My last full day in London, was a tasteful one indeed. I hopped on the tube Saturday morning to the Borough Market which is said to be London's most renowned food market full of British and International delights. It wasn't just any Saturday, it was New Year's Eve, so the market was full of people shopping for an evening of partying! Again, I must warn you that you should not be hungry while viewing this blog!
My first stop was for a cup of tea to warm up. I love that in London, they ask you if you want your tea white or black. I was first confused at this question thinking they were asking if I would like white tea or black tea. However, I figured out that they mean, do you want your black tea served with or without milk-hence making the color white or black! Then it was off to browse, sample, and choose lunch and dinner for the day!
Since I was at the market for the Holiday season, there were many holiday treats such as turkeys, goose, and rabbit!
The cheese selections were in no short supply. This was just one of many vendors sampling and selling their cheese. Just to let you know, I love cheese! How about you?
This is just a sampling of the many pastries that were for sale in the market. How nice it would have been to have bought some of these for New Year's Day. However, I would be flying all day to Sri Lanka so I had to pass these by....
Olives anyone?
How about some pig in many forms? The sausages from this booth were spectacular!
Here is what I chose to take home for my dinner at the hotel while I was packing up for my Sri Lanka trip-Wild Boar Pie.
Now, back to the important choice for lunch. For those of you that don't know, along with being a tea lover, I am also a confirmed chocoholic. So, I could not resist this when I came upon it.
I don't think it was my healthiest choice in food I have every made, but it was New Year's Eve after all. I couldn't resist getting something from this "all about cacao" place sourcing from a single origin and single estate cacao grower in Saint Lucia! Just look at the menu choices from The Robot Estate.
I chose the Marche de Quarier which is a chocolate wrap filled with duck confit, Rabot Estate dark chocolate, dried cherries, coriander, roasted cacao nibs, and creme fraiche! The best part is they make it right in front of you!
My chocolate-loving-self couldn't resist ordering the chocolate pot for dessert!
I do many tea and chocolate pairings, but this time,I paired up my chocolate pot with a glass of Prosecco to ring in the new year early. I love the warning sign about drinking Prosecco, how about you?
One of the other delights at the Borough Market is the sound of the church bells ringing throughout the day. These bells were ringing in the new year, but we can now have them ring in spring!
On my way back to my hotel, I stopped by Buckingham Palace. I could tell the Queen was in by the flag raised at the top of the palace, but she didn't come out for a wave! The palace and the large monument in front of it are quite spectacular.
I spent New Year's Eve, packing up for my exciting tea adventure to Sri Lanka-home of Ceylon Teas! Follow along in my blog as I virtually take you to the British Colonial Island of tea!
Happy Sipping and Saying Goodbye to London for Now, Lisa
For a scheduling note: I will be in New York City this week giving a tea tour for the International Association of Culinary Professional's National Conference. I hope to share some of the highlights with you in my blog in the near future.