A couple of tourists in Hackney...
Over the last week and a bit of August, M and I have been dog-sitting for some friends in East London. As well as helping them this also helped us escape our empty home for a while, full of memories of our very missed old cat and allowing us some healing time whilst caring for another animal, a very sweet and well behaved Labrador. Hackney is quite unfamiliar to me and I had lots of fun exploring the area and sampling lots of the local food as well as enjoying a significantly less stressful commute into work, sitting on the top deck of the number 26 bus winding it's way through Shoreditch, Hoxton, the City and past St Pauls. The area around Victoria Park has a tempting array of independent shops (including a proper fishmonger, a grocer and an old fashioned butcher) cafes, restaurants, bars and pubs with chairs and tables spilling out into the street seducing us into spending a hour or two in the evening sun, supping a pint (or three). Rather than the weekly drive to the supermarket with budget and list in hand, shopping became much more pleasurable, almost an adventure reminiscent of holidays but considerably more expensive. A short walk on weekend mornings to pick up some freshly baked bread or sweet treat to accompany the morning coffee from the The Deli Downstairs provided an opportunity to stock up on some more unusual store cupboard ingredients difficult or impossible to find out here in the sticks.
These UK grown fava beans, which I'd read about a year or so ago, come from Norfolk but are impossible to find on the doorstep of where they are grown. I'll be experimenting with these over the colder months and trying out the Egyptian national dish ful medames.
Freekeh is another Arabian staple, a roasted green wheat and often mentioned in Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes. So far I have only seen this available by mail order or in the excellent Persepolis in Peckham. Of course, I was then tempted by the tricolour couscous too.
Hackney also has a large Vietnamese community so we spent a couple of nights sampling various dishes from a small restaurant and exploring a local Vietnamese supermarket with a view to some more experimentation at home.
Sriracha chilli sauce, some kind of spicy pickled beansprouts and a rather dodgy looking pack of instant shrimp flavoured noodles (made using the 'latest Japanese technology' according to the blurb on the pack). There were two types of the chilli sauce and the only difference that I could see was that one had a green top. Does anyone know if this has any significance?
Vietnamese rice paper for summer rolls were a must, although again there was so much choice. I was rather tempted by those containing sesame seeds or other ingredients I couldn't recognise but plumped for these instead.
Prawn crackers (actually from South Korea), some very cheap buckwheat soba noodles and a variety of spice mixes completed the shopping although I was very keen to add some of the frozen soft shell crabs.
We strolled around several markets: Broadway Market, recognising stall holders from Instagram and meeting the producers of well loved products we buy often (St John & Dolly Smith's Brinjal Pickle, really and truly the best EVER Indian pickle you will ever taste, I stock pile this stuff); Columbia Road flower market, far too crowded to enjoy properly but escape into some of the hidden shops to found some real gems); Brick Lane, wandering the back streets and poking about amongst the bric-a-brac; before finding ourselves near Whitechapel and popping in for some impromptu lamb chops at Tayyabs (sorry Jay Rayner, despite your glowing reviews, I was a little disappointed).
We ate fish and chips from The Fish House (OK, but not a match for French's in Wells-next-the-sea, maybe it just tastes better eating this by the sea) and had lunch with friends at the Pavilion Cafe (really lovely and very recommended, the breakfasts looked particularly fantastic). It was great, having this time to explore but I think are wallets are definitely a little emptier. Back to our usual fare of home cooking before our next adventure!
These UK grown fava beans, which I'd read about a year or so ago, come from Norfolk but are impossible to find on the doorstep of where they are grown. I'll be experimenting with these over the colder months and trying out the Egyptian national dish ful medames.
Freekeh is another Arabian staple, a roasted green wheat and often mentioned in Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes. So far I have only seen this available by mail order or in the excellent Persepolis in Peckham. Of course, I was then tempted by the tricolour couscous too.
Hackney also has a large Vietnamese community so we spent a couple of nights sampling various dishes from a small restaurant and exploring a local Vietnamese supermarket with a view to some more experimentation at home.
Sriracha chilli sauce, some kind of spicy pickled beansprouts and a rather dodgy looking pack of instant shrimp flavoured noodles (made using the 'latest Japanese technology' according to the blurb on the pack). There were two types of the chilli sauce and the only difference that I could see was that one had a green top. Does anyone know if this has any significance?
Vietnamese rice paper for summer rolls were a must, although again there was so much choice. I was rather tempted by those containing sesame seeds or other ingredients I couldn't recognise but plumped for these instead.
Prawn crackers (actually from South Korea), some very cheap buckwheat soba noodles and a variety of spice mixes completed the shopping although I was very keen to add some of the frozen soft shell crabs.
We ate fish and chips from The Fish House (OK, but not a match for French's in Wells-next-the-sea, maybe it just tastes better eating this by the sea) and had lunch with friends at the Pavilion Cafe (really lovely and very recommended, the breakfasts looked particularly fantastic). It was great, having this time to explore but I think are wallets are definitely a little emptier. Back to our usual fare of home cooking before our next adventure!
Oh so tempting when you are visiting unfamiliar territory isn't it! Sounds fantastic exploring.
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