If food is your passion and you live in and around Wimbledon, put the 2-3rd April into your diary and get your contactless card and shopping bag ready so that you can support the Love Wimbledon Market’s enterprising and environmentally friendly stallholders whilst satisfying your taste buds!
On the first weekend of March, John and I attended the return of the Love Wimbledon Markets on the Piazza, and whilst we only needed honey and bread, we succumbed to all manner of treats and made a day of it to sample the variety of foods on offer.
Starting with sausages for breakfast, we chose the Chilli Bockwurst from the alluring array of sausages and toppings available at the German Sausage Company, which has been a mainstay of the market since the start, with Michael and Hayley selling out every time. We munched as we mooched, relishing the buzz of people, the smell of fresh bread, the taste of the hot sausages and the colourful range of stalls. An unusual sensory overload in Lockdown.
Our handmade honey came from Buzzy Blends – 100% natural, nutritious, and available in lots of tasty flavours. We tasted and chose several flavours as presents and loved hearing how Lithuanian Dainora has realised her business and environmental dream in and around our area over the last thirteen years. Good luck to her!
Speaking of sweet treats, we couldn’t resist the Monster Cookies for our grandchildren. Local lad, Adrian Schnitzer, bakes these yummy, very naughty, New York style artisan 1/4lb cookies himself. They really are monster sized and make a monster munch! Irresistible if you are anything like my girls (and maybe their grandmother!) We made ourselves feel virtuous knowing that they were all vegetarian with one vegan option, but our cake shopping didn’t stop there…
The Lukka Boutique Cakery offered such a delicious selection of brownies, banana bread, and red velvet cake that it was hard to know where to start. Apple crumble cake made the final cut on this occasion.
Lusobrazil showed us many sweet and savoury treats from Portugal and Brazil. Ruta is from Portugal and her husband from Brazil; she spent twelve years living in Wimbledon and her family are local. She loves the locality so much that she comes to the market from Berkshire every time. We decided on their world-famous custard tarts for Sunday lunch, and they certainly lived up to their reputation.
Some hours later, we returned to our original shopping list with a visit to Olivier’s Bakery. You can’t go wrong with a loaf of bread, but the amazing array of freshly baked bread and pastries made it difficult to decide. They are all made using artisan methods and organic, local ingredients from Olivier Favrel’s long standing tradition that you can find out about at www.oliviersbakery.com . It’s a great story! After much debate, we settled for a delicious rye bread, and the stallholders generously offered us some stunning brownies and banana bread to make sure that we appreciated the quality of their baking.
G-Whizz Kitchen with its largely Sussex savoury pies and cheeses was a wonder. The spread of cheeses and pies were so original and such good value that we left very pleased with our rabbit and bacon pie charcoal cheddar, Lord London and more, not to mention a slab of pheasant pate. Two Grahams run it, and the one we spoke with was an absolute whizz when it came to knowing about his fare.
Our shopping trip was nearly done, but a few snacks seemed like a good idea, so off to Olive Corner we went. Here, olives, sweet and savoury nuts, Turkish Delight in many flavours, dried fruits and homemade baklava tempted our every sense. After a wonderful tasting of all kinds of flavoured olives and nuts, we settled for a selection of both. With our rucksack loaded, we set off for a walk on sunny Wimbledon Common to enjoy the Spring morning before returning for lunch!
Then what to whet our appetite? Three stallholders tempted us: Compa Food – The freshly made pasta in a Grana Padano cheese wheel was one winner served piping hot with the Bolognese sauce. The other winner was delectable souvlaki and Greek salad from Little Greece.
In the end, we couldn’t resist anything on offer, although we missed Whisp Drinks and its plant-based, lightly alcoholic sparkling water because we went on Saturday and they only attend on Sundays. Next time it’s the food stalls, and then the music, and all the other non-food stalls that are returning in April. Lots to look forward to, and lots of reasons to shop local. Click here for more information on the next market on the 2-3rd April 2021.
Written by Jenny Burrett
