Gluten free living – the best of Greenwich and Borough Market
05/02/2013
Ever since I started posting about eating Gluten-Free and the awareness (or lack of) of Coeliac disease, I have been so shocked and a bit touched by the response. Don’t worry, I’ve not turned into a total drip on you, I’m not going to go into an Oscars style speech…I’d like to thank my body for mistaking gluten for a foreign body, therefore making it attack itself, therefore causing me a hell of a lot of pain…too much? too much!
No, I’m not on here to preach, but after getting such lovely comments recently about raising awareness of having to eat gluten-free and helping other coeliacs to discover restaurants, markets etc. I’m kind of making it my personal mission to find as many – and the best – eating outlets and options available to us. Because if these sort of posts can help at least one person, then my mission is complete. And obviously it has nothing to do with the fact that I’m an absolute pig who will look for any excuse to eat the most amazing food I can find. Nothing at all…
I mentioned my love of markets in a previous post here and more specifically Greenwich and Borough markets. I also mentioned that there were a few great gluten free stalls with food’s that you don’t see very often. I’ve eaten from these stalls countless times, but unfortunately forgot to take pictures so, for the sake of the blog, and my readers, I dragged myself back there to buy them again…purely to take pictures though. Obviously!
Look and drool!
First stop, Greenwich market. First up, buckwheat galettes…
Despite the slightly suspicious name, buckwheat is a gluten-free grain made to use these ‘galettes’. They remind me of ‘wheatier’ (100% not an actual word) tortilla wrap, and not only are they nice, but the texture is a novelty to someone who hasn’t eaten a wrap for 3years. The stall is called Maison Crepes, and you can see that the galettes were cooked on a hot plate/stove/cooker kind of thing (this sentence clearly proves I never venture near the kitchen. Domestic goddess I certainly am not!) but what I liked is that the gluten-free galettes were cooked and kept completely separate from the ‘non gluten-free’ crepes, keeping cross-contamination risks to an absolute minimum! Cheese, mushroom, spinach and egg later…and you’ve got yourself a winner!
Next up, and my personal favourite, Mini dutch dippers. I hate this word as much as I hate my awkward, ungainly outfit post poses, but oh my god….nom!!
‘Mini dutch dippers’ are basically mini pancakes, made from organic, naturally gluten-free rice flour. These are some of the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted. Bold statement, I know! You can get 8 or 12 a portion (I won’t say how many I went for because that’s pretty embarrassing but what I will say is I am practically a beast when it comes to food. Say no more.) Anyway, the pancakes come with a number of toppings. I would list them all but, in all a honesty I’m a lazy bitch cow, and also happened to find a brilliant picture of their ‘toppings board’ so…kill 2 birds with one stone and all that jazz!
I went for the nutella. I am a chocolate and hazelnut fiend so there was absolutely no other option in my book. I then added strawberry’s and banana’s. Strawberry’s and banana’s are fruit and nutella contains hazelnuts, so really, I’ve got myself a healthy snack there. With that philosophy, it really is a wonder how on earth I am not 50stone!
Poor picture, courtesy of my blackberry!
Special mention (check me out, thinking I’m some kind of DJ) goes to Ruby Tuesdays Bakery who also do a wide variety of cookies, loafs, muffins etc. I tried a cake of theirs a while ago which was so tasty, but… a) they don’t do it anymore and b) I can’t remember what it was called, and I don’t have pictures. I am a disgrace to the world of blogging!
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Next up is a trip to Borough Market (figuratively speaking, of course!) As I mentioned before, Borough Market is an absolute haven of cheeses, meats, seafood, fruit and veg and basically the best of locally sourced – as well as all over the world – food. In terms of what’s available for coeliacs/gluten-free eaters at Borough Market, they have an amazing stall named Sugargrain which sells a variety of sweet and savoury treats. Banana and chocolate chip loafs, red velvet cupcakes, brownies, savoury tarts and muffins…you name it, they have it! I won’t ramble on any longer because believe me – and I’m pretty sure if you’re a regular reader you will – I can waffle on for a long time, especially when it comes to food. So I’ll leave you a few pictures and of course, my top picks and opinions. (Again – for the 1000th time – I am no food critic. Just a girl, who eats a lot, and tells you all what I think after. Please feel free to completely ignore me and go and make your opinions…I’m sure you will 😉 )
This loaf has apparently won all sorts of GF awards. Unfortunately by the time I saw it I’d already eaten a horse (obviously had just shopped at Tesco, too soon for horse burger jokes? Sincere apologies)….but I will definitely be picking this up next time. I have been told that it is amazing toasted too. Well, it would be rude not try it then wouldn’t it? Exactly what I thought…
Cheese cake is one of my all time favourite deserts, this, as well as the cupcakes below, are also added to my ‘Let’s make the most of my fast metabolism and eat like a an absolute beast while I can’ list.
