Among the cheesemongers

“FOR ME, BOROUGH MARKET IS THE PEOPLE – WE HELP EACH OTHER THROUGH GOOD TIMES AND BAD”

Words: Michael Finnerty

Cheesemongers at Borough Market know a lot about cheese. Above all, we know how magical and mysterious a product it is. It’s hard to predict when a batch of a given cheese – perhaps a newcomer but often an old friend – might suddenly cross the line into a realm of taste that makes you float off the ground as you eat it. Sometimes a cheese can be so popping that it blows minds, hitting so many pleasure centres all at once that you have to tell the others about it.

And when I say ‘the others’, I mean the other market traders. “Esther, you have to try this.” “What is it?” She puts it in her mouth. “Oh my god!” “Right? New wheel we just got in. Can you believe it?”

Esther will no doubt come by to purchase some later – cheese that good gets stuck in your mind – but the point of sharing it with her isn’t to boost sales. The point is that traders at Borough Market become something like a family, and we want to share these moments. I love seeing Esther smile. It’s like fuel for the rest of the shift.

When cheesemonger Karen from around the corner popped by with a Caerphilly sample, she couldn’t resist spreading the word about. Partly, it’s about our pride in our products. We work with smaller producers and it’s not an easy life for them. Using more traditional methods with smaller batches, sometimes coming from a single herd, there are loads of ups and downs. When they exceed even our high expectations, we want to share the results not only for the pleasure of tasting but also to convey our admiration for the makers.

One slower weekday mid-morning, one of my colleagues decided to undertake an impromptu blind taste test of different wheels of Comté being sold at different stalls around the market – such a great idea. There were some surprises, but it’s good for everyone to be kept on their toes. If you choose to work at Borough Market, you know the competition is stiff and you know the bar is high – and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We all want to be better, and we all want each other to be better. A rising tide floats all boats.

I am focused on selling the best French and Swiss cheeses at our Mons Cheesemongers stand, but as I’m talking to a customer, tasting cheeses and listening to what flavours they love, I get a sense of which stalls they should go to next, and I’m thrilled if I can help them make a discovery. “You have got to try Francesco’s dried strawberries across the way,” I’ll say. “They’ll make you forget it’s cloudy and raining outside.”

Often a customer will come back as they’re leaving the market to say: “You were so right about those olives! I love them. Thank you for the suggestion.” After all, the punters come for an hour or so, but we’re here year-round and we get to know a thing or two.

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that we lean on each other all the time. When something tricky happens, we take the time to listen, sometimes over a cup of tea. We’re also in for the save: “Can you believe I forgot to order bin liners? Can you spare some for us?”

Early in the morning, the shutters clatter and grind as the stands open up to the world, a bit like our heads do at that early hour. It’s a balm to see Shuk is already hard at it, checking over a crate of apples in the pre-dawn. “Morning Shuk!” “Morning Michael!” There’s a comforting pattern to the greetings; we look forward to those brief visits before we all throw ourselves into the day.

When the market shifts into closing gear, there is a determined but happy buzz in the air. I love this time of day not just because our work is about to end but also because it’s an awesome process, a herculean heave-ho that leaves the market like a blank canvas, ready for tomorrow’s new dawn. As the last of us departs, the market settles into calm, shifting to night mode, sparkling in a different way like the London gem it is. If you’ve never wandered through with friends after dark, or hand in hand with someone you love, you’re missing out.

We know we work in an exceptional place. It inspired me to leave my former job as a journalist and don the monger’s apron. I’m about to launch a book about my apprenticeship working here and how it has changed my life. What I want you to know is that, above all, we’re a community. For me, Borough Market is the people. We help each other through good times and bad. We lift each other up and we push each other to be better. You won’t be surprised to hear we often share a pint after work, but even I was surprised by the traders’ Christmas party, where we raised the roof together right in the centre of the market. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe I work here.

The Cheese Cure: How Comte and Camembert Fed My Soul by Michael Finnerty (Mudlark) is available now