The lovely Rosana McPhee of HotandChilli organised a gathering of foodies and tweeters recently to introduce us to the treasure trove that is Brixton Village. I have to admit that in spite of living only 15 mins away from Brixton by tube (I know, I know) it’s been years and years since I visited. That’s all going to change after Rosana’s ‘Brixton Village Safari’.
Kicking off with breakfast (far too early for this foodie) she had planned a day of browsing and sampling and generally nosing about, with people joining and leaving the group as the day developed. May, Jeanne and I caught up with Rosana in time for lunch and spent the next few hours exploring Brixton Village in the company of some really lovely folk*. What a revelation Brixton Village turned out to be. The amount of great eateries that have sprung up among the shops and stalls in Brixton Village is far too many to sample in one day but we did manage to squeeze in Honest Burger (liked it a lot and I’m not a ‘burger fan’, tasty fries too), great ice cream from Laboratoria Artigianale del Buon Gelato (LAB G) and a suitably spicy Bloody Mary from Seven @ Brixton.
A highlight of the day was the fresh drinks we had from Etta’s Seafood. A fresh Ginger Beer (zingy and simply ginger glorious) and an iced Sorrel which was completely new to me. Spiced gently with clove, ginger and cinnamon the colour of the iced tea was vibrantly pink and happy. The taste vaguely reminded me of cranberry and was we all agreed slightly ‘medicinal’ but pleasantly so. Immediately I thought that a splash of alcohol would be fantastic (says something about me!) and indeed I later found out that rum is the usual ‘splash’. Sorrel is the Caribbean name given to an infusion that is more widely known as Hibiscus Tea. It’s an infusion of the calyces (sepals) of the flower; Hibiscus Sabdariffa, not to be confused with common garden ornamental versions. I’d heard of Hibiscus Tea but never drunk it and I particularly liked the Caribbean (non-rum) version.
Around the corner we came across fresh hibiscus calyces on a stall. The stall holder informed us that fresh Hibiscus Sabdariffa calyces can be only found on sale here in the UK during November and December and is mainly bought by the British Carribean Community to make the drink which which is mixed with rum and is an important traditional part of a Caribbean Christmas. Delicious and colourful. The rest of the year dried hibiscus is used and yes, you can find those at Brixton Village too.
Naturally I bought some of the fresh sorrel and next day I set about recreating it.
These are fresh hibiscus, only available in UK during Noember and December.
Iced Sorrel
Servings: 6 – 8
250 grams heaped, fresh hibiscus calyces, (or dried hibiscus)
1 liter water
125 grams sugar (I don’t like drinks too sweet so add to your taste)
3 cms cinnamon stick
2 cloves
4 cms strip, peel of orange
3 cms x 5 mm, approx slice of fresh ginger, peeled
(null) zest of lime to decorate
Bring water and sugar to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Turn down to a simmer immediately.
Add clove, cinnamon stick, orange peel, hibiscus calyces and ginger (I also made cuts in ginger to make a comb’ or fan’ so that that more surface came in contact with the water). Simmer very gently on low heat for 5 mins. Then remove from heat and let stand for another 25 minutes.
Strain into a jug to remove all solids. When cool place in fridge and allow to chill completely.
Serve over ice, with the optional splash of rum and perhaps some sparkling water or soda.
Garnish with fresh lime zest.
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For some photographs of the day see Rosana’s flickr set or Christian’s. Rosana (@Rosana_McPhee) will be organising more Brixton Village Safaris in the future so start following her on twitter if you’re interested. A great fun day!
Some of the other lovely twittery, foodie folk I met were:
Sue @itsyourlondon
Christian @THEpastamaster
Federica @federilli
Nicola @nicmonks
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
mmmmmm, looks lovely, wish I could taste it…..sounds really delicious!!! do u think u could bottle it and bring some to us!!!!
I would bottle it but not sure it would last that long! Need to make another batch now.
It was a lovely day. Early start and late finish – great fun. Thanks for the lovely write up and the mentions. I went back to SeaFood Kitchen on Saturday with a friend to have the homemade ginger beer and sorrel juice. Lovely!
Oh no thank you Rosana. Had a great day : )
Lovely meeting you too, and really looking forward to more Food Safaris!
Lovely meeting you too Federica. Brilliant idea that of Rosana’s, a food safari.
How interesting; would really like to try this. With rum obvioulsy.
Oh obviously, Andrew : )
Actually tastes nice without it if you need to keep a designated driver happy too! But…
How wonderful to find the hibiscus! Try it in champagne for a beautifully pretty celebratory drink….. The Bear did that before he proposed
No wonder I said yes!
Oo nice idea, might use another sparkling wine tho… I like my champers ‘neat’ as its so bloomin’ expensive!
Bubbly pink – how could a gal say no? Clever Bear
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