I – obviously from the cheesy ‘I’ll include the business card to make it look more profesh’ picture below – went for the savoury Butternut Squash and Feta Cheese tart. Oh em gee (another ‘kill me now’ phrase added to my ever growing list) I love butternut squash – like really love butternut squash – and feta so this was a no-brainer for me anyway. The filo pastry had a great texture, just the right amount of crispy, crumbliness…without actually falling apart. I ate this cold as I was a greedy pig who couldn’t bear waiting but I’d imagine this is even better hot. I’ve also had the goats cheese and caramelised onion tart but this one was definitely my favourite!

Knife and fork? Erm…I’m a pick it up and dive in kind of girl if I’m honest!
And last but not least, was a trip over to Flaxjacks a stall dedicated to flapjacks. Funny that, you’d never guess from the name would you? Anyway, the flapjacks are made from freshly ground linseed meal, which is full of omega 3 and fibre which is extremely good for you…an added bonus. (That sentence actually made me sound half intelligent/like I know what I’m talking about didn’t it? 3 words…copy.and.paste! Ha.
All the flapjacks are wheat free but they also have some gluten-free options made out quinoa and linseed too. This sounded intriguing to me, so I bought one. I am such an advertisers dream. I went for the Vanilla flapjack and I have to say – despite preconceived judgement – I really enjoyed it. They’re definitely…hard. Don’t be immature 😉 What was I saying? Oh, hard. Yes, they’re pretty solid, in fact I’d go as far to say that if you’re ever being mugged (god forbid that situation never arises) and you haven’t got a spare kosh, brick [insert dangerous weapon here] wack out your flaxjacks, and go straight for their heads. Concussion for days I’m telling you. So yeah, before I ramble into March, they tasted lovely, slightly nutty due to the quinoa and definitely harder than your average flapjack, but hey…it didn’t make me sick! (High standards, high standards)
So there is my ‘Best of Gluten-Free at Greenwich and Borough Market’ (longest title ever) I really hope this is helpful to any coeliac, gluten-free eaters out there. I’d absolutely love to know if any of you have tried any of the above, or have any recommendations. I am all ears!
And to those of you who couldn’t care less about any of what I’ve just spoke about (I’d say there’s probably a fair few) I hope you enjoyed my dry banter, poor photography and shocking attempts to be serious when it comes to food.
Oh my gosh! thias would be my heaven on earth! I am gluten and wheat intolerant! meeting other gluten free friends makes my day!! such a awesome post! http://obsidiansouldreamcatchers.blogspot.com
Completely get you, this is my heaven on earth Jennifer! Ahh I so understand how you feel, I love meeting other GF eaters too, finger crossed you get to check out the markets if you're ever over this way!
The Buckwheat pancakes from Greenwich market are really good, the mixture is just flour and water, no egg. The chef made a batch of batter and explained the process whilst I scoffed a Nutella & Banana one.
Oh my gosh! I came across your website while googling stuff about Borough Market! I'm Dutch and traditionally you should have eaten dippers with powdered sugar. We are going to London next year and it's like a glutenfree paradise. We're so jealous!
Hey elle, em from GFMboard here. I love this post, you do GF so well.I need to take a trip to those places soon!!! Em x
Hi Em, thanks so much. You should definitely take a trip down to one of them, makes a nice change from the usual GF brownies that EVERY cafe does!
xx
Wow all this food looks so amazing!!!
xo
girlintheyellowdress.com
Thanks Caroline, considering how shocking my photography skills are, I'm pleased you think so ha!
xx
OMG, crepes and nutella, that's all I need to be happy! Ahahah.
xx MJ
http://shopaholic-thoughts.blogspot.pt/
Ditto!! 😉
xx
Oh my gosh! thias would be my heaven on earth! I am gluten and wheat intolerant! meeting other gluten free friends makes my day!!
such a awesome post! http://obsidiansouldreamcatchers.blogspot.com
Completely get you, this is my heaven on earth Jennifer! Ahh I so understand how you feel, I love meeting other GF eaters too, finger crossed you get to check out the markets if you're ever over this way!
xx
The Buckwheat pancakes from Greenwich market are really good, the mixture is just flour and water, no egg. The chef made a batch of batter and explained the process whilst I scoffed a Nutella & Banana one.
Hey Sara,
I had a good chat with the owner of the stall too. No egg in the galette wrap itself but most of the combo's have egg in them. Lovely!
Nutella and banana is hands down one of the best combo's know to mankind! ha.
xx
Wow! amazing! going to England(London) with a friend who's allergic to gluten.This one helps a lot! We'll propably be going to all these places!
Oh my gosh! I came across your website while googling stuff about Borough Market! I'm Dutch and traditionally you should have eaten dippers with powdered sugar. We are going to London next year and it's like a glutenfree paradise. We're so jealous!