Since becoming a gluten-free, soya-free vegan I think about food a lot. What I can eat, what I can’t. I read the ingredients list of everything before I buy it. And when I find something especially delicious that I can eat I get fixated. Hence my post-work detours to Morrisons in Shepherd’s Bush solely for banofee syrup sponge or my forays out to Fulham for pizza (so gutted the Hell Pizza there closed). And so I found myself on a bus to Camden yesterday afternoon because I’d spent all week daydreaming about the cornbread stall at Camden Lock.
Camden Market is a great place for gluten-free vegans — many of the food stalls cater to veggies, gluten-free stuff is often marked, and there are several Vietnamese restaurants as well as Inspiral Lounge (which is on my to-try list). Vietnamese is a staple of my diet — all rice noodles and rice-paper spring rolls — but the arepas have stolen my heart. Arepas are a traditional Venezuelan/Colombian dish — fried, grilled or baked thick corn pancakes stuffed or topped with yummy fillings. As a recovering cheese lover, the grated cheese is tempting, but once I took a bite of an arepa stuffed with black beans, plantain and roasted vegetables (aubergine, courgette and peppers) I didn’t miss the cheese.
The signage at the Arepa & Co. stall says the plain cornbread is available for sale to take home, although when I asked about it the request was met with surprise. I bought five at £1 each and they generously threw in a sixth. That will keep me in yummy lunches at work for the next couple of days.
Arepa & Co. is in the middle of the cluster of food stalls by the London Waterbus Co. dock. There’s also an Israeli falafel stall and a West African stall, which despite taunting me with the propect of curry goat and rice, also offers vegetable dishes. Turning right, around the dock, there’s a Moroccan stall with vegetable tagine. