• About
  • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Press
  • Work With Me
  • Food Writing
    • Brands
    • Editorial
  • Recipe Index
  • In my kitchen
  • Contact Me

Feeding Boys & a FireFighter

Recipes & tips for filling bottomless pits

  • Home
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
    • Packed lunch
    • Soup
  • Dinner
    • One Pot
    • Quick
    • Meat
    • Fish
    • Vegetarian
    • Pasta
    • Sides
  • Sweet
    • Desserts
    • Bakes
    • Drinks
  • Preserves
  • Win
  • Review
    • Book review
    • Interviews
    • Product reviews
    • Restaurant review

West Ealing Farmers’ Market: The urban antidote

March 4, 2011 by Katie Bryson

Set back from the gritty pound-shops of Uxbridge Road, the bounties of West Ealing Farmers’ Market are an unexpected pleasure.

Every Saturday morning artisan food producers pile their stalls high with an eye-popping array of speciality meats, seafood, cheeses, freshly baked sourdoughs, pristine looking seasonal vegetables, fruit and flowers.

It’s a streak of colour in the greyest of surroundings, a spectacle that has been drawing a crowd of loyal followers for 10 years.

Market Manager and passionate vegetarian Rosie Pearce has been looking after proceedings since the market launched. “It’s special to have high quality produce like this in such an ordinary place. It’s become an integral part of the community,” she told me.

The regulars arrive on bike and foot, chatting easily with the traders while they cram their baskets and hessian totes with the finest produce. A far cry from the supermarket fodder just yards away.

There are deals to be done – it’s a lot cheaper than farmers’ markets in more solubrious parts of London, yet it’s the same high-end lovingly produced stuff and the atmosphere feels far more down to earth and chatty.

Pick of the crop

1. Grasmere Farm – Traditional Pork and Bacon

Alex was drawing people in from the damp streets cooking sausages, bacon, pork steak and onions on a griddle. Behing the counter there was traditionally cured ham and bacon, at least 15 different kinds of sausage to ruminate over, and huge slabs of pork belly.

Stallholder Mark said: “Cheaper cuts of meat like belly pork have been much more in demand in the past few months” as people tighten their belts but not their waistlines.

In my basket: Some herby Lincolnshire sausagemeat and big bag of bacon bits for under a fiver.

2. Ravens Den Hand-made pies

Traditional hand-made short-crust topped pies with great names like Fidget and Huntsman, crumble topped sweet pies and pasties – stripped of their Cornish title after the recent European Commission ruling.

In my basket: Crammed with tasty meat and chunky veg, the non-Cornish pasties I nabbed went down a treat for lunch.

3. Celestial Cakes

Sarah Rees’s cakes and cookies come in alluringly generous slices and are showcased in wanton piles on pretty plates and in vintage tins.

She operates out of the old bakery in Brentford which she’s restored back to its original purpose.

In my basket: A couple of fat cocoa-dusted chocolate brownies

4. Essex Grown – Fruit growers

Running a stall groaning under the weight of apples and pears, Malcom’s been in the business for 34 years at his rented Orchard in Essex. He proudly told me people queue around the block for his Victorial Plums come September.

In my basket: A kilo of perfect looking Cox apples – the difference in quality from supermarket apples was startling.

5. The Tomato Stall

Beautiful cherry, vine and roasted tomatoes and an array of pickles and sauces from the Arreton Valley on the Isle of Wight.

In my basket: I bagged myself some of their award-winning ketchup (Great Taste 2010 awards) – sweet, punchy and fabulous with my pasty!

6. Alham Wood Cheeses

Assortment of Buffalo products from Shepton Mallet in Somerset – stacks of organic and vegetarian-friendly cheeses, raw milk, yoghurts and meat.

Buffalo meat is very low in cholesterol, has a slightly sweet taste, and comes in all of the usual cuts as beef.

I was encouraged to sample all of the cheese from the creamy pillows of mozzarella to the sharper blue-style cheeses.

In my basket: A soft feta-style cheese

7. Exeter Street Bakery

Impressive selection of artisan breads: fine pugliese, ciabattas, stirato, integrale and rosemary bread. The flour they use in baking their bread is from the reputed Marriage Millers in Essex.

One very dedicated customer couldn’t wait to share his recommendations with me, and for that the guy behind the stall slipped him a free loaf of bread – that’s got to be better than clubcard points?!

In my basket: Walnut and raisin loaf – fabulous with a sharp blue cheese

My new resolution is to try and get down to the market most Saturdays and buy special food in for the weekend.

The stallholders change from week to week so I’m looking forward to sampling the next batch of goodies!

Producers all come from within 100 miles of the M25. They must raise, grow or bake everything they sell.

