Close to the source

“WE LOVE BEING ABLE TO SUPPORT FELLOW TRADERS – IT’S ABOUT THE MARKET COMMUNITY AND GIVING BACK TO EACH OTHER”

Words: Tomé Morrissy-Swan

For any chef, the route to a great dish starts with the produce. Sourcing the finest marbled beef, the ripest summer tomatoes or crispest winter radicchio is as important as how the ingredient is treated once it reaches the kitchen. Cooks painstakingly cultivate relationships with suppliers, hoping for access to the best fish landed that very day, or the first choice of a batch of an artisan cheese.

Those working in Borough Market’s many outlets are therefore blessed with instant access to some of the country’s finest food suppliers right on their doorstep. For Cathal O’Malley, founder of Oroshi, a Japanese street food stand in the Borough Market Kitchen specialising in robatayaki skewers and bento boxes, “it’s like having the best supermarket in the world” within seconds of his site.

At Oroshi, customers tuck into the likes of venison or mackerel ramen, beef tongue skewers and pork belly bento boxes, which Cathal has been serving at Borough for over five years. Previously head chef at The 10 Cases, a wine bar in Covent Garden, he shifted from his background in French food to Japanese while working at Dinings SW3, a renowned restaurant in Chelsea. At Oroshi, he is taking that knowledge and applying it to the robata grill, providing a restaurant experience within a street food setting.  

“One part of the brief was that food should be seasonal where possible, and you should use traders in the market,” Cathal explains of his arrival at Borough. That led him to seek some of the market’s top traders. For seafood, that’s Shellseekers Fish & Game. “I go and choose my own fish in the morning. If I’m using mackerel, I’ll go over and check the quality, the same with salmon.” Cultivating close relationships means some suppliers will keep ingredients back for him, he continues.

At Stark’s Fruiterers, Cathal sources asparagus and pumpkin. “If you go to a good greengrocer, you’re going to get more ideas about what’s going to be good and go well together. Being in the market and able to do that with what’s in season, the flavours tend to be better. The people in the market can tell you what’s good, what’s coming in next week, they have the knowledge.”

Over at Greedy Goat, Josie Wells makes a very different product yet is equally committed to the market’s bounty. Josie produces award-winning ice cream with milk from goats reared by Richard Haskett at Homestead Farm in Dorset. Made on the farm with milk collected that very morning, before being transported to southeast London, Greedy Goat’s ice creams have become a hit with visitors to Borough, with classics like vanilla and honeycomb, or inventions like cherry bakewell or banana chocolate and caramel, a take on banoffee pie, selling like hotcakes.

“I always wanted it to be seasonal, following the seasons, the weather,” Josie explains. “I always wanted to buy British. We’re lucky we’re in Dorset, with an abundance of fruit farms, and there’s so much in the hedgerows around us that we use a lot of our own stuff on the farm.”

But Josie’s foraging extends beyond the hedgerows to the urban environs of Borough Market. That might be permanent ingredients, like pistachios and hazelnuts from Food & Forest, but frequently takes the form of collaborations, which Josie describes as “so fun”. Last year, for example, she created a hot cross bun ice cream around Easter, using unsold buns from Comptoir Bakery. “Not only was it delicious, it sold out in three days. What’s fantastic is that it’s circular, minimising food waste.”

For its part, Comptoir Bakery, which bakes all its bread on nearby Maltby Street, sources coffee from Monmouth Coffee Company, pork and beef mince from Northfield Farm and seasonal fruits from Stark’s. “We love being able to support fellow traders – it’s all about the market community and giving back to each other,” says general manager Holly Wells, who happens to be Josie’s sister. “We talk directly to the supplier, finding ways to help each other. We have very good relationships with our fellow traders, which is good for business and something we place a high value on.”

Back at Greedy Goat, Josie creates seasonal fruit flavours, making the most of any gluts. When 13 Acre Orchard had an abundance of English plums, she turned them into sticky plum and ginger ice cream. “They couldn’t sell the plums quickly enough. I was able to cook them down, freeze it, then add it to the ice cream when I was ready. Working with traders is all about being creative but also the opportunity to reduce waste, which has been super cool.”

As for the traders, “they love it,” says Josie. “The wonderful thing about Borough Market is it’s such a community; everyone loves being able to help and be part of each other’s growth. They’re also excited to see how the collaborations turn out.”

Cathal agrees: “There’s a community vibe, very much so. In the market you’ve got so many traders from all over, bringing their skills and attitude, and they are very helpful to each other.”

Earlier this month Josie put on a marmalade on toast ice cream special using brown bread and blood oranges from The Flour Station and Stark’s. It quickly sold out. “Ice cream has endless possibilities about what you can make. Any flavour can be made into ice cream – and that’s the wonderful thing about Borough Market: there’s so much to choose from.”