Nichola

I have worked as a chef for 9 years, the last 5 of which have been in pastry. I left my job at St. John Bread and Wine to start my own catering business. Since then I ran a market stall in Camden Lock market. On the stall I sold brownies, meringues, tarts and Eton mess with various fruits as the season changed from summer to autumn.

I take inspiration from the places I have worked in the last 5 years, The Anchor and Hope gastropub in Waterloo, and St. John Bread and Wine near Spitalfields. Both of these places had an emphasis on seasonality and locally sourced produce. The Anchor was particularly focused on a no-frills approach to food and its presentation, working with the ethos that the taste is the most important factor. At St. John I enjoyed working with a great range of ingredients especially ones sourced by “Forager”, a company who go deep into Britain’s countryside and coastlines to bring the best of the wild produce that our country has forgotten. Ingredients such as: carrageen seaweed; sweet cicely; wild cherries and sea buckthorn.

I hope to run another market stall, this time at a farmers market where I can showcase my produce. I use Dove’s Farm organic flour, butter from Gloucestershire, free-range eggs from Kent and any fruit and veg will be seasonal and local. I also hope to introduce foraged ingredients into my produce.

Ranges I would like to sell at the market include chocolate brownies, lemon tarts, custard tarts, meringues, bakewell tarts, puff pastry and sweet pastry that people can take away and make tarts with themselves. We also have the facilities to make drip-filter coffee which we grind fresh on the stall to order.

I don’t like to stray too much from the classics and believe that by keeping it simple and doing it well one can achieve the best results.