A Taste of Cheshire at the sensational Borough Market #Blog
Victoria Hayes
1st July 2019
It’s hard to know where to begin when talking about our Borough market experience. This feeling mirrors well the feeling you have when you first arrive at the world famous produce market. Your senses are assaulted with a myriad of delicious smells and sensations; beautiful flower stalls, cheese stalls piled high with creamy deliciousness, stacks of salamis, gorgeous bright fruit and vegetables, freshly squeezed juices, huge mushrooms, hand made pasta, piles of freshly baked bread and glorious fish and meat everywhere you turn.
The Green Market is a haven of food for consumption, across the week we sampled tasty Asian noodles. incredible chicken and mushroom pie and mash, Rose Veal salad bowl, divine paninis crammed with parma ham, rocket and oozing mozzarella, simpy stunning Wild Mushroom Risotto, melt in the mouth vegan chocolate brownies made with Tahini, juicy and sweet cherries by the bag full, delicious smoothies, coffee so intense it was like rocket fuel, tart juices and sweet macarons. The entire experience was a taste sensation and we knew that we could have spent many more hours sampling all of their wares. 
However, we were a little busy, you see we had brought some incredible Cheshire producers to Borough Market to showcase a Taste of Cheshire to London.
We had taken over the Market Hall, part of the Green Market and incredible space, glassed in and so filled with light and greenery, they even grow their own hops in there. There is also a small food Demo kitchen, so we were joined in celebrating Cheshire with Chef Lisa Fearns, who incorporated some of our own Fruits of the Forage Elder flower Cordial into her cheesecake recipe; delicious.
Fruits of the Forage, it was marvellous spending some time with these guys who are so passionate both about the product they create and the sustainability of it. Their enthusiasm is infectious and it was great to see groups of people, of all ages from all over the world gathered around their stall, asking questions, tasting jams, cordials and wild garlic buds, engaging not just with the food but with the idea behind it.
Borough market is without doubt a tourist destination and draws crowds from all over the world. The New York Yankees popped by while we were there and we spend a lot of time explaining to travellers where Cheshire is and why it’s so wonderful. Fortunately, we were joined by the dedicated team from Marketing Cheshire who did a phenomenal job of educating folks about Chester, Cheshire and beyond. They showed them how easy it was to visit Cheshire from London, distributed foodie maps, provided wine samples from the marvellous vineyards at Carden Park and gave out handy reusable Cheshire shopping bags, so visitors could pack in more goodies from their Borough experience. 
Thanks to Mark, Leonnie, Zac, the team from Chester tourist information and the rest of the team at Marketing Cheshire for their support, dedication and friendship throughout the project. They really do an exceptional job.
Speaking of exceptional, the excellent team from Reaseheath Food Centre were also outstanding. With a passion for food education and some absolutely delicious cheese to share, their stand was a real highlight of our showcase. Not only visually appealing and eminently tasty, we could hear customers walking away discussing their cheese making courses.
Reaseheath brought one of their young farmers along from their 
course and she was truly a credit to them, talking nineteen to the dozen about her award winning cheeses.
Having sampled their Cheshire and Red Leicester ourselves, we can 100% recommend both the cheese and the education behind it!
Taste Cheshire were extremely proud to represent not one, not two but three amazing Cheshire producers on our own double stall.
Cheshire Chutney Co. were quite a hit with tourists and locals alike sampling as many as they could and buying jars to show off to their friends, family and colleagues all over the UK and abroad. The onion marmalade being a particular hit and selling out very rapidly, with the traditional Victoria Chutney not far behind. New to their range, they have squeezy bottles of Ketchup with Red Pepper and Fruity Brown Sauce. We did spend rather a lot of time explaining the uniquely British idea of Brown sauce!
Haughton Honey’s delectable Honey jars also sold out, the taste of Cheshire wildflowers proving irresistible to tasters from around the globe. In the next few weeks, I’m sure there will be jars of Haughton’s finest English wildflower honey open on breakfast tables in Australia, the US, New Zealand, the Middle East and Hampshire!
We were honoured to meet the Managing Director of Borough Market, Darren Henaghan, who was kind enough to spend a little time with us, tasting our Cheshire products and sharing some of his insights and knowledge on a range of food related subjects. He enjoyed the Haughton Honey, and shared a little of his love of the London bee superhighway.
Finally, Taste Cheshire were thrilled to represent Mornflake at Borough Market. Mornflake have had a Cheshire Mill for over 340 years, and although comparatively the muesli and granola are quite new to the range, it was lovely to see people buying 5 bags at a time! (Thanks for Marketing Cheshire’s shopping bags for enabling this!).
We had a lot of fun with the tourist girls from New Zealand who were intending to leave their towels behind to fit extra bags of Mornflake in their suitcases!
We also enjoyed debating the relative merits of jumbo versus standard sized oats and swapping flapjack and smoothie recipes from around the globe.
Fergus and Ed from Love Lane Brewing had a fantastic time, sharing their love of beer with a huge range of customers. They really spread the love, showcasing their Lager and their delicious fruity pale Ale. It was quite a sight to see the very diverse range of people who tasted and bought bottles to enjoy. The gorgeous sunshine also helped, as the ice cold beers flew out on Saturday afternoon.
Another Borough success story comes from Forest Gin, who sent their newest “weasel” down to showcase their artisan gin and whisky. The wonderful thing about this product is the handmade nature of it, the love that goes into every bottle begins with the spirit but travels right through the design of gorgeous bottles. Tom’s passion was infectious and in addition to his fantastic knowledge his sunny personality shone through. I am sure many went away having never heard of Forest Gin, absolutely singing their praises.
Our thanks to Ancella, Ellie, Sarah, David, Darren and Pat, (the best security in the business) and all the Borough for all their support, friendship and help throughout our time at Borough, their knowledge and experience was invaluable, and they are all a delight to work with. We hope to see you all again next year!