies, Balkan bites, burgers, Herdwick lamb wrap, Ethiopan, old school Hobbs Meat Roast, proper Lincolnshire sausage, salt beef bagels and falafel wraps, Sri-Lankan cuisine, British pies… a wonderful mix of cultures! See all the street food stalls here: http://boroughmarket.org.uk/traders/street-food
For a full list of market stalls visit the Borough Market website: http://boroughmarket.org.uk/traders
Turnips fruit and veg
Sussex Fish – sustainable fish
Traders always give advise
Northfield Farm for meat and burgers for lunch
Dom from Northfield Farm helping me with a shoot for the market’s magazine
Northfield Farm’s lamb, expertly butchered by Dom
Market traders take time to talk to schoolchildren on a visit to the market
Cumbrian meats
Justin from Bread Ahead
Inside Bread Ahead Bakery
Inside Bread Ahead Bakery
Chegworth Valley apples
Bianca & Mora
Fitz Fine Foods
All kinds of eggs at Wild Beef
The pub – The Market Porter
Bobbies ordering a Northfield Farm burger
Furness Fish & Game helping us with choosing game
Before the market opens all is quiet
The first ever picture I took at the market 7 years ago
Good luck to all the traders and people involved with Borough Market!
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I arrived at the mansion that is the home of The Pig near Bath after a long november day. It was dark, rainy and my feet were stiff and cold from being in my red wellies for over 8 hours.
Stepping through the door at this house full of history and historical artefacts you will be slightly overwhelmed by the grandness which feels slightly out of place in this modern throw-away society. But modern it is, none the less. Although the manor looks like it has been frozen in time since the Georgean era, it was not long ago a derelict and forgotten place. The kitchen garden was no more than a gardeners nightmare but the house and its garden had been in the back of someone’s head for a long while: the current owner who opened it up once again as a hotel, naming it after my most cherished animal: the pig.
The home of The Pig is Hunstrete House and has been a hotel for many years. At one time it was managed by a husband and wife team, he did the cooking and she was the front of house. But after that it went from one owner to the next eventually falling in disrepair.
It took some love and effort to turn the house around, and the head gardner told me the kitchen garden it took 5 months of weeding before it was even possible to sow. But in march 2013 they were ready to open, and surprisingly it looks like it has been here like this for hundreds of years without having changed at all. The Pig’s philosophy evolves around the kitchen garden and a 25 mile menu. This means that all the food is either home grown, or sourced in a radius of 25 miles. The beer and cider as well, presenting a nice selection to have fun with pairing with your food. For me personally this is important as I do prefer a decent beer or cider with my food. I like to play with the flavours and it also feels so much less formal and heavy than wine. But I’m Belgian so I might be a bit biaised when it comes to beer!
I’m checked in and taken back outside along the corridor which is filled with colourful wellies, around the stately home to my room. It is pitch black, and I’m tired because I have been travelling from North Devon and had an early start that morning. The door to my room is opened and I realise I have my own little log cabin, complete with log burner, comfy chairs and a large bed with a lot of pillows. I throw myself onto the bed, legs and arms spread, it feels as if I’m being caught in the air by a fluffy cloud. Ah bliss…
Every once and a while you need that weekend away, a few days of hanging around reading books, gazing out of the window in the morning when the fog is still embracing the landscape and knowing that you are not going to do anything of much worldly importance that day. An indulging slow breakfast with more views over countryside, to see it awake and change color. Everything that bothers you in daily life becomes muted and trivial, relax mode takes over. I did a lot of writing for my book in this cosy log cabin too.
I could stay in there for a week, waking up early, having walks before breakfast on the estate watching the deer, the pigs, the chickens and then books, reading plenty of books.
How perfect does it all sound to have a room within walking distance of an amazing restaurant. A room with a view, a good meal in mere walking distance and if you fancy it a massage in one of their treatment rooms. The food in the restaurant is honest and decent, prepared with only the best ingredients. The food that I love and can’t get enough from, flavoured with a labour of love.
And when you are tired of the countryside bliss, the city of Bath is about 20 minutes away – See my Bath post here >
Camiel the head chef at The Pig Near Bath
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I payed for my room, my breakfast and dinner, and my transport to the hotel. I did attend a press event at the hotel which included a complimentary lunch. All views are my own.
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It was a crisp winters day when we took the train from London Paddington to Bath on an early februari morning.
Bath must be one of my all time favourite cities to go to in England, the Somerset town is small enough so you don’t have the hassle of having to work out buss and underground systems and large enough to spend the day walking and taking in the gorgeous sights. The city has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, something that won’t surprise you when you arrive.
Bath is named as such because it is and has been a spa town since Roman times and possibly even before that. The Roman Baths are still one of the city’s largest attractions and they are well worth a visit. When we visited on a gorgeous winter morning in february, we were alone for most of our visit which was quite magical. After the Roman empire fell in the first decade of the 5th century, the Roman baths fell into disrepair and were slowly lost. The entire structure above the level of the pillar bases which you can see today is a later construction. The hot water spring is now housed in 18th-century buildings, designed by architects John Wood, the Elder and John Wood, the Younger.
