Chic Destinations

Food Shopping in London

Chic Outlet Shopping® invited renowned food writer Tom Parker-Bowles to share with us his insights into the world of European food.

LONDON

Maltby Street Market
Borough Market’s days, it seems, are sadly numbered. Well, as London’s finest fresh food destination, anyway. The trustees, it is said, are more concerned with profit, than passion, and there have been ominous rumblings for the past 12 months. Many of the great stalls have left already (Tony Booth for one), and now could be the time to look elsewhere. And where better than Maltby Street , just down the road, which is neither a street (more a scattering of stalls in the same area) nor a regular market (think a community of fine food sellers). The Monmouth Café is a hub of sorts, selling some of the finest coffee you’ll ever taste. But down the other end, through the metal gates, you’ll stumble across all sorts of culinary magic –- Kappacasein’s incredible toasted sandwiches and raclettes, next door to The Ham and Cheese Company. You’ll also find Neal’s Yard Dairy, St John Bakery and The Borough Cheese Co (recently, and unfairly, evicted from Borough). And the great Tony Booth, with his peerless range of fruit and vegetables, is just around the corner on Druid Street.  This, for me, is the future. Get there while it’s still small.

The Ginger Pig
Tim Wilson’s small chain of butchers, with branches in Marylebone High Street, Borough Market, Hackney and Waterloo, serves some of the best meat in the country, all from rare breeds, raised on his farms in Yorkshire. So there’s properly hung Longhorn beef, including steaks that will stop any conversation dead. And wonderful pork from Tamworths, Gloucester Old Spots and Saddlebacks, among others and Blackface lamb. Of course, breeds mean nothing without good husbandry skill. But Wilson is a master and all his beasts roam free, and feed on decent diets too. As for his sausage rolls … think great hunks of peppery pork wrapped in a buttery, flaky pastry that’s as fine as I’ve ever tasted. The Ginger Pig is a temple to meat. One taste, and you’ll be a converts too. 
www.thegingerpig.co.uk

The Spice Shop
The Spice Shop started off as a Portobello market stall but instant success meant a need for larger premises. Which, luckily for owner Birgit Erath, was found just around the corner on Blenheim Crescent. The tiny shop has the most exotic, intoxicating smell you can imagine and stocks over 2500 products too. She blends all her own herb and spice mixes and there’s everything from Amchoor mango powder to Za’atar. Her range of dried chillies, too, is second to none, perfect for any keen Mexican or Indian cooks of Mexican or Indian food. Then there’s a huge range of fish sauces, 10 varieties of salt, exotic infusions, fresh horseradish, spice jars and pestles and mortars. It’s the sort of place that makes food-shopping fun again, . Aand is almost impossible to leave without at least one small bag or bottle clasped tight in your hand.
www.thespiceshop.co.uk

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