The Italian Market at the N1 Centre

When long logs of fresh ciabatta stare at you from a table of foccacia and large round sourdough, dusted with flour and appearing slightly like a tasty fat space craft, it becomes a bit difficult to remember that you actually didn’t come to Angel to eat.
 

Or maybe you did, because the Parkfield Street nook  (aka the N1 Centre) always seems to have food on display in some measure or another – especially during warm summer weekends.

A lover of food, I greedily walked from one impressive display to another, picking ‘just a bit’ of my favourite Italian salamis and cheeses.

There’s really nothing that provides more simple satisfaction then a market of fresh food.

The gentrified Angel draws crowds of people every week to its shops and markets, but unlike the uber-touristy Oxford Street, the residents reign supreme here.

So there is always a semi-respectable hum of shoppers, rather than a mob-like descent upon the area.

La Dolce Vita

Last weekend, the Italian food market graced N1 with its inevitable presence.  The smell of fresh olives and bread permeated the area and the people flocked like flies. 

After all, how could anyone resist the charm of having a giant metal angel watch over you, while you sink your choppers into a hunk of perfectly aged Milano salami?

The quality of the food is such that you actually do feel a bit better about the food you’re bringing home. 

The tasty Italian pastries and sweeties form a rainbow of sugar.  One mere look and your likely to get a cavity.

For more information about the N1 Centre, visit them on Facebook or at N1Islington.com

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

As some of you know, I've been obsessed lately with salami, cheese and bread.

Thanks to a French friend of mine, who lived with me for three months, I just can't get enough of baguettes, brie and cured pork.

Tonight, I went someplace to buy these things that I thought might have them in ample supply and in good quality - Selfridges.

Now, Selfridges on Oxford Street is not your ordinary shopping experience.

If you're like me, on a budget, then shopping for high scale food in high scale department stores is not the most practical approach to grocery shopping.

Still, we must all treat ourselves special sometimes.

The Meat Counter

Of course, I was very pleased to walk straight to the meat counter and immediately find my new guilty pleasure, Jésus.

Jésus, a pork liver sausage, is so far the best cured meat I've tasted and I simple can't get enough.

Yet, beneath that canvas of meaty goods, I also saw Gyula - a Hungarian sausage.

Admittedly, I have the warm fuzzies for Hungarian sausage.

This is due to the same French friend.  Whilst staying with me, a close Hungarian friend of hers visited the home of his youth.

He brought back with him a Hungarian sausage that was aged over a long period of time until it became the beautiful, reddish marvel that my friend cheekily dangled in front of me.

After gleefully watching me suffer, she finally offered me a slice.  What can I say?  The moment my  buds registered the new taste, I was hooked.

That night, it took all of my will power to keep from creeping into the fridge and robbing my friend blind while she slept.

And then she had the nerve to leave half of that sausage in the fridge while she went on a quick trip to France.  AGONY!!!

The Hungarian sausage I bought from Selfridges isn't nearly as tasty as the one my friend was given, but it had the same rich, spicy quality that I've come to love.

Accoutrements

I also picked up a granary baguette (granary bread is lower on the Glycemic Index) and some excellent brie cheese (best brie I've tasted in London so far.)

Once I returned home, I simply made a bit of homemade mayonnaise, and voila - the perfect meal.

It doesn't get any better than this.

Happy Eating!

Big Sausage Made in the Old Style

Jésus a L'ancienne is all I can think about.

No, I am not referring to a Christian deity, nor am I referring to one of the fine male inhabitants of Puerto Rico.

Jésus a L'ancienne is a French pork liver sausage.

Now if you've been reading my blogs (and I'm sure you have) you already know that I am currently obsessed with French cuisine.  Therefore, the sausage is of no surprise to you.

Still, of all the sausage I have tasted thus far, Jésus a L'ancienne is indeed my favourite.


Pig from heaven

I can only imagine that when a French butcher decided to come up with this delightful hunk of meat, he had selected the pig from a corner of heaven.

L'ancienne, a French word meaning 'made in the old style' gives somewhat of an indication of how this pork liver sausage was cured, fondled and shaped before it ended up on a chopping block.

After a frantic call to my friend in Belgium, I found out that Jésus is French for 'big sausage'.  And this particular 'big sausage made in the old style' can be found in different regions, smoked or unsmoked.

I am happy and a little bit ashamed to say that I ate the entire 150 grams that I'd bought home in one sitting.  Moderation was just not an option for me upon being introduced to this delightful treat.

But still, I can imagine that it goes very nicely with a doughy French bread and a lovely wine.  My friend assures me that the Jésus de Monteau is particularly appealing.

Happy Eating!