West Ealing Farmers’ Market

When: Every Saturday 9am-1pm
Where: Leeland Road, Ealing, London W13 9HH


Filed Under: Product reviews, Review Tagged With: buffalo, cheese, Farmers Market, Organic Produce, pork belly, sausages, sour dough, West Ealing

« Rhubarb and apple crumble cake
Guest post: Sausage and apple pastry bites »

Comments

  1. Rosemary Hamilton says

    March 4, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    What a lovely selection of stalls, you’ll need a basket on wheels to help carry all your purchases! Did you know that fidget pie originated in Shropshire?

    • Katie Bryson says

      March 4, 2011 at 3:15 pm

      Nice fact there mum! I quite fancy trying to make it…

  2. Aveen says

    March 5, 2011 at 11:13 am

    I just love the idea of wanton piles of cake 😀

    • Katie Bryson says

      March 5, 2011 at 5:55 pm

      hehehe me too – I just wanted to eat my way around it all!

  3. claire says

    March 7, 2011 at 5:39 pm

    sounds a bit like brixton farmers’ market – a really luscious cheery blot on a gritty, urban landscape.

    • Katie Bryson says

      March 7, 2011 at 6:10 pm

      Precisely!! I’m hooked!! I got some Venison steaks on my return visit and they were a triumph 🙂

  4. Anne says

    March 27, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    I live stones a throw from the market its the best thing to happen to West Ealing .
    Bargains galore every week and the stall holders know their produce .
    A question like “how do I cook this” will involve many suggestions of mouth watering recepies . My family are hooked on the thyme Sausages from Boarstall Meats they are just delishious.
    Thanks to the Farmers Market we have a little bit of heaven in an otherwise drab place.
    Anne Fabing

  5. Shu Han says

    April 28, 2011 at 10:33 pm

    I work with London farmers market, managing Pimlico market some Saturdays. Really happy to read this writeup about the market, and also having fun exploring your blog now!

    • Katie Bryson says

      April 29, 2011 at 6:49 am

      Glad you enjoyed the review – I’m a major fan of our farmers Market and have become ever so slightly addicted to it! Welcome to my blog 🙂

  6. ann says

    June 22, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    I live in Tennessee and can’t wait for my next trip to London and the West Ealing Farmer’s Mkt. My business is renting flats for clients and I’ll surely put this maket AND this blog in our next Farnum & Christ newsletter. This market looks like a gem!

    • Katie Bryson says

      June 25, 2011 at 6:36 am

      Wow Ann I’m sure you’ll get a warm welcome at the Market coming all that way! Have a great trip!

About Katie

I’m Katie Bryson – Freelance Food Writer, wife of a strapping vegetarian and mum of two boisterous boys – keeping them all fuelled and trying to stay sane is a daily challenge so I thought I’d share my experiences. Read More...

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

I’m Looking for…

Receive new posts + exclusive news by email

Pinterest Food Awards

Jam Masterclass for Total Beginners

Jam Masterclass for Total Beginners
The Feeding Boys kitchen helpers

Tips for cooking with kids

my foodgawker gallery
Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs
Foodies100
I'm a Netmums Influencer

Connect with me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

cookingkt

This is a giant @reesesuk birthday cake for my gia This is a giant @reesesuk birthday cake for my giant 15 year old son Arlo… pretty bloody pleased with myself!!!! Many thanks to @thebakingexplorer for a fabulous recipe… 🎂🥳🎉🎁🎈🎊 Now it’s time to celebrate!!!!!!
Bank holiday weekend complete. #fishnchips #jackru Bank holiday weekend complete. #fishnchips #jackrussellterrier #whitleybay
Just what I needed this morning… it doesn’t ma Just what I needed this morning… it doesn’t matter what shizzle is going on in my life, the beach is always there to soothe me. #whitleybaybeach #upwiththelarks #seatherapy🌊
Feta-stuffed peppers with colourful couscous from Feta-stuffed peppers with colourful couscous from the latest @slimmingworld magazine…. Smells amazing!!!! #slimmingworlduk #slimmingworldfood
Beautiful little book the audience were all given Beautiful little book the audience were all given at last night’s performance of #Here from @curious.monkey_ at @northern_stage. Such a powerful performance from the talented cast bringing together individual stories of what it means to seek sanctuary in the North East, the friendships that are forged and the spark of hope that refuses to be snuffed out. With the plight of refugees so visible right now,  the timing of this performance was impeccable. #RefugeesWelcome #togetherwithrefugees🧡 #StoryCollectors
Follow on Instagram

Receive new posts by email

  • About
  • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Press
  • Work With Me
  • Food Writing
    • Brands
    • Editorial
  • Recipe Index
  • In my kitchen
  • Contact Me

© 2010 - 2022 Katie Bryson | All Rights Reserved | Website by Callia Web