Visitors in Georgian England drank the waters in the Grand Pump Room, which is still accessible from the Baths and is a good way to end your visit with tea and cake – rather than water. With the opening of Thermae Bath Spa in 2006, Bath has become the only town or city in the United Kingdom where you can bathe in naturally heated spring water. With it Bath is reclaiming it’s historical heritage.
The city is primarily built in Georgian architecture crafted from light golden Bath stone and is well known for its terrace structures. The most spectacular of Bath’s terraces, the Royal Crescent, was built around 1767 and designed by the younger aforenamed John Wood. Walking around these streets, especially when the beams of sunlight are kissing the stone buildings and colouring them golden is a very nice way to spend an afternoon. I am not surprised that Bath has such an uplifting and positive feel to it, every time I arrive, I just want to stay.
Jane Austen lived in Bath in the early 19th century and you can visit the Jane Austen Centre on one of the larger impressive lanes. Go to the gift shop if you need an I love Mr. Darcy tote bag or mug in your life. My favourite view is looking up the hill towards Pulteney Bridge from the banks of the River Avon. The bridge is one of only four in the whole world to have shops built across its full span on both sides and was completed in 1774.
Another place I like to go to – especially for its cellar again – is one of the oldest buildings in Bath called Sally Lunn’s in the formerly Lilliput Alley. This is an eating house which houses the historical kitchen in which the recipe for the Sally Lunn bun was recovered in the 1930’s. Legend goes that Sally Lunn created the first Bath bun – naming it the Sally Lunn all the way back in the 17th century. The Sally Lunn Eating House claims that the recipe was brought to Bath in the 1680s by a Huguenot refugee called Solange Luyon, who became known as Sally Lunn. Another theory is that Sally Lunn is the anglicisation of ‘Sol et lune’ which is French for ‘sun and moon’, representing the golden crust and white base. It was a custom in the past to name things after how they looked. Like Hot Cross buns were named Cross buns because they were marked with a cross. Pop downstairs to see the kitchen and the 12th century faggot oven. I just want to cook in it, push the dolly who sits in front of it aside and take over the kitchen. Seriously, why are places still putting creepy old dolls in settings?
Bath has two buns today, the Bath bun and the Sally Lunn, and both are competing to be the first bun to be made in Bath.
The Bath bun is said to have been invented as a cure in the 18th century by a doctor called William Oliver, het later invented the Bath Olivers, a rather dry biscuit that served his purpose to be easy for the stomach much better than the rich Bath Bun did.
The bun is made of a sweet dough very much like that of an original Hot Cross Bun, it is dotted with currants and at the bottom of each bun you will spot a knob of sugar. The buns are finished with a sticky wash and dotted with a couple of extra currants and a few of those teeth breaking sugar nibs. There is a description of this bun in a mid 19th century journal showing us that the bun was known all over England and Scotland by this time.
The Bath-bun is a sturdy and gorgeous usurper – a new potentiate, whose blandishments have won away a great many children, we regret to say, from their lawful allegiance to the plum-bun. The Bath-bun is not only a toothsome dainty, but showy and alluring withal. It was easier for ancient mariners to resist the temptations of the Sirens, than it is for a modern child to turn away from a Bath-bun…Large, solid, and imposing, it challenges attention, and fascinates its little purchasers.
Edinburgh Journal of 1855, Chambers
Address book
See and do
The Roman Baths
Jane Austen Centre
The Circus
The Royal Crescent
Bath Abbey
Theatre Royal
Pulteney Bridge
Food
The Foodie Bugle Shop and Cafe
7 Margaret’s Buildings, Bath BA1 2LP
My number one spot for breakfast, light lunch and cake and tea or coffee. But also for carefully sourced groceries, your daily loaf of decent bread, cheeses, pastries, vegetables, and homewares in the basement shop. Beautiful vintage kitchen and home items and carefully chosen new items to grace the home, kitchen and garden. A must visit for the perfectionist foodie. The owner Silvana is a friend.
The Fine Cheese Co
29-31 Walcot St, Bath BA1 5BN, Verenigd Koninkrijk
www.finecheese.co.uk
For cheeses from Britain, France and Italy. They also have a cafe.
Sally Lunn’s Historic Eating House & Museum
4 North Parade Passage, Bath, BA1 1NX
For Sally Lunn buns served with all kinds of extra’s like eggs, bacon, jam etc.
In the basement a rare faggot oven can be seen in an ancient kitchen setup.
The Bath Bun Tea Shoppe
2 Abbey Green, Bath
For Bath Buns and tea
Pump Room, Searcys (££)
Stall Street, Bath, BA1 1LZ
For Afternoon Tea in Jane Austen style surroundings, right by the Roman Baths.
The Circus Cafe and Restaurant (££)
34 Brock St, Bath
+44 1225 466020
For lunch and dinner, serving modern British food and English wines (French and Italian too)
Jamie’s Italian Bath (£)
10 Milsom Street, Bath BA1 1BZ, Verenigd Koninkrijk
For Italian inspired dishes cooked with fresh ingredients. Always a winner
Outside Bath
Eat and Stay
The Pig restaurant and hotel (££)
Hunstrete, Pensford, 4NS
+44 1761 490490
www.thepighotel.com
For lunch and dinner, serving modern British food and English wines and ales. Breakfast for guests of the hotel.
The food prepared is sourced within 20 miles of The Pig and from their own kitchen garden. I highly recommend this place and a whole post about my visit is following soon.
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