The last chilli in the garden edn:100
Party preparations for our big party at the weekend included a big print making session, competing 80 varied coloured prints from one set of blocks out of an edition of 100. I will complete the edition this week, they were all hand finished, and 20 are available to buy, the rest have gone to new homes already.
Remember to peep at the website www.artfromlondonmarkets.com prints available through the siteIt also included a great big shop at Borough. Now that I am a Borogh familiar I can tell you some secrets about getting the best out of the market, for fruit I went to Jock Stark first, he always has great tasting fruit, and reasonable prices by Borough standards, he is also very friendly and always has something particuarly delicious to try. Then I went on to Ted's Veg to get my root vegetables and herbs from Lincolnshire, perfect for beetroot and celeriac salads. I went to Turnips for rather expensive but beautiful lettuces tomatoes, and other unseasonal Italian salady imports; this stall is beautiful but more pricey than average, however they do warn you if you pick up something especially expensive, so I could swop one or two of my not paying attention to the price tag pick ups. Then I finished up at getting the last few things at Elsy and Bent, which is also at the more expensive end of the market but usually has some very good priced end of day bargains and a very lovely display.
But lets be honest you don't go to Borough for bargains they are to be found in other markets across our city. You come here for the beauty of the place itself, its luxurious feel of plenty, the craft on and of the displays, and the availablility of absolutley anything your heart could desire food wise. You come to explore the wide variety that is on offer, and once you know your way around you can buy seasonally and choose your goods according to which stall does what better. So my summary this week would be general: Fruit: Jock, Seasonable English veg: Ted's and fancy European and other imports : Turnips. Just nipping in off the high street: Elsy and Bent. And Olives and pickles from Borough Olives. And my kids love love love the pastries.
This is the first time I have bought anything from the farm to market stall Northfield Farm: I got an enormous lovely piece of beef from Northfield Farm, they cut a joint for me especially and rolled it for me while I was in the market. We were feeding 85 people at the weekend, so my usual budget was thouroughly blown, the beef alone was £50. However that piece of beef was both as big as it could be and still fit in my oven and completely delicious. There is also the reassurance of knowing where it was from and how it was treated before it got to the market. When it comes to beef I think buying infrequently but of good provenance is the key to keeping the environmental impact down, and the experience of eating it up. Also spaghetti bolognaise made with the left over roast beef is yum so not a crumb wasted.
We were having our party at the Calthorpe Ground, at Crouch End Cricket club. And at the end the happiest thing happened, I had made a buffet and as always for a party over catered so I picked up what I needed for lunch for the family staying with us the next day. Then the lovely Mo who works on the bar took the left over food to a group of homeless people in Green Lanes which he does reguarly, so there was no waste.
Tip: Use a food processor when making tonnes of salad and the salad parts of Jamies 15 Minutes are great recipes to make into a salad bar.
Borough shop: tonnes of mint and corriander, beetroot, celeriac, chillis, peppers, loads of lettuce of various kinds, clementines, limes, apples,pears, grapes, celery, cucumbers, pomegranates, tomatoes of a wide variety, radishes, beef, olives, cornichons, onions, garlic, spring onions, chicory, large mangos, avocados, carrots variety of colours, rocket, fennel, lemons and a price to high to mention
