Exploring ‘London’s larder’, Borough Market

Posted on May 1, 2014 by admin

Ever since we opened, the quality of the produce Anthony Garlando and his team use to create our contemporary British cuisine has been of paramount importance. No ingredient will go into one of Anthony’s dishes unless it meets his stringent expectations and he takes great pride in sourcing as much as possible himself from hand-picked suppliers.

We’re very fortunate at aqua shard to have on our doorstep the wonderful Borough Market, known to many as ‘London’s larder’ for the vast array of produce available in its historic halls. The current market has been in business continuously since 1756 and has always prided itself on only allowing traders to sell their wares if they are the very best of their kind – values Anthony clearly shares!

Ever on the look-out for new, unusual British or Irish  - and even better, London-based – suppliers for the restaurant, Anthony paid a visit to Borough Market this week with David Matchett, the market’s development manager, who introduced him to a number of the market’s most passionate traders.

Tasting as he went (it’s a hard job, but someone has to do it…!) Anthony met cheese-makers, salmon-smokers and British charcutiers; learnt about wild beef, the ultimate ‘free-range’ meat; visited Borough’s bakery, who produce ‘Cathedral Loaf’ using a starter blessed by our mutual friend the Dean of Southwark Cathedral; and sampled super-fresh herbs and salad leaves from an East Anglian organic farm.

There’ll of course need to be extensive further tasting, sampling and recipe-testing before any of these ingredients make it onto the menu, but this first visit was a fascinating insight into the sheer wealth of fantastic produce available just minutes from us at The Shard. Watch this space for news of new Borough Market ingredients we use and what wonders Anthony will be working with them!

Have you visited Borough Market? What are your favourite ingredients to buy there, and how do you use them in your cooking at home? Let us know in the Comments!