Vive le Market!

Well I just love fresh food, don't you? I especially love other people making it for me!

Bring on the local market, which takes place in the nearby town centre on a regular basis. Marketed as a French market, in reality, there are stalls featuring produce from all over Europe, which only makes it more attractive as far as I'm concerned. From a variety of olives to a selection of meats and garlic cloves at every turn, whoever is responsible for coordinating and approving this event in Harrow deserves a medal. And did I mention the sweet, flaky pastries? Delicious!

Perusing the produce, I couldn't resist buying half a garlic sausage, which will apparently last two weeks in the fridge (not that I imagine I'll be able to verify that - half of it has gone already!)

For those with more adventurous tastes, you could even buy snails to cook at home - I didn't dare!

What I did do, however, was sample the various take-away foods available. Unsurprisingly, I loved the Normandie garlic prawns (or should that be prawnies?! See photo), which were succulent, fresh and juicy. I also loved the tarteflette, which combined soft sliced potatoes, cream, lardons of ham with garlic for a filling and totally satisfying dish that could be enjoyed while walking around the market.

I also want to give a shout out to the man working at Jacc's coffee; firstly, because having coffee as part of the market just makes so much sense and secondly, because it was good coffee - aromatic and strong - and thirdly because he was also selling various syrups to enhance the coffee. I ended up buying a bottle to take home!

His good humour and friendliness really summarised the market for me: small traders trying to make an honest living by providing fresh, good quality produce in a warm environment that draws you in and enhances the town centre experience for everybody.

Now, when's the next one?

Taste of London - To The End...

After attending this event for the first time ever on Thursday, it says a lot that I returned again on Sunday, the last day, happily humming Food! Glorious Food! under my breath as I squelched through the mud of Regents Park in London.

Could the last day possibly live up to the first (see blog post below)? In a word, yes.


Stuffed courgette flower (Opera Tavern)

A few days ago, I was intent on sampling as many Michelin starred dishes as possible; the event is so big that I just hadn't been able to try everything I wanted. This time, I determined to explore more of the event.

I sat in on a couple of cookery demonstrations and learned some interesting factoids; for example, did you know that the wok was introduced to Thailand from China, or that chilli is not native to Thai cuisine but was introduced by Portguese settlers around 450 years ago? (Thank you Blue Elephant for that information)


Snail croquettes (The Savoy)

Or what about the fact that the best wasabi is grated on shark skin and that if wasabi is bright green, it's poor quality and made mostly of raddish and food colouring? (Thank you Wabi team for those insights)

But back to the food: I was thrilled to find Opera Tavern as I'd wanted to eat their courgette flower stuffed with warm goat's cheese and drizzled with honey earlier in the week, but hadn't had time. And what a stunning dish! The courgette stalk straggled the gap between between al dente and soft with ease and the flower oozed with salty goat's cheese, brought back into balance by the fine clear honey. A dish that was at the same time a starter and a dessert, and yet neither, I cannot place it but I cannot fault it for that; some flavour combination defy definition, and need to be accepted as such.  


Steak (Gaucho)

However, today, the Savoy River Restaurant really shone for me. The crisp-coated snail croquettes oozing with parsley sauce were rich and indulgent and have made me an unswayable fan. Snails are never straight-forward: if they are not well prepared, they can be gritty; and if they are not well cooked, they can be tough and bouncy. These were as perfect as I have ever tasted, and I used to live in France, the snail capital of the culinary world.

Lindt chocolatier

Although this was my dish of the day, for a solid hunk of meat, I need to give another shout out to the Gaucho team, whose infectious high spirits added to the eating experience. Their steak was tender, succulent and perfectly pink inside and the char grill really made this a wonderful caveman dish, elevated by the humita cake and smoked garlic hollandaise.


Chocolate Fondant
(British Airways)

This was also a day for desserts. I couldn't resist the most chocolate-y of chocolate fondants prepared by Simon Hulstone and the British Airways team. Surrounded by candied hazelnuts, digging into it revealed a salted caramel sauce that flowed shamelessly from the core and really saved the dish from being too rich.

I had heard that by the end of the event, Taste of London can seem to run out steam: after four days, the people working there are understandably tired. But I saw no evidence of that. There was dancing and music at every turn, laughter and even a game of ping pong in one of the bar tents.

If you didn't come to Taste of London 2012, all I can say is: you missed out. This is a joyful, inclusive and friendly event, suitable for even the most amateur gastronome. I can't wait till next year.


Blue Elephant cooking demonstration

Malaysian carved melon display

Brazilian dancers and samba band