fruit and veg, pickled eggs, and shoppers (hi Mum!) in Sarf London

Maybe it was because I’d been deprived of Real Bacon for over a year (don’t start - it’s a cultural thing), but I may have met the love of my life while I was in London. Ladies and gentleman, allow me to introduce sandwich perfection:

the chef d’oeuvre of Maria’s Cafe: liver, bacon, onions, rocket and mustard on a bap

When the lady working the flat top asked me if I wanted onions, she fixed me with a look that would have made Vinnie Jones stand up straight. I said “yes, please”, and added an “of course”, at which point she smiled and proceeded to chat with my mum about god-knows-what for the next ten minutes while I wolfed down this piece of culinary perfection. Dazed and delighted, I went on to buy Arbroath smokies, black and white pudding (see after the jump), some Real Bacon, and … I dunno, there were probably some vegetables in there too.

Click through for pictures of Henderson’s Butchers, but be warned that they are Not Safe For Vegetarians:

wild Lakeland rabbit hanging

award-winning black pudding, white pudding, haggis, stuffed chicken breasts and other delights

whole rabbit and venison loins

The color of the meat on display at Henderson’s is nothing less than a masterclass. The next time you find yourself in a butcher’s that offers rabbit and venison, first call me and tell me where it is because I’m always on the lookout for good game, and secondly take a closer look. I’ve never seen wild rabbit in a commercial butcher in the US, only the white flabby farmed stuff which looks like…well… chicken. I don’t care if it’s organic: real rabbit meat should be super lean, muscular, and dark pink/red, and venison should be almost the color of blackberries. The venison in this display case is farmed in Britain, but the methods used are about as hands-off as you can get. Most importantly, the meat is allowed to hang and therefore dry-age. In other news, I may finally, after years of asking butchers on both sides of the atlantic, have a lead on why bacon back home is so totally different from bacon here. Stand by for future announcements once I’ve had a chance to run this hunch to ground.