This Feeds Me Hungry Musings of a Gastronomic Gypsy – NC-based freelance writer Victoria Bouloubasis

Camden Market serves up street food. Photo by Victoria Bouloubasis

Eat, drink, walk, in no particular order. That’s all I set out to do in London, and it’s exactly what I accomplished. I scheduled two days in the city prior to my arrival in Greece to catch up with an old friend and see something new. I had been to London before as a student for only a few days, and thought there must be more I needed to see. Who am I kidding? I was hungry for something other than blood pudding (although my first trip launched a ridiculous addiction to Wagamama noodles and a fine appreciation for expensive blush champagne).

My friend Danny, a former colleague and close friend, met me at Heathrow from the south of England before we zipped over to Camdentown to find our hostel. We step out of the tube station and are met with a downpour. “It had been sunny and warm until you showed up,” Danny told me. London fail #1. After trekking through the rain for 20 or so minutes with my slightly excessive luggage in tow (I have enough for 4 months in Europe. I’ll explain later…), we decided to slip into a coffee shop until the rain stopped. Danny doesn’t drink coffee. I scrambled into Costa Cafe, the first shop I found. Only after I ordered a stale, rock-solid cupcake and soy latte (tasted more like sweetened milk than the caffeine jolt my jet lag needed), did Danny inform me that Costa was akin to a British Starbucks– all fluff, no quality. London fail #2. I was on a roll.
After the dark clouds subsided, so did the black cloud over our luck. The sun shone brightly onto Camden Market, where the pitter patter of my heart (or maybe it was my belly) sped up as the aroma of street food filled my nostrils. I have a thing for street food. Several open air markets stagger along the canal and main road, peppered with international treats du jour. That evening, between snapping illegal photos in knockoff sunglasses and my becoming obsessed with a handmade dress adorned with a neon cut out of David Bowie, Danny and I resisted the free samples shouted at us (which resembled  mall food court Chinese). This culinary adventure would not begin in haste.
To whet our appetites, we chose three tiny vegetable samosas each (six for only one pound). The crispy triangles filled with cabbage, carrots and cauliflower, didn’t taste authentic; the dough seemed more packaged wonton than homemade. But, when paired with tamarind chutney and spicy sour Indian pickles, they served as a decent start, and a far better offering than the airplane food I couldn’t bring myself to swallow just hours earlier.
Across the road, we stopped at more food stalls leading into Stables Market. A logo particularly caught my eye, one of a  Nasca monkey from Peru. Peruvian Kitchen: Aji del Mono is a tiny stall with an impressive spread of homemade Peruvian dishes set out in clay bowls, including a heap of aji de gallina, a creamy shredded chicken dish that’s popular worldwide for its mild, homestyle flavor, and a hearty seco stew, my favorite, usually made with lamb and slow-cooked in a salty cilantro sauce, with usually a few splashes of beer simmered in for flavor. Just looking to snack, we settled on two skewers, called anticuchos; one chicken, one beef (though these are usually made with calves hearts). The already marinated skewers were set on the grill and basted with a brush made from corn husks. The family at the shop told me this was their first day of business, and assured me ceviche would soon be on the menu. I mentioned my fondness for Peru’s diverse cuisine, and they proudly treated us to a side of papa a la huiancaina, boiled slices of potato served cold and smothered with a tangy, creamy sauce made with fresh cheese and aji pepper.

Peruvian anticuchos in Camden Market.

Time for a beer for Danny and a Pimm’s lemonade for me. As we walked to the bar, I noticed a sign that said “Come in, our food is crackin’” I learned that “crackin’” is British slang for “good.” As the next 36 hours proved, your food, dear London, is indeed crackin’. And I only, sadly, gobbled a tiny slice of the city’s intricate culinary offerings. Next day’s foiree into Covent Garden revealed sweet stalls of artfully designed cupcakes in every color of the Panetone rainbow, orangette inspired cookies that oozed warm milk chocolate and fresh orange zest onto my giddy face and a wholesome vegetarian meal at the underground Food for Thought brought me back to the very first table where I shared my very first London meal years ago. I also packed a full appetite en route to both Chinatown and Brick Lane, where I encountered new favorites in my growing repertoire of international gluttony, feasting on hot pots and the most delightful chutney platter I’ve ever devoured…

Pimm's, please. Photo by Victoria Bouloubasis.

Gorgeous rainbow of cupcakes. Photo by Victoria Bouloubasis