Sunday 1 July 2012

Gluten Free @ Whitecross Street Market

Whitecross Street Market sits in the heart of Central London by the Barbican and easy walking distance from Farringdon and Shoreditch, to name but two of the local ‘hotspots’. There is weekly specialist food market, which runs every Thursday and Friday. Strolling down the street, strolling being the only option as its packed at lunchtime, you will pass stalls offering food from all around the world. Its seems to me that from most stalls you can get a decent lunch for around a fiver and you’ll need to queue.

I was delighted to find a stall that was specifically gluten free! Selling ‘French Speciality Galettes’. This I discovered was a large thin buckwheat flour pancake, generally a larger, savoury and gluten free version of the infamous crepe.

I choose a Toulouse Sausage and grated Emmental cheese galette, which on its own was £4.50, for an extra 50p you can add salad, and why wouldn’t you?! So I had the tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms thrown in as well.
Let me tell you, it was delicious. A lovely gluten free lunch for £5 in Central London - fantastic. My first galette, and a high standard has been set.

The galettes are assembled on demand, so they are lovely and fresh for your consuming pleasure. There were several filling options, including vegetarian versions, but the Toulouse Sausage turned out to be a excellent choice, hearty full of flavour. I use buckwheat flour a fair amount in my own baking as I like the flavour and the texture and I was impressed by the superbly thin galette. It also remind me a little of a thin version of Ethiopian Injera. 

I was pleased at the time not to have to queue to get my lunch, but in hindsight disappointed not to have to queue - more people should be eating this delicious food! It wasn’t uncommon to see queue 10 hungry people deep, why not here too? I am not sure how long the stall has been there and unfortunately the stall didn’t have a name. I wasn’t brave enough for a friendly chat on my first visit. But I hope they will be there for some time, and I hope to find out more about them in the future.

What the galette lacks in beauty it makes up for in taste! 

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