5 Can't-Miss Snacks and Experiences at Borough Market

Our travelling web series ‘To Market We Go’ is brought to you by the expert kitchen-makers at next125. United by our passion for making every cooking experience a unique one, together, we’re visiting Europe’s very best markets to show you how to find, cook—and enjoy—the very best produce back in your home kitchen. Watch episode 2 at London’s Borough Market here!

With everything on offer at Borough Market, it was hard to know where to begin—although our co-host Ed Smith’s book, The Borough Market Cookbook, offered a nice illustrated map and served as our jumping off point. During the days we spent on site as we shot this episode, there were quite a few stand outs—but here, in no particular order, are our top 5 finds:

1. Tuck into a cheese toastie from Kappacasein

The cheesemaker responsible for this creation, Kappacasein, bring their cheeses into Borough market from their dairy just down the road in Bermondsey—where they turn deliveries of unpasteurized milk from Kent into wheels of gold. The toastie in question is made from 4 different kinds of their cheeses: Montgomery’s Cheddar, Comte, Ogleshield, and London Raclette, sprinkled with some finely chopped leek and red onion and melted into a golden sourdough sandwich. It has no shortage of admirers with legendary food critic Ruth Reichl calling it "The platonic ideal of grilled cheese." I can only nod my head in agreement and, if you've already seen the video, you'll know I’m unquestionably a fan.

2. Skill up at Bread Ahead’s bakery school

I’m assuming you’ve already made your way through the donuts, but if you don’t have enough room for a few loaves of sourdough in your suitcase—take home the knowledge instead. Above the bakery, Bread Ahead run a baking school where you can learn from their mastery: not only can you try your hand at their donuts and sourdough, there are Scandinavian to Japanese-style repertoires, pizza workshops, British classics, and more. They’re also available in different languages!

3. Stop for a bite at Flor

To give us a taste of the excellent offering of restaurants dotted around the site of Borough Market, Ed took us to recently-opened Flor. The cafe, restaurant, and bakery is part of the Lyle’s restaurant family, who were at the forefront of the British food revival in London. You can taste the results for yourself here at Flor which has a European flavor to it’s menu: we tucked into the lardo and anchovy toast, I didn’t leave without one of theiralready famous lardy buns—and I went back for dinner to tuck into the rest of the menu and sink some more wine.

4. Say yes cheese to Graceburn

One of my absolute highlights at the market was this spreadable Persian-style feta from Blackwood’s Cheese. Brined in nutty-tasting, cold-pressed rapeseed oil with some peppercorns and thyme, one of Blackwood’s cheesemakers, Dave, learned the recipe in Australia while working in the Yarra Valley—and it instantly reminded me of home where this style of cheese is really popular and is usually the first thing I put in my basket when I go back to visit. I recommend spreading it on sourdough toast (it goes exceedingly well with some of Eaten Alive’s smoked sriracha on top), beside slow roasted lamb and grains, or simply on crackers—it doesn’t need much and makes everything instantly... feta.

5. Granola for the planet

We love clever new ways to reduce food waste—so this granola, sweetened with juice pulp collected from various juice bars around London, caught our eye at the market. The fledgling company Nibs etc., describe themselves as "Probably the most sustainable granola in the world." According to their statistics, for every bottle of juice made 2 kilos (approx. 5 pounds) of fibrous juice pulp is tossed—their mission is to repurpose this nutritious waste product by adding it to their delicious granola. It’s probably the best start you could give to your day!