Thursday, August 27, 2009

Borough Market, London, England

A Tale of Two Sandwiches

One of our first destinations in London was Borough Market, a paradise for food and food lovers. We did some shopping and gawking, admiring the sight of the portly pork pies obediently stacked in their glass display case, the smells of London's finest meats, cheeses, and food surrounding us.

We worked up an appetite with our wandering and were drawn to two different sandwich vendors which were serving up expertly prepared, simple fare. The first was the grilled chorizo vendor who was combining five ingredients to perfection. A short length of chorizo had been split open along its axis and grilled before being placed on a slightly grilled crusty bun and drizzled with a splash of high quality olive oil. Roasted piquillo peppers, which were both slightly acidic and sweet, and fresh nutty rocket contrasted with the salty sausage to yield a perfectly balanced sandwich.


The crusty bread and snappy sausage casings gave our jaws a workout with each bite.


Still hungry, we wandered our way through the market until the alluring scent emanating from a second sandwich vendor reeled us in.


We shared the most perfect grilled cheese sandwich imaginable. It consisted of two thin slices of Poilâne sourdough bread, a generous handful of grated cheeses (a mix of Montgomery Cheddar from Cheddar itself and Ogleshield), and several heaping teaspoons of minced leeks, red onion, and garlic. The bread was generously buttered, and pressed in a sandwich press until perfectly golden brown.


The cheese was pungent, salty, and pleasantly slippery while the bread was thin, crusty, buttery, and crisp. Cheese had leaked out around the edges of the bread, forming a delightfully greasy crust where it contacted the hot press. The crispy, fresh vegetables provided just enough contrast in flavour and texture to elevate the sandwich to another plane. Without a doubt, this was the best thing I ate in England. We took it next door and devoured it on the lawn of the Southwark cathedral.

Borough Market is located at 8 Southwark Street in London, England. It is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Visit their excellent website for directions and more information. The chorizo vendor is located at the front of the Market on Southwark Street, while the grilled cheese vendor is located at the rear of the market, adjacent to the cathedral.

12 comments:

Tamar said...

Mmmm....this post made me so hungry to eat BOTH those sandwiches again. Let's go back soon! Or better still, attempt to replicate.

hungrycanuck said...

I was thinking about replication last night. We could do a decent approximation of the grilled cheese with some Allegra bakery bread and five year old Canadian cheddar from PennMac.

Yum!

Chris Hernandez said...

I love grilled cheese and I must say that is one sexy look grilled cheese.

D. said...

mmm grilled cheese...

i'm from pittsburgh! any special places in the city you like to eat? i will never get enough of pamela's lol

hungrycanuck said...

Thanks for the comments!

My favorite places to eat in the city include Legume, Enrico's in the strip, Dinette's pizza, and D's on Braddock for beer and dogs. I need to do a better job blogging some of these places!

I'm not as hooked on Pamela's pancakes as some people, but they make a mean corned beef hash.

Anne said...

Oh, I totally agree. That was one of the highlights of our last London visit!!

alauna said...

yum, both sandwiches look delicious! but really, you cannot go wrong with a grilled sandwich that is crisp, buttery, and oozing with cheese.

Knatolee said...

Good grief, your photos are making me so hungry. Great photography and mouthwatering reviews... that grilled cheese looks fabulous.

hungrycanuck said...

Thanks for the kind words. It WAS fabulous! I'm craving some grilled cheese now...

Anonymous said...

I had the grill cheese sandwhich in September 09. I still dream about it. The best. Thanks for getting the names of the cheeses, Hungry. I was too busy eating to think to do that.

Julie said...

hello fellow pittsburgher! just found your site. I was actually in London in late August 2009 and dined on the very same sandwich. random coincidence. It was divine.

Sudha said...

best grilled sandwich in the world. will go to london to eat again and again