JamieOliver.com

Thu 22 Oct 2009 @ 10:19
Danny McCubbin

Jenny Linford is the author of a book called The London Cookbook. This book is a fantastic food resource and it is packed full of great recommendations for restaurants, delis and farmers markets in London. Jenny brings to light some wonderful and unique London food destinations that deserve to be written about.

Have you always been into food?
As a young child, I lived abroad in Singapore - where my mother comes from - and then, as a teenager, in Florence in Italy. I've got many very vivid food memories from these times: visiting hawker stalls by Singapore Harbour with my cousins to eat satay - freshly grilled over charcoal - and eating durian with my family. My time in Italy has great food memories associated: eating juicy, ripe peaches bought from roadside stalls on the way to the swimming pool, fantastic ice cream from Vivoli's gelateria and buying delectable schiacchiata al'uve (Tuscan focaccia with grapes). I definitely think that living in these two places - with their great food cultures - gave me a fascination with food that led to me becoming a food writer.

How did the book come about?
Having written about London's food scene for around 18 years, I really wanted to try and capture in a book what I love about London's food scene and pay a tribute to my favourite shops and the people who run them. My husband, Chris, took all the pictures for the book and it was an amazing experience travelling all around the city meeting so many different people.

I bet you have met some interesting characters over the years. Can you tell me some of the highlights?
The best part of my job is that I get to meet some fascinating people. I'm so glad I met Nevio Pellicci, an elegant, dapper octogenarian running his East End caff, Pellicci's, with real charm and style; sadly he died in 2008. I've got a real soft spot for people who are obsessed with what they do; tea-lover Timothy D'Offay who set up and runs Postcard Teas is wonderfully knowledgeable about tea but very modest with it. Britain's cheesemaking scene has many wonderful obsessives, totally devoted to making their cheese. I really admire both Randolph Hodgson who runs Neal's Yard Dairy and his wife Anita Leroy who runs Monmouth Coffee Company; two fantastic businesses that manage to be both relaxed and democratically accessible while offering brilliant quality.

What are some of your favorite recipes from the book?
I put in a lot of my favourite recipes that I cook at home in this book, as I wanted it to be very much about home cooking. It's hard to choose but particular favourites would be my recipes for a Classic Cream Tea, Queen of Puddings and Chicken Satay. I often make Piloo's Coriander Chutney, which is addictively delicious!

I ran into you at my favorite deli La Fromagerie the other week where you were taking a food tour around London. What does this entail and how can we find out more information about this?
I set up Gastro-Soho tours in 1994 offering guided tours around Soho's fascinating food shops as I wanted people to appreciate and use the shops. Nowadays I run a range of tours - have a look at my website www.jennylinford.co.uk for details of what's coming up.

Jamie recently went on a “foodie voyage of discovery” in the States that resulted in Jamie’s American Roadtrip. What has been some of the memorable discoveries that you have made in London?
There are so many delicious things to eat in London, that I don't know where to start! Proper Jewish bagels from North London's Jewish bakeries such as Daniels are a treat; Billingsgate Market is an amazing place if you know your fish and seafood; in the spring, buying boxes of gorgeous Alphonso mangoes from Indian shops; Newens' in Kew sells utterly delicious little Maids of Honour and great steak pies . . . the list could go on and I'm now hungry!

Is London your favorite food destination?
It's one of my favourite food destinations, but I would also add in Singapore - with its wonderfully diverse food heritage - and Italy, where you can find such fantastic ingredients and food.

I have lived in London for quite some time and I often hear people speak about how food and dinning in Britain has improved over the last 10 years. Was the quality of food really that poor in the past?
There really has been an enormous rise in standards over the last decade. There were good ingredients and some great shops around before that, but nowadays it is just so much easier to find good ingredients - bread, meat, cheese, vegetables - than it used to be. It's great that there is a public interest in and appetite for good food now in a way that there wasn't ten years ago.

Every time I go to Borough Market in London it just seems to be busier and busier! Can you tell us about some other less well known food markets that are worth visiting?
I know what you mean about Borough; I go on a Friday to Borough to avoid the crowds. Broadway Market in Hackney on Saturdays is well worth a visit - offering a very cosmopolitan mix of food stalls and a great community atmosphere. London's farmers' markets - such as the ones in Islington or Marylebone - are a great addition to the city. Brixton Market has an amazing range of Caribbean foodstuffs and also a great pizzeria in Franco Manca while, in the East End, Queens Market in Newham offers an incredible variety of fresh produce at bargain prices.


About the author: Danny McCubbin is the website editor of JamieOliver.com

For more information on Jenny Linford

Photograph by Chris Windsor

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Published by Metro Publications.