A History of Street Food M E

FOOD & DRINK r e k r a P a m A history of street food m E I would like to take you on a tour of pie men, shrimp girls, and oyster sellers London’s food through the ages. We will feeding London at this time. start at the oldest market in London, Borough Market is the mother of all If you happen to stand on the corner of food markets. Oysterman Richard Borough and end at one of the newest, Stoney Street and Park Street, look up at Haward brings the delights of the Maltby Street. We often think of street Borough Market building. The silver build - Essex coast to London where he food as a modern phenomenon created sells oysters from Mersea Island. ing in front of you has some interesting at music festivals where hipsters buy buf - If you can’t carry them home, they pineapples on its roof. This building used falo burgers and posh sausages. We can can also be delivered to you. to be part of the old Floral Hall, which however trace its history back to the was in the old fruit and vegetable market Romans and their street sellers, also in Covent Garden. When the Covent known as costermongers. Garden Opera House was refurbished in It is at London’s markets that you can an almost perfect street food – it comes the 1990s, they moved part of the hall to enjoy one of the oldest street foods – in its own natural container; you open it Borough Market. When pineapples were oysters. Oysters occur naturally in the es - with a sharp stone or knife and then it has first introduced into England in the 17th tuaries around England, but it was the its own half shell as a little dish in which to century, they were considered the caviar Romans who created the oyster beds and serve it! of their day and they became a status introduced us to this delicacy. Some of the Street sellers were vital in supplying food symbol. best oysters in the UK come from a small to Londoners. They became particularly As you wander through Borough Market island off the coast of Essex called Mersea. important as the population of London and onto London Bridge, you can appreci - The Romans had their capital at grew exponentially in the 19th century. It ate that this was one of London’s main Colchester at this time and so set up the is estimated that there were 30,000- thoroughfares. In fact, for nearly 17 cen - oyster beds nearby. I consider this to be 40,000 street sellers including muffin men, turies it was the only way over the river 18 FOCUS The Magazine May/June 2017 www.focus-info.org FOOD & DRINK “ Costermongers were a lifeline to London and provided Londoners with much of their food over the years. ” in the courtyard. The inn would have have spewed acrid fumes into the air. As The George Inn is a great place to formed a three-sided building with bal - you walk around the corner into stop for a well-earned drink. conies on each side creating an internal Bermondsey Street, enjoy the variety of www.george-southwark.co.uk yard. The yard was perfect for performing wonderful places to eat and drink and plays especially on Feast Days, Christmas maybe stop a while at The Fashion & and Easter. The rich would look down Textile Museum. Again, keep an eye out from the balconies and the poor would for the building and road names, which re - and into the City of London. Imagine this gather in the courtyard around the action. mind us that this area was also filled with area filled with people trying to get across The noise from the street sellers and the tanneries and wool weavers. the bridge, fighting their way through the drunken crowd would have meant that As we cross Tower Bridge Road and walk crowds of other travellers and costermon - the people in the balconies probably along Maltby Street Market, it is difficult to gers selling their wares. London Bridge missed much of the action. believe that this market was only founded was locked at night, which meant people Costermongers would have brought in 2010. It offers plenty of places to sit and often needed accommodation. This area around such delights as hot sheep’s feet, have some food, a drink and the opportu - became filled with inns and pubs serving hot codlings (apples wrapped in pastry), nity to watch the local action. The food those who dared not go back out of pies, shrimps, whelks and hot eels. available is eclectic among which are juicy London because of the risk of thieves and The next stop is Maltby Street, which is steak sandwiches, delicious falafel, and waf - robbers that lay along the dark sections of about 15-minute walk away from Borough fles with streaky bacon and maple syrup. road. Market. Walking along St Thomas Street, The rise of modern street food is a phe - Walk south down Borough High Street you will see the extent of the new nomenon that doesn’t look like ending and you will notice that there are many lit - London Bridge station and also be amazed any time soon. Currently, London has the at the height of The Shard. As you near tle yards truncating the main road. These largest number of markets of any city in Bermondsey Street, you might notice the world and has clearly remained in love yards, including Kings Head Yard and Vinegar Yard; this is a nod to the nearby with quirky market stalls and street food White Hart Yard, were once the site of Sarsons’s vinegar factory, which would vendors. inns. In fact, the pubs and inns in this area were very important in serving weary travellers. The George Inn is London’s only Maltby Street Market is open remaining galleried inn in an area that Saturdays and Sundays. See would have been filled with places to stay, www.maltby.st for details. rest and eat. The George Inn dates from 40 Maltby Street is a delightful and 1677, but there has been an inn on the relaxed eatery for those who prefer same site since at least 1522. The original to dine inside. building was big, taking 80 coaches per www.40maltbystreet.com week in its heyday. Shakespeare knew the inn well and would have put on plays here r e k r a P a m m E Emma Parker creates and leads a series of tours of London including The Secret History of Street Food and East End Eats, www.coutours.co.uk . Contact Emma on 0208 6345667 or [email protected]. www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 19.

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