I have to make a confession..... Me......a born and bred Londoner......a confirmed shopaholic......has never been to Portobello Road Market!! My heart has always been with Camden market. Many a happy teenage weekend did I trudge round Camden with my Doc Martens and tie dye skirts but finally, at the age of 34, I thought it was time to rectify the situation! The reason for this change of heart?....Acklam Village Market! Tucked away in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of Portobello Road Market lies a collection of street food stalls going by the name of Acklam Village.
Wearing my GF hat I was on a mission! Nothing was obviously GF but undeterred I set about finding out what I could possibly have. Most stalls had a few items that could accommodate the GF diet and most stallholders knew what was and wasn't GF. However, as I had read so much about the Venuzuelan Arepas I felt I should head straight to Guasacaca.
Arepas are breads made from cornflour which are cut open and stuffed with a choice of filling. The girl who served me was knowledgeable about what she was selling and explained that everything was GF. Sooooooo..... if everything was GF, it made sense to taste everything!! I had pork with black beans, plantain, cheddar cheese and guasacaca sauce!
Prime example of eyes bigger than belly!! Looked fab but how was I going to eat it?! Answer....messily!! Big apologies to all who had to watch me tuck into my first Arepa, it really wasn't pretty but do you know what? I would do it all again, it was amazing! As I sat slurping my Arepa with guacamole dripping off the end of my chin and my foot tapping to the band who had just started playing, I was already planning my return trip to Acklam Village Market!
Portobello Road market I could take or leave really. Like I say, my heart lies with Camden! However, I did discover Portobello Wholefoods shop
This is a real little gem! Stuffed full of health food brands, I managed to find things in here I have only previously been able to order online. Nevermind all the trendy vintage tut in the market, it's worth an trip to Portobello just for Acklam and the wholefood shop (am I getting old?!).
Managed to stock up on King Soba buckwheat and sweet potato noodles in the above shop. These are by far the best GF noodles I have found. They taste great and don't go gloopy when you cook them!
You can see them in action here (please excuse husbands rather large foot encroaching on photo!!) served with Blue Dragon spring onion and oyster sauce sachet.
Thursday night was a vist to the local Mexican, Chimichanga's. Another chain that is happy to cater for the GF diet but sadly does not display the GF options on the menu. Why the secret eh?! I just don't get it!? If you cook good quality, safe and tasty GF food why don't you tell people about it!? Surely it would attract more people??? Anywaaaaay.... The lady who served me ( the manager I think), knew her menu well and advised me appropriately. With a little substitution of rice for veg I decided on the Toastadas with pulled pork
ARIBA ARRRRRIBA!!!! Looks fab doesn't it? It tasted fab too!! A real treat to have something like this as I always assume Mexican to be riddled with flour! (The Toastadas are made from corn). The manager was also happy to tell the kitchen staff that I was Coeliac and therefore minimise the cross contamination risk. Overall I was very impressed, any worries I had were soon put aside and I look forward to a return visit soon!
Finally, look what I found lurking among the magazines in Sainsburys...
I haven't made anything from it yet (ok, correction...Dale hasn't made anything from it yet!!) but there are some great looking recipes. I'll wave it under Dale's nose and see what happens...who knows, I might even give one of them ago myself?!! Definitely worth a look,plus I always like to encourage companies who are producing good quality GF publications. Go and have a look before it sells out!
Have a good week everyone! x
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