I have been a bit quiet on the blogging front, in fact my time had been taken for many a project in the last few weeks. Although progress is being made, there are still mountains to do. Personal admin, looking after the family, and many other responsibilities take time and care. But it is a good feeling knowing that these serve a purpose, however slowly they take to accomplish. There is a time for everything.
Last Saturday I had a rare afternoon off and I met up with two friends, we knew each other from our chef training days. It was so lovely to catch up with them and thankfully the weather helped too, despite breezy in the sunshine. We spent the afternoon in the foodies’ paradise, Borough Market. If you haven’t been, you should! Borough Market is full of artisan food and drink, fresh produce and much more in an enticing atmosphere. I just could not resist but be drawn by the enthusiasm and craftsmanship as I went around the market looking, talking, sometimes tasting and definitely shopping. I wish I had more time to stop at the stalls and enough bags to haul the treasures home. Still, the cheeses and baked goods that I bought were delicious and they were worth every penny. There is a Chinese saying that my Granny used to quote, it goes a bit like this: a little treat makes you savour every morsel but gorging too much is detrimental to your constitution. I agree with her, because even a week later I’m still lingering over them.
Let me tell you a bit about what I bought: Morbier and Comte from The Borough Cheese Company, and Pain au levain sourdough, pastries, chocolate brownies and banana cakes from Olivier’s Bakery. The cheeses are from Franche-Comte region in eastern France, both are equally delicious. The Morbier has a semi soft texture, medium strength, a bit like Raclette, probably would be great melted in macaroni cheese; the Comte was aged for 23 months, nutty with a true depth of flavour that coats the palate and lingers well. I also loved the baked goods so much that I looked up other locations where I might get my hands on them again and delighted to find they trade in various markets with one near me! So I won’t need to traipse to town every time although like all markets, they run by set days in the month, so to catch them near me I will need to diarise the dates. Buying direct from the producers and independent businesses is a joyful experience. It is a personal service, you learn about their craft, their care in producing their goods, the provenance. The quality is remarkably different to mass produced products that we see stocked in supermarket shelves. It does take time to source these traders and a day trip and it isn’t something we can do weekly in our busy lifestyle, but whenever I can, I leap at the opportunity!
I also talked to a potter at her stall near the market. Truly it was a chance visit to The Accidental Potter, and her collection is beautiful and unique. She was telling us a Japanese pottery repair technique called kintsugi. Essentially it is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. This technique completely transforms the personality of the piece, and what a sustainable and creative way to restore pottery. I reflected on this and it is a little like our lives, flawed and imperfect, sometimes even broken, yet somehow mercifully transformed by forgiveness and grace, becoming a new vessel, with a scar. This scar is not to drag us down but is a reminder of the love and sacrifice to make us whole again. Beauty for brokenness, hope for despair.
i really enjoyed that afternoon and I will definitely be back to the market soon. Next time I shall allow more time and more bags and perhaps an empty fridge to receive the goodies too!
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