Daily Bread Beverages

irst came the 18th-century coffeehouses, in which the ideas Traditions survive, yet London’s food culture today is as much F of the age were brewed in the company of invigorating a celebration of diversity as it is of heritage – dedicated chefs, Daily Bread beverages. Then it was the turn of the Victorian chop houses, bakers and shop owners reveal their personal stories from across filling the bellies of patrons with hearty servings of meat and two the globe. Among the Michelin-starred restaurants and cutting- Half a dozen of London’s veg. East of Smithfield Market in the early 20th century, London’s edge concepts that draw gourmands to the capital, it’s these neighbourhood food champions pie shops filled their pastry cases with eels caught fresh from the quiet bastions of local flavour that continue to define London’s River Thames, while later on immigrants settling near the docks culinary culture. I journeyed across town to visit six such varied established new tastes for baked goods from Eastern Europe, still establishments, each with unwavering commitment to its craft Words and photos by today’s daily bread for many. and to a city founded on hospitality and fed with pride. •• LOUISE LONG 56 SUITCASE MAGAZINE JOE COOKE The taste issue 57 LONDON, ENGLAND LONDON, ENGLAND JOHNNY GRODZINSKI PEGGY J. GRODZINSKI & DAUGHTERS F. COOKE PIE & MASH Jewish British Edgware, Northwest Hoxton, East At J. Grodzinski & Daughters bakery, there is no such thing as just on Bell Lane and selling baskets of bilkelekh for the markets of Joe Cooke is a fourth-generation pie maker. His great-grandfather Yet F. Cooke’s stands for more than a warming plate of pie and a beigel. They come chewy or crusty, soft or stone-baked, seeded Petticoat Lane – within a few years a permanent bakery was opened the doors to his first shop in 1862, the first of a handful mash. Joe’s benevolence and gentle philosophy light up the shop, or with cinnamon. Nor is there simply a challah bread – loaves founded at 31 Fieldgate Street. “We have the old, the new and of family-run outposts across the East End. Today, Hoxton is the in which frequent customers become fast friends as readily as are small, medium or large, round or plaited. There are Friday everything in between,” laughs Johnny, a genealogist at heart only remaining branch of the business – and while the Victorian passing tourists. Moreover, the £1 pensioner lunch deal (priced challahs and New Year challahs. Customers scour the shelves for who holds over 10,000 records pertaining to his family history. penchant for jellied eels may be dwindling, the shop remains a up from 90p last year to huge furore), is an invaluable part of their perfect bake – Grodzinski’s is disarmingly particular, each thriving and beloved neighbourhood stalwart. the routine for many in the community. Pensioners travel as outlet catering to the precise whims and wishes of its customers. Today, traditional bakes from “the haim” (homestead), known to far as Peckham for their meal, and Hoxton local Peggy, 91, is Stamford Hill has a penchant for crustier challah, while Edgware Grodzinski’s earliest customers, sit alongside flavours absorbed Mornings are spent at Smithfield Market sourcing flank steak so wholeheartedly ingrained in the fabric of the place that F. prefers fruit cake over Clapton’s favoured chocolate. from new communities, such as apple turnover or Dutch pound for the pies, which is then ground by Joe in the shop. Everything Cooke’s had the aisle between tables widened to allow her frame cake. Moiara’s first job in London landed her in the kitchen at is made by hand under his watchful eye, whether the meat-pie to fit through. “It saves me cooking,” Peggy grins as she tucks in “That’s the beauty of baking on the premises,” owner Johnny Grodzinski’s, now her home of 13 years. She is the doughnut filling, suet pastry, maris-piper mash or parsley liquor (the with a fork and spoon. •• Grodzinski tells me. “I’m a crust man.” Johnny’s great- expert, hand-rolling up to 100 a day – even more towards the traditional sauce made from fresh parsley and fish stock – grandparents founded the business in the 1880s, migrating from end of the week, she reveals with a wink. As she works, trays of there’s not a drop of gravy in sight). The only exception is the Belarus to the Jewish community of London’s East End. From steaming apple strudel, mountains of traditional rugelach and cherry filling for the sweet pies, Joe chuckles, “as we don’t have meagre beginnings – renting an oven from a master Jewish baker batches of golden honey cake are turned out by the cheery team. a cherry tree!” 58 59 LONDON, ENGLAND LONDON, ENGLAND MANDY YIN SAMBAL SHIOK LAKSA BAR PERSEPOLIS Malaysian Iranian Highbury, Northeast Peckham, Southeast Originally trained as a lawyer, Mandy Yin embarked on a makes its laksa paste from raw ingredients, the first stage of the “We are a genre all unto ourselves,” confesses Sally Butcher, Culinary tourists, curious vegetarians and a buzzing cohort of six-year voyage into Malaysian street food before settling into a laborious process that involves creating stock, soup and noodles. the owner of Peckham’s most genre-defying establishment, locals assemble in Sally’s colourful space, which is packed to the permanent space on Holloway Road in the summer of 2018. Now “I wanted to make something of which Malaysians are proud,” Persepolis. Deli, bookshop, café, restaurant: Sally’s venture may ceiling with cookbooks and Iranian delicacies. “I normally bring a cherished neighbourhood spot, Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar tells a Mandy exclaims. be elusive in definition, but her mantra is clear. “It’s all about my kids, but I decided to just pop in for lunch. There’s nothing tale of three cosmopolitan cities – Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and cooking simple Iranian food, and hospitality”. like this in Clapham,” explains Naz, a regular. Penang – each with particular significance to Mandy. “Growing Laksa aside, the menu is a vibrant showcase of Malaysian food up in Kuala Lumpur I would have laksa every day,” Mandy beams, with novel interpretations of side dishes such as zingy gado- Versed in the traditions of Persian cuisine by her mother-in-law, Sally works a 90-hour week managing the shop and its stock, the “so I wanted to share the love.” gado salad or shrimp, tamarind and betel-leaf curry, a rarely Butcher aims to espouse the culture of Iran, but with one big weekly changing menu, the roster of young chefs and the cooking encountered dish even in Malaysia. It’s no coincidence that difference: no meat. The menu is a continually shifting melee of itself. Chante from New Cross has been eyeing up a kitchen job Fragrant, fiery and umber in colour, the house laksa is rooted the restaurant settled across the road from Holloway Road’s salads, soups and hotpots, such as red-lentil timtimo, berkoukes for a while. Her favourite is the dodo – plantain cooked down in Mandy’s affinity with Peranakan nyonya cooking, which Chinese supermarket. “We often run in there to pick up missing (a pasta dish with a “swirl of labneh”) and old favourites such as with butter, harissa paste and spices, finished off with an egg.•• stems from the happy union of Malay women and Chinese ingredients,” Mandy confides. fried halloumi with honey and sesame seeds or pastries with date traders. Unlike many other Malaysian restaurants, Sambal Shiok and cardamom coffee (“the perfect pairing”). 60 61 LONDON, ENGLAND LONDON, ENGLAND TOKUNBO JEAN TOKUNBO’S KITCHEN SIMPSON’S TAVERN West African British Ickenham, Northwest City of London, East Tokunbo, whose name translates as “somebody from over the Informed by her early experiences in Lagos, Tokunbo’s southwest The oldest of London’s three historic dining rooms, Simpson’s Thompson and a giant wheel of stilton. Maureen remembers the seas”, was born in London and raised in the Nigerian capital of Nigerian cuisine is given a “modern spin and tempered spice,” she Tavern remains a beloved lunchtime sanctuary for the working original open grill, the reason for which the fire brigade seemed Lagos until the age of nine, before returning to the UK. “Food laughs, pointing to a side pot of extra-potent chilli sauce. Scotch- folk of the city. Off tabletops gleaned from the old Lloyd’s constantly on call (“sometimes every half hour!”). Convivial has always been my way of connecting with people and making bonnet chillies are sourced from north London stores along with underwriters building, upstairs diners are met with steaming lunchtime chatter is broken only by calls of “would you like a friends,” she tells me. Resigning from her job as a social worker in her “holy trinity” of ingredients – tomato, onions and peppers – plates of York ham and eggs or a hearty portion of the daily sausage with that?” – for at Simpson’s, all meals are customarily 2014, Tokunbo has since been on a quest to bring the experience the basis for her triple-cooked beef with green bell peppers. special, served with bubble and squeak or cauliflower cheese. For served with a 10-inch Cumberland (vegetarians exempt). of West African cuisine to the masses, founding the London pudding, it’s Simpson’s signature stewed cheese: an unassuming African Food Week and hosting a continuous flurry of pop-ups, While kale-and-spinach stews, ground cassava and roasted proprietary recipe marrying the best of British cheeses for The city’s culture of long lunches may be dwindling, but this city catered events, brunches and food festivals.

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