Borough Market tour

Last week I went with the HWC to Borough Market. As with everything here in London, it has a long and wonderful history dating back to Roman times. It's only open to the public on Friday afternoons and Saturday all day (the rest of the time it's for wholesalers only).
The market sells great fresh foods, made mostly by small vendors (or more like artisans) who allow you to taste before you buy. In the complicated world of olive oils and balsamic vinegars, this really came in handy.
I wasn't really sure what I was going to buy while there, but my purchases seemed to dictate the theme to that night's dinner. It started off with the oil and vinegar (which I needed anyway for salads), but when I saw those lovely ripe beefsteak tomatoes, I knew that I had to make a caprese salad. The bufala mozzerela looked grand and the avocados were the largest I've seen in London yet. So for the main course, I had a butcher in the market slice me some lovely veal and with a mix of fresh and wild mushrooms for the sauce, I was set for an extravaganza deluxe! (The only thing missing was fresh pasta, so I had to make do with some old spinach fettucine in my cupboard.)
Because I was with the HWC, they had planned it as a guided tour and we were able to stop into some pre-arranged places for tastings. First stop was Neal's Yard Dairy, where we tasted several cheeses and saw the massive wall o' cheese. I didn't buy anything there, but I picked up a fabulous Italian wine at Bedales and picked up some snack food (dried broad beans) at Brindisa, the Spanish delicatessan.

All in all a great day out, and I'm looking forward to more of these in the future.