Latest / UK Travel Planning / London Food Tours: Borough Market, Historic Pubs and the Best of British Cuisine

Transcript

London Food Tours: Borough Market, Historic Pubs and the Best of British Cuisine · UK Travel Planning

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, tracey Collins.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: In this podcast, tracey shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Hi and welcome to episode 91 of the UK Travel Plan and Podcast.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: This week I have the pleasure of talking to Charlie Bennett, who I'm sure many of you will remember from episode 84, is the Ground Operations Manager for Walks Tours in London.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Now, Charlie isn't here today to talk about Walks Tours, she's actually going to talk about Devour Tours.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Now, I don't know about you, but I love trying food in new destinations and there's no reason when you go to London why you shouldn't try some of the traditional British foods.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Now, DeVar Tours describes themselves as a tour company that connects you with vibrant local culture and every delicious destination.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Now, Doug and I have enjoyed tours with DeVar in both Paris and London and I have to say we have enjoyed them immensely.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Now I have done two tours in London with them.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: I have done their Tastes, Tales and Traditional Ales, a food tour of London's historic pubs, and I've also done their Ultimate London Food Tour of Borough Market and Southwark Absolutely loved them.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Now, if you if you already are thinking I'm not sure about British food, I don't know if I want to try it.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: You know what?
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Book yourself on one of these tours.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: You will absolutely love it.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: So Doug came and did the Borough Market Tour with me just before Christmas, and last summer I did both the pub tour, which was amazing with my friend Terry and the Borough Market Tour as well.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: So anyway, without further ado, I'm going to let Charlie introduce herself and we're going to talk about all things food and all things Devour Tours today.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: So, for those people who haven't listened to episode 84, which, believe me, after this episode, Charlie, they'll be rushing back to listen to episode 84 because you were so amazing on that one and I know you're going to be amazing today so would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners to episode 84, because you were so amazing on that one and I know you're going to be amazing today.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: So would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners and tell us a little bit about your background?
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, sure, thank you for having me again, tracey.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: It was a pleasure last time and, yeah, I hope that we do reach out to a good amount of your listeners.
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: So my name is Charlie Bennett.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: I'm the ground operations manager for Walks in London and also for Devour Food Tours.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: I started with the company back in July 2022.
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: And previous to that, I sort of got the travel bug at a very early age and was actually a professional dancer for 18 years, traveling around the world on cruise ships.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: So I got a taste of what there is out there and what to explore and really got interested in the local cultures and history of each individual place.
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: And then, once my body decided to give up on me, I moved on and realized that I still needed something that was a little bit sort of in the performance way, but also being able to show my country off the UK.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: So I was a tour guide around the UK on a small cruise line for three and a half years, showing off some very unique hidden gems that we have here on our beautiful island.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: And then I became a program services manager.
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: So I was hiring and training tour guides to do the same job I was doing and then became a manager, so I oversaw the quality development of tours and training of guides.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: Covid hit, unfortunately, so the company moved their offices from London up to Glasgow, so from the Southeast.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: That was a mighty fine trek.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: So from the southeast.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: That was a mighty fine trek so I had to rethink and look for something sort of closer to home and Walks and Devour came up and it's been the best two and a half years with this company.
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: They really treat you like a family and that's what we try and portray in our tours as well.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: You know, we want everyone to feel that they are one big part of the Tate Walk and of our family.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Well, I know anybody that you know our listeners will know that I love walks tours and I love doing the walks tours when I'm in London.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: It's always an absolute joy and a treat to do.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: And I know in episode 84, we talked a lot about the walks tours and I'm always talking about how much I love the Ceremony of the Keys, for example.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: Honestly, I think that'll go down in history how much I absolutely love that tour in particular.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: I mean I love all of them, but I just adore that.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: And we talked a lot about walks tours and why they are so special.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Now I have been very lucky to also do some Devour Food tours as well, and I've done some in Paris and I've done some in London.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: So this episode obviously we're going to focus on the London tours, which I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed as well.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: When I get to London, I kind of go okay, yes, I know where the best sausage rolls are, or I know where the best pork pies are, which I've learned from the Devour tours actually.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: So what is so special about Devour and what makes tours with Devour so special and unique?
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Because you know we're talking about quite a competitive market, so why should people book with Devour tours?
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: Well, first of all, devour started 12 years ago in Madrid, actually, and the founder, lauren Aloise.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: She wanted to take more of a deeper dive into sort of the vibrant food cultures and wanted to find a way that we can help and support the cities and the smaller businesses around the world.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: So the name Devour itself actually comes from when you think of devouring food or devouring history and literature, devouring the culture.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: So it was a perfect name for the tours in itself, especially as we sort of go far beyond just food.
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: We try and take you into the heart of the culture, the history and the people behind the places that we visit, the tours themselves.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: We partner with a lot of small vendors and a lot of family-run vendors and they not only share their gastronomic work with us but they also want to share their stories and their expertise to all our guests who are just as curious as we are, even though we live here.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: We offer very unforgettable food experiences and wherever we go, you can always see that the food is made with pride and passion and love by all the local peoples.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: So when you look at our name, devour, and you look at the symbol symbol the symbol actually takes us back to the beginning of where it all started, in Madrid, and it's the symbol of the tickets that people used to have to pull in the market to wait in line to get their wares.
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: So it's now extended and we're over in 13 different cities now all over the world and we try and offer high quality small group tours.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: So the group size is no more than 12 people and you think of London and you look around and it really is a food lovers labyrinth.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: Here in London there's 32 different boroughs, there's 16,000 restaurants, 3,500 pubs and we've got cuisines that are spanning the entire globe.
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: So we really want to try and show you all the different cultures and the two tours we have.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: At the moment we really focus on British cuisine.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: And I've thoroughly enjoyed both of those tours and actually something that you just mentioned there, charlie, as well, what makes it even more special, as well as the food because the food is great is to learn the history behind some of the foods as well, and also the history behind the area, for example, borough Market, and I've learned so much more from the guides.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: So it's not as you say, it's not just the food.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: You devour the food, but you also devour the culture and the history as you go around too 100%, and you know we've never really had a very good reputation in Britain for our food.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: But there was one quote which I love from Nigel Slater, who's a very famous English food writer and journalist, and he says British food is a celebration of comfort eating.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: Our traditional recipes are all about warmth and sustenance, a roll call of sweet jollity, and our cakes are deep and cosy and really that sums up exactly what we're trying to portray in our food tours here in London.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: We want to take you on a journey through British cuisine, but in an area that is really thriving but home to family run stalls and areas that are steeped in history.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: Burrow Market goes back thousands of years in history.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: It used to be a big wholesale market that sort of helped out all the greengrocers in the area, whereas now it's a charitable trust that is there for the benefit of the community and its visitors.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: So we visit different family run businesses around the exterior of the market and you really just get that buzz as soon as you step down there.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Shall we talk a little bit more in detail, actually, about the different tours.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: I'm sure if you're listening to this podcast right now, you'll be thinking, oh, this sounds like something I want to do when I go to London.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about the two different tours.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: I would recommend doing both of them.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: I love both of them.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: Which one do you want to start with, charlie?
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: Well, we can start with Barrow Market, as we were talking about it already.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: We start at the top of London Bridge and we talk about the history of London Bridge, the history of the Thames and how the market actually began.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: It was a tiny, tiny little market, all just with the fish coming through the Thames, all the oyster shells all across the floor, and it's now grown into this thriving hub of a community.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: So our first stop we're going to a family-run business that's been there since 1999, called Brood.
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: It's a family of restaurateurs, cooks and food lovers and they really try and inspire their diners through their worldwide travel inspirations and twists on the classics.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: So we start off with a bacon and egg sandwich.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: But the twist on this this is an English, british staple.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: We can't go a day without starting the day with a bacon and egg sandwich Best way.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: And they actually put the twist and put it in a chia batter roll.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: Normally we would just have it in a white bap or a slice of bread, but they use the Italian influence and put it in chia batter and I have to to say it's one of the most amazing bacon and egg sandwiches I have ever tried.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: It's delicious, absolutely delicious, and and I actually had a lot of fun when I had it as well, because I like to, because I'm.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: So I'm from the north of England, so I have to have my brown sauce on, so I had to explain.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: I had to explain because, also, there's tomato ketchup and there's brown sauce.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Well, I have to have my brown sauce on.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: It's kind of the law for me baking a sandwich, I still have brown sauce.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: So that was really interesting, actually, with the other guests who were on the tour as well, trying out the different condiments that were put on the sandwich and kind of you know, seeing the reactions to what.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: Something which is totally normal for me but it's something totally new for somebody else, you know exactly, exactly.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: And I'm from the south and I still like brown sauce.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: I still don't, I can't do the red sauce.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: I always associate it as a northern thing, and I don't know.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: You know what?
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: I think somebody told me that years ago.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Oh, you're from the north, that's why you like your brown sauce, and it's always just stuck in my head.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Oh well, I have to have brown sauce, you know.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: But I'm glad to hear that you also like it, charlie.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: Oh, 100%, 100%.
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: Um, the next stop.
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: We are going to test your taste buds.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: I think this is this is what a stop that you either love it or hate it.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: I think it's a little bit like Marmite, but all we say is give it a go.
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: We are stopping at Richard Horwood's Oysters now.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: This is another family-run business that's been spanning eight generations, so the whole family over this time have been doing oyster cultivation and farming and they really do bring in the freshest oysters.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: They're just off a little island called Mersey Island and we're going to try small rock oysters.
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: So they're not the big ones, so don't panic that they're too big.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: But we also have some beautiful vinaigrette that we put on it, so it takes away from that real saltiness.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: But oysters they used to be a staple in the area, so it was all that they used to be able to get from fishmongers, and you would literally see the streets lined with all these oyster shells, so it was the only thing that they were really eating.
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: Um, and this is is a delicacy, it really is.
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: So it's definitely one to try and it puts a few people off, but all I can say is give it a go.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: You can only try it once, and if you don't like it, you know absolutely, and you know it's interesting to find out about, because obviously you think about london and oyster card and the fact that oysters were eaten by the poor people and actually looked down upon by the wealthy people and now it's kind of the opposite way around is like if you've got money, you eat oysters because they're pretty expensive, pricey food.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: So that that was interesting again.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: That's why I say that you learn in the history as well as you go around on this tour, which is great 100%, and I mean oysters, now the wealthy that eat them.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: It's quite incredible when you think back to how it was.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: Our next stop is literally just down the road from the oysters and it's a place called Ginger Pig and it's an incredible butchers.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: They were actually the first traders in the market back in the 1990s and they have a butchery school there and they actually work with so many different suppliers, so it's not just one producer, not one supplier, because they want to try and support all these different producers and bring the best quality and produce to the market and to their stores.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: So here we are going to try as you mentioned earlier, Tracy, we are going to try one of the best sausage rolls I think I have ever eaten.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: Now, the sausage roll.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: They do say it came from France.
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: The British will say it came from Britain.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: It's wonderful sausage meat that is just packed with herbs and flavour, wrapped in puff pastry, and it's a real staple here in Britain that we have in the pubs.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: Every time we go for a pub, we need a snack, we have a sausage roll.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: So it's a really good way for you to see exactly what we like for our snacks on the go here in Britain.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: The next stop is, in fact, the most Instagram on the go here in Britain.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: The next stop is, in fact, the most Instagrammable dessert place in London and this is Humble Crumble.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: It all started by a lady who, in the winter, went to a market and wanted something sweet, but all she could get was ice cream.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: And she stood there and she thought what can I have that will keep me warm in the winter?
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: And she thought the favourite British dessert crumble.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: Now, but these aren't any ordinary crumbles.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: These are any flavours you can think of.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: We can have apple, you could have rhubarb, you could have blackberry anything that's in season they will have.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: But all their toppings are different.
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to spoil it, because it's an incredible, incredible thing to see when you actually get handed this dessert.
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: Normally it is crumble.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: It's a bit of fruit heated up and sweated off, with a bit of crumble on the top so that you can use nuts or you can use shortcrust pastry, and then it's normally served with custard.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: But I shall let you join our tour and then you will see exactly what is on top of these incredible desserts?
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: But this is one of my favourite stops on this tour.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: I'm going to second that, because I'm actually not a crumble fan.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Ok, so I was kind of a bit.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: I love humble crumbles.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: They're delicious, delicious and the little twist.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: You have to go and find out exactly what Charlie means.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: But um, delicious, that's all I'm gonna say um.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: The next stop is a staple in the UK.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: We call it fish Friday a lot of the times, but we cannot go one week without having the staple of fish and chips here in the UK.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: So we are going to Fish Kitchen, which is a family owned business, and they've been established since 1999.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: And they actually have their own fishmongers as well.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: But the fish they use in the market is actually sourced from the market itself, which makes this a wonderful place to visit because they're supporting each other in the markets.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: Again, this is probably one of the most Instagrammed fish and chips stops in the UK, and the reason fish and chips became such a staple was because during the Blitz, that was all the rations that they could get.
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: All they could get was fish and all they could get was potatoes.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: So that's how the glorified fish and chips came to hand.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: So don't panic, you're not going to have a whole, whole fish, because we've got lots of food to taste, but you do get a lovely size taster of the fish, normally haddock and some chips, and then you can have your own condiments.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: Some people like salt and vinegar on the chips, some like red sauce, some like tartar sauce.
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: It's completely up to you, so we'll let you choose on the day.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: And the last place.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: The last place is actually my favorite.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: It's just off the market and it's a little pub called Mug House and it's hidden away.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: If you were just wondering you wouldn't find it.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: And it's a wonderful family-owned bar called Davies.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: And they've got bars all over London, but this one to me, has the most special character and charm.
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: So all around the bar they've got antique curiosities and historic wine artifacts which have been collected over decades.
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: It's such a cozy atmosphere and after the hustle and bustle of being in the market it really takes you miles away.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: You feel like you're just miles away from it all.
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: And in here we're going to finish with a lovely cheese board to share which really features some different British cheeses.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: We're also going to try another classic British dessert sticky toffee pudding.
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: This is one of my favourites.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: It's just like a sponge pudding soaked with dates and sticky toffee and normally served with custard.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: But I think a lot of places now do it with cream or clotted cream, which, as a Southerner, we love our custard.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: It has to be sticky toffee and custard, but as a northerner, it has to be custard charlie exactly, but the clotted cream is beautiful.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: Oh yes, and not only that, we're actually going to finish you off with a little tipple.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: So this is going to be madeira port and and this was imported by the Davies family over generations.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: So we'll have a little talk by Ollie or one of the staff on Madeira Port and the history behind it.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: So it's a wonderful way to finish off in a beautifully characterised little pub hidden away under the tunnels of the Southwark Cathedral.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: It's actually lovely because you've done a lot of walking, you've eaten quite a lot of food, so it's actually nice to sit down, enjoy your cheese, enjoy your sticky toffee pudding, have a nice glass of port which I absolutely love and then just kind of relax a bit and you can actually stay on there if you want to, actually after the tour as well.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: And I'm just going to give a big shout out for our guide, pete, who took us before Christmas.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: He was fantastic, so Londoner born and bred, and the stories he told were amazing.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: He was just fantastic.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: And I've got a lovely photo of myself and Pete that I will put in the show notes.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: Fabulous, oh.
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: He'll be thrilled with that, and he is he's a fabulous guide and, like you said, born and bred Londoner.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: Who else is he's a fabulous guide?
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: And, like you said, born and bred Londoner, who else is better to take you around and give you all the stories and the insights into the area?
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: absolutely he was great.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Honestly he he was just such a good storyteller and we had such a lot of fun on that tour.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: So it was, it was brilliant.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: I really enjoyed it.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: And now we're going to talk about the other tour that I took my friend Terry on and she is still talking about and still telling her friends about this tour because we again it was last summer, it was in June, and we just loved it, absolutely loved it, and I can never forget the scotch egg that I didn't know about and the history behind them.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: And actually also meeting locals, because we were sitting in the pub and so many of the local lenders were having a chat and asking where everybody was from and it just was great, really really good atmosphere.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: That was a brilliant, brilliant tour.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: So tell us a little bit more about this tour, charlie.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: Our London Pubs and Pints tour.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: So it's Taste Tales and Traditional Ales and hopefully the title gives you that insight to exactly what you're going to be having on the tour Some tastings, some tales and of course you're going to be trying some traditional London ales as well.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: So we're heading into the heart of London, the city of London, the financial area, which you think.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Why are we going over there?
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: But I can tell you something the city of London has some of the most incredible history and pubs have always been the heart of London.
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: So one of the pubs we visit you know it got destroyed in the fire of London, but it was the first thing that was rebuilt.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: So we know that the Londoners have the right idea in what to build first.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: So the reason we're heading into this area is this area itself actually holds the most historic pubs in London and we're going to be trying some classic pub snacks and traditional London ales.
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: So you think of pub snacks and you think of your sausage roll, your scotch egg, your pork pie.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: These are traditional things that a lot of the office workers, as soon as they finish work in the City of London, they'll go to the pub.
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: At the end they'll have an ale and they'll have a snack before they go home.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: So we're going to be walking in footsteps of all the office workers that you see hustling and bustling around in the city.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: We're going to be stepping in the footsteps of literary greats, and we will literally be playing a pub game that dates back to the 15th century as well.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: So we're starting off in a pub called the Old Mitre, and this dates back to 1546.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: It's one of the most hidden pubs in London.
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: If you're walking down the street, you would not find this place.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: It is a very, very small pub.
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: In here we're going to be trying some traditional London pride.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: Now, london pride is brewed just out in Fulham, and this ale dates back to 1845.
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: So we're really taking you back to the beginning of where everything started, and we're also going to be trying a favourite pub snack of mine this is one of my favourites which is the pork pie.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: Now, the pork pie dates back to medieval times and was at the start.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: The pastry wasn't eaten, it was just holding the meat.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: But over time it's been developed and now you can indulge in the whole thing and you have it with branston pickle.
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: You could even have it with brown sauce, if you fancy.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: My husband does um, but it is a beautiful pub snack, so what a way to start the tour.
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: We then head to the Old Bell, and this was built in the 17th century by Sir Christopher Wren, and it was actually built to house his stonemasons whilst they were building the churches, such as St Bride's Church, which is exactly right behind the pub.
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: Here we're going to be tasting the classic fish and chips, but in a slightly different way.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: They're going to be fish goujons, so the little fish sticks and some chips on the side.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: There we're also going to be tasting the Old Rosie cider.
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: Now, this isn't ale, this is cider, but this stems from the history of the South, really, where we're just covered in orchards down here and it was actually named after a steamroller that they had at the orchards, called Old Rosie, and the reasoning for it was because this steamroller was always strong, reliable and loved by everyone, so they named their cider Old Rosie Cider, and it's one of the most favourite ciders amongst a lot of the generations who have grown up in London.
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: We're then going to the Cheshire Cheese.
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: Now, this is the pub that I mentioned was rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire and it was the first property in the area to be rebuilt.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: So, as I said, londoners really did have their priorities right when they rebuilt the pub first.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: This pub is something quite incredible.
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: As you step in it just it looks so small, it looks tiny.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: But you just go down and down and down further into the cellars and you can really feel that medieval feel to this building.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: Sometimes they've actually got sawdust down the stairs to give it even that older feel.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: And we're going to be sitting in areas that people like Mark Twain, charles Dickens, arthur Conan Doyle have sat and read and written their books.
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: So here we're going to be having again.
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: This is possibly one that will test you, but it's whitebait and they're little herring sprats and this was the most common food in the area from 1612, as they used to catch these down at the lower river Thames.
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: Back then it was actually very much a high society dish, so very different from the oysters, went from poor to the wealthy.
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: This is complete opposite.
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: This was wealthy and now it's gone further down to sort of the middle class, the lower class, that eat them, and it was actually Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger who popularised this as a whitebait dinner.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: So we're going to be trying them and they've got a little coating on them.
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: They've got deep fried and you just dip them in the mayonnaise and you can try them.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: So the reason Charlie's laughing is because I'm kind of making faces because I really don't like them.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: I really don't.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: I kind of struggle with the whitebait.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: I was like no, I was the one thing.
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: I was like I don't think I can try those, but this is what these free tours are about.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: You know, give it a go if you don't like them.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: Now you know exactly exactly.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: I was like no, no, no, I can't do that.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I'll have some more of the rosy cider, thank you that's fine.
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: So with that you'll actually get stout, because stout goes very, very well with with whitebait and it's stout is the darkest beer that you can get.
• 26:21
  Speaker 3: The darkest ale.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: They have different ones on tap each time but most of them are brewed up in North England and a lot of them that they use at the Cheshire Cheese is Sam Smith beer, which he actually owns a lot of the historic pubs in London and stout can be quite bitter.
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: But again, this is all about trying.
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: You don't have to meditate, you can just try.
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: Now the last place we're going, we're going to the Ye Olde Cock and this dates back to the 1880s.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: Where it stands now.
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: There used to be another old cock tavern on the opposite side but that had to be demolished to make way for the Bank of England.
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: So they moved it onto the opposite side of the road in the 1880s and this pub has one of the narrowest frontages in London.
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: But don't let that be deceiving, because as you walk in it is quite vast and beautiful and here we could be trying Tracy's favourite, the scotch eggs.
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: Scotch eggs are a proper portable snack, but these just go beyond nice.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: They're delicious.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: They are actually out of all of the foods that I tried.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: I love the humble crumble when it's about sweets, but these scotch eggs are on another planet, they're on another realm, honestly, because I remember trying it and every single one of us on that tour like, wow, these are.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: And I mean I've had lots, I've eaten lots of scotch eggs in my life, but they are just fabulous, fantastic they are good.
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: and did you know?
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: The scotch egg actually came from the 18th century higher classes?
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: They needed something as a portable snack to go on carriages.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: So the scotch egg was invented.
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: Because you get everything You've got the meat, you've got the egg and then you've got deep fried in breadcrumb.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: I mean, it just sounds divine, doesn't it?
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: Even just talking about it.
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: And then again you're finished with half a pint of ale, and, as in all pubs in London, the ales change constantly.
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: So we are given some examples by Nick, who's the manager of the Cock, on which ones he recommends that you try.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: So that one we can wait till you come and join us.
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: But one of the best things about finishing in the Old Cock Tavern is we get to play one of the earliest board games around, and this is called Shuffleboard.
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: This is a 15th century game which will literally have you laughing with your fellow explorers.
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: It's literally just coins on a table that you have to push to the other end and get as far as you can, but you can hit everyone else's out the way and it's just a wonderful ending to a fabulous tour where you can all come together, relax.
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: You can stay in the pub even longer after the tour's finished and play with your fellow explorers and yeah, this is one of my favorite tours in London.
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: I have to say oh yeah.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: I have to say, yeah, doug was disappointed it wasn't on at Christmas, because I had been told all about it, because I I loved it.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: And, as I said, my friend Terry, who I took on the tour with me in June, she's still talking about it because she loved it so much.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: And what was really nice about this tour as well, because you know, when you meet, when you first got a tour, you're like you don't know anybody else on the tour, so everybody's a bit like, oh, hello, hello.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: Well, with this tour, everybody, just you, just you go to all the pubs, everybody's talking, you're having a drink, you're trying some of the food.
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: It just becomes really, really chatty and so much fun and then, ending when you're playing the shovel board is, is it?
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: Honestly, it was such.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: It was just really we had all had a good laugh, we all enjoyed the food.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: Uh, you know, being british myself, it was lovely being on that tour.
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: We had guests I think there were guests from america, guests from australia, guests from new zealand, and it was really good trying out some of the food, particularly the americans who hadn't tried things like scotch eggs or sausage rolls or pork pies or and all that sort of thing.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: So it was really really cool to just talk about.
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: What do you think, did you enjoy that?
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: Is it different to to how you expected british food to be?
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: Because I remember at the beginning it was kind of like so so what, what do you expect?
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: What do you think of when you think of british food and kind of the beige?
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: Beige was mentioned.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: You know everything's beige and not doesn't taste that great.
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: But on both tours what you actually discover is that it's not beige, it's actually really tasty and everything has a history to it as well definitely, and I think we you know, as, as the London pubs tour especially, we really set ourselves apart from anyone else because we offer both.
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: We offer the food, the tour and the history, whereas a lot of them just have the history, and then you have to purchase your own drinks and everything as you go.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: So ours is a full package.
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: So so really do come and join us.
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: It's a fabulous tour to really get to know an area that you wouldn't necessarily think of visiting on your own.
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: No, absolutely 100.
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: So I was going to ask you why you'd recommend people book a food tour with Devour in London, but I kind of think we've talked it through.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: I think all the reasons are already in this podcast.
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: It's just a fabulous, fabulous experience.
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: We just really want to involve all our travellers and it's not just about, you know, giving you a taste of the food.
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: It's, it's about giving you the, the ticket that connects you with the culture.
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: So the history, the stories, the food at each destination, so it's really combining everything in in one go so I'm going to end the podcast, or the, the question I always ask at the end of every podcast charlie, I asked it the last time as well, but I'm going to kind of put a food spin on this one.
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: So what would be the one tip you'd share with someone visiting London for the first time?
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: I guess, when it comes to food, I think the biggest thing that I would say is even if there's something that you think, oh gosh, I can't eat that, try it.
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: If you don't try, you don't know, and step a little bit outside your comfort zone.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: You know, you're in a new country, you've got new cuisines around you and give it a go.
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: Perfect, thank you, charlie.
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast again.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: It's always wonderful to talk to you and I'm hoping that I'm going to get to meet up with you later on in the year, or definitely next year when I'm next over in London, because it will be fantastic.
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: I love walks tours, I love Devour Food tours and I can't wait to do more.
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: I'm going to get you on later on again in the air, hopefully to talk about some of the walks tours and how they've gone, because I know you've got a very successful Buckingham Palace tour that you've got on at the moment, so I will put links in the show notes because that's getting booked up, isn't it, charlie?
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: It is it's flying, which is brilliant to see.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: It's been an absolute pleasure again, tracey, it really has, and I hope that this inspires a lot of your listeners.
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: Oh, thanks so much, charlie.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: Thanks again to Charlie for coming on to this week's episode of the podcast.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: If you want to listen to Charlie talk about her love of walks tours as well in London, and obviously the tours that I absolutely adore, do listen to episode 84 and you can listen to Charlie talk all about the wonderful walks tours that are happening in London.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: And for the food tours the devour food tours that we've talked about today, there will be links in today's show notes.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: So pop over to the show notes and you can go on and book your food tour in London.
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: Believe me, you will not regret it.
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: You will thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy it.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: So you go over to uktravelplanetcom.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: Forward slash episode 91 for the show notes.
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: That just leaves me to say until next week.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening.
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for tuning in every week.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: We absolutely love all your support and until next week.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: Happy UK travel planning.