Recipes from Brixton Village
by Miss South with contributions from the traders of Brixton Village
Illustrations by Kaylene Alder
£15.99
‘Home to the most vibrant restaurant scene in London’ – Jay Rayner
The regeneration of Brixton Village has been one of the extraordinary urban success stories of the last decade. In 2009, the previously unloved and unkempt Granville Arcade in London’s Brixton Market was transformed by the imagination and energy of regeneration agency Spacemakers and a host of enthusiastic, creative locals with a vision for how pop-up and small scale but sustainable businesses could revitalise the space.
Five years on, the market is booming with an unprecedented mix of old school traders, restaurants and cafes: attracting customers from all over London and selling food from all over the world, and the ingredients to make it with. While the market has been featured in everything from Conde Nast Traveller, Vogue, The Evening Standard, Time Out, The New York Times and The Observer, it’s still a truly Brixton experience.
Brixton Village retains a very special feel – despite the incredible quality of food on offer, it still has a spit and sawdust quality of a real, living market: in winter, the restaurants provide blankets to keep you warm while you wait for your dinner, and the market hawk flies up and down the covered arcades on the look out for pigeons. New traders come and go and tiny contemporary restaurants sit cheek by jowl with fishmongers that have been in the market for three generations.
Recipes from Brixton Village celebrates the incredible diversity on offer in the market. Miss South has pulled together a vibrant collection of recipes contributed from many of the traders (including Cornercopia, Fish Wings & Tings, Kaosarn, Elephant, El Rancho De Lalo, Snugg, Okan and many more) as well as her own recipes showcasing the wonderful produce available from the fishmongers and grocers in the Village. Ranging from real market favourites like Jerk Chicken and
Okonomyaki to seafood treats like Etta’s fish soup or Barbecued Mackerel with Amalfi Lemon and Rosemary, the recipes come from every corner of the globe. Lab G‘s glorious ice cream is featured, as are the extraordinarily delicious concoctions from Cornercopia’s pop-up cocktail bar, The Botanical. And it wouldn’t be a book from Brixton without a recipe using the African Land Snail…
Including a guide to all the restaurants and stalls, and wonderful illustrations from local illustrator Kaylene Alder, Recipes from Brixton Village captures the energy, talent and vibrancy of the most exciting market in London.
About Miss South: Originally hailing from Belfast but proudly Brixtonite for the last ten years, Miss South is a self-taught cook. Inspired by everything from heavyweight culinary authors to daytime TV, she became a food writer when she started blogging to combat adverse experiences of chronic illness and a period of homelessness. Miss South has blogged at North/South Food alongside her brother Mister North for the last four years. She is also the Food and Drink editor at the Brixton Blog and the Brixton Bugle.
She has written features for the Observer Food Monthly, been featured in regional and national press, and on The Food Programme on Radio 4. Miss South was joint winner of the Young British Foodies Fresh Voices in Foodwriting Award 2013.
