Pickled courgettes, elderflower syrup, green herb salsa

“MY PUGLIAN FRIEND INTRODUCED ME TO THE MAGIC OF GREEN AND YELLOW RIBBONS OF COURGETTE PICKLED TWICE OVER”

Behind the scenes at Borough is a small team of dedicated professionals whose job it is to keep the wheels of this historic market turning. Most of them are completely obsessed with food, thanks in part to their daily exposure to exceptional produce and expert traders. We’ve asked them to share their thoughts on the ingredients and dishes that spark their excitement when summer rolls around.   

Zeenat Anjari is Borough Market’s Trader Development Manager, who works closely with our traders to achieve the vision set out in the Food Policy and 2030 Strategy.

What’s the item of summer produce you most look forward to?

I’m a city girl so I go looking in the parks and streets for fragrant signs of summer. Long sunny days with bright blue skies coax out great fluffy clouds of elderflower. If I get the timing right I’ll go foraging for 10 to 15 blooms to make elderflower syrup – such an easy recipe once you remember to filter out the bugs! But if I miss the flowering, I know one of the Borough greengrocers will have a seasonal basket of elderflower out front to remind me that summer has arrived.

Tell us about the most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten on a summer holiday. Where was it and what was it? 

Each winter, I’m lucky enough to travel to the snow-covered prairies of Canada to visit my in-laws.  But one special year we went in the summer. Across the province I found harvest festivals celebrating regional varieties of fruit, vegetables and grains, grown by dedicated farmers in Canada’s very short growing season. At the Morden Corn & Apple festival I tasted magical corn on the cob, boiled within hours of being picked and slathered in butter, each kernel coloured like a gemstone. Back in England, I now pass by Hickson & Daughter on the lookout for bright green husks of sweet, juicy corn, packed in the distinctive black and yellow boxes direct from North Maldon Growers in Essex. 

It’s a perfect barbecue day. Are you the one firing up the barbecue or part of the crowd sitting with a cold drink while someone else sweats over the coals? 

I’ve never been good at short-order cooking, which requires a laser focus that I find unsocial and exhausting! I’m happier prepping a marinade and leaving the cooking up to time and a consistent flame. I have been known to lazily turn the crank on a spit-roast lamb or, as a child, I’d have a go at carefully rotating the skewers of succulent mishkaki that my uncles would have grilling on an oil-drum barbecue.

What’s your ultimate barbecue dish, either for cooking or eating? 

I love a quick-pickled salad to go with rich, juicy grilled meats. Of course, kachumber is the daddy but my Puglian friend Ida introduced me to the magic of green and yellow ribbons of courgette pickled twice over – first sweating over a colander in lemon juice in salt and then marinated in a wine vinegar pickle juice. 

If you were planning your perfect picnic, what foods from Borough Market would you add to your basket?  

Borough is the dream place to plan a picnic! We are so lucky to have amazing producers of bread, cheese and cold cuts, but it’s the accompaniments I seek out. I’ll bring a jar of La Pepiá’s green herb salsa to give zing to raw veg crudites and grilled beef.  And a jar of homestyle ajvar from Taste Croatia to mix into a salad of new potatoes or red onion and white beans.

Where in London would you take your Borough Market picnic basket for an afternoon in the sun? 

 I absolutely love the ‘secret’ garden at St John’s Lodge in Regent’s Park. It became a friend I looked forward to seeing on daily walks during the seasons of Covid. The gardeners who work there are playful with planting and it’s so fun to discover short-lived treasures like lily of the valley and fraises des bois. 

What’s your summer sundown tipple of choice? In an ideal world, where would you be sitting to enjoy it? 

When I was growing up, the only time I saw people drinking was on TV. There’s a classic ad for Campari and lemonade with cockney model Lorraine Chase looking ever-so sophisticated drinking by a huge pool at some Italian villa or French chateau. I want to be her, looking sharp and drinking red vermouth and soda in the grounds of a fabulous villa on a Tuscan hill overlooking Florence.