Borough Market is loved by cooks, not just in London, but all over the world. There has been a market at Borough for over a thousand years and 16 million people now visit annually to find the very finest and freshest ingredients from traders who know their produce inside out.
The Borough Market Cookbook is the first ever official book from Borough Market. It offers over 100 delicious seasonal recipes inspired by a year at the Market. The dishes show why market shopping – whether at Borough or any of our other wonderful British markets – is the most enjoyable way to bring the best food and ingredients to your own table.
The book is written by award-winning food writer Ed Smith who is a regular contributor to Borough Market’s online and print magazine and has created delicious recipes from the produce on offer at the market. Here, he shares a recipe from the book.
Liquorice Root Panna Cotta
“The panna cotta can (and should) be made well in advance of when you’re planning to eat it as it needs at least eight hours to set. Serve it with a quickly roasted or gently stewed sharp fruit (which can be cooked and chilled in advance, too). In winter, rhubarb, blood orange or apples are perfect.” – Ed Smith
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 heaped teaspoon liquorice root powder or 3 liquorice root sticks (25g)
300ml double cream
200ml whole milk
60g golden caster sugar
2 gelatine sheets (3.5g)
THE BOROUGH MARKET COOKBOOK by Ed Smith. Hodder & Stoughton Publishers 2018.Method
You will need four 150ml dariole moulds, ramekins or tea cups. If using the whole liquorice root sticks, snap each stick into 3 or 4 pieces (or use a heavy knife to chop them).
Place the pieces of liquorice stick or the liquorice root powder into a small, heavy-based pan with half the cream and all the milk and sugar and gradually heat to almost boiling point, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat and let it simmer very gently for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat, leaving the liquorice root to infuse for 1 hour.
After that time gently reheat the infused cream. Put the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water and leave to ‘bloom’ for 3 minutes, then squeeze out the water and dissolve them in the warm cream. Remove the saucepan from the heat and strain its contents through a fine sieve into a heatproof jug.
Leave to cool to room temperature, with a little cling film or baking parchment pressed to the surface to prevent a skin forming.
Put the remaining cream in a mixing bowl and beat it with a balloon whisk until it just begins to ribbon and thicken (this will take only a few seconds because the volume is small). Pour the infused cream mix into the whipped cream, mix, then transfer back to the jug, using a silicone spatula to scrape out every last drop. Pour the mixture directly from the jug into the moulds, ramekins or tea cups. Cover with cling film or baking parchment and leave to chill and set in the fridge for at least 8 hours.
If you’ve used dariole moulds and you want to turn the panna cotta out onto a plate, you may need to briefly dip the moulds in hot water (or use a blowtorch!) to help release the panna cotta.
Recipes taken from THE BOROUGH MARKET COOKBOOK by Ed Smith,
published by Hodder & Stoughton £25.
