Andrew's tour of London Eating East Dulwich

Date Published:

31/10/2008

I spent a pleasant, if slightly nippy, afternoon in East Dulwich with food blogger, Helen Graves. She's one of the many people (myself included) who blog about things to do with food. Helen's blog centres on seasonal British cooking and features recipes of some of her favourite dishes and culinary creations

She started her site a year and a half ago because, in her own words: "I'd read quite a few blogs and thought, 'I can do that'." That's how most bloggers start I guess. "The most enjoyable part has been meeting other food bloggers at events," says Helen. London in particular has a large group of people who meet at events, launches and restaurants.

Like most of us Helen hasn't had any formal training in cooking, she's just picked things up and has shown a passion for it. I ask what the worst thing is she's ever made. "Well caramel is my nemesis; I've not made a successful one yet," she replies. On the flipside she's a dab hand at rabbit lasagne, which looks and sounds wonderful.

Hitting the street

"Lordship Lane and East Dulwich is a food heaven," says Helen. We hit the street for a mooch around and come to Franklyn's, which is a favourite. "It's a good, solid, neighbourhood restaurant," she adds. Other favourites include Persepolis, the Persian shop in Peckham, and La Cave a Fromage in Kensington, where Helen recently tried Lord of the Hundreds. It's an unpasturised sheep's milk cheese that's been described as fully matured with a dry, nutty flavour and an almost Parmesan-like hard texture. Some Googling later reveals this cheese to be one of the Queen's favourites.

Next to Franklyn's is their new farm shop, which as luck would have it, stocks Lord of the Hundreds. So, much to the bemusement of the sales girl, I order us two chunks to nibble on right there. It's not as hard as you'd think and much more creamy than Parmesan, much stronger tang to it too. We walk passed the huge queue at William Rose Butchers and on to the market for a sausage roll from Ashley at the Blackbird Bakery, then chat to a butcher before the cold takes its toll and we call it a day. My final question to Helen is: "What's your death row meal?" Quick as a flash she answers back: "Steak with a salsa verde sauce….mmmm." Almost worth dying for I reckon.

Try your hand at Helen's rabbit lasagne recipe

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