Great British Food

Great British Food is about as (in)famous as Great British weather. True to form, we are certainly getting plenty of the latter, it's been rain, rain and rain this week in London. On the food scene, the food has improved greatly over the past 10 years. I took a chance this trip to go for a quick walk round Borough market last week and saw what a huge variety of good quality produce can be bought in London now.  

I really love cheese, which is unusual for a Chinese, so my mouth was watering when I saw so many kinds, as well as all the different sausages, long and short, thick and thin.

Delicious cakes are another big difference from Chinese food. I used to eat very few sweet things, but have now developed a sweet tooth. Oh well, never mind, more gym training when I get back to Beijing. 

It was a big disappointment not to see any live fish (or fishermen) or fowl, such a big difference from my local market (see previous blog on local shopping). However, ostrich was something new for me, and also something I would see again in Capetown.

I was so happy to see Chinese influence had even got into French cooking! 

However, it seems Sri Lanka is ahead of China in marketing its tea.

Delicious home made biscuits, rather naughty I thought in more ways than one........

...or did I get the photo the wrong way round?

Finally some lovely chocolates for you to drool over. Which one do you like best? I think I can guess!

 

My Trip to London

Sorry for the long silence, but I'm travelling. I want to share with you some pics from London and later Capetown. I have seen friends and family, who are all well, but some affected by the recession, so it looks like I left at the right time when I went back to Beijing last year. It was good to see some of the old sights again and be reminded what an international city London is. Food of course is important to all Chinese, and I enjoyed a visit to Borough market where all sorts of food is available (pics next time).

Here I am enjoying a traditional home cooked meal: roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Chinese dinners may have many more courses but this meal was just as tasty and filling! No chopsticks and no Chinese tea!

I had to see Chinatown again of course. It's been newly paved over, and the 'pailou' or gateway is still there, but of course not as impressive as the 'real' ones in Beijing, such as near the Confucius Temple in Guozijian (see previous Ancient streets and Ancient scholars post). It was good to see Chinese characters on the street, and I thought maybe one day there might be a Londontown in Beijing with English street names. After all, there's already a Thamestown in Shanghai.

It was also good to see some fine old buildings, such as this local hospital, and Southwark Cathedral.

Despite the gloomy economy and weather, there will always be Xmas lights, such as these just lit up in Regent St, to cheer us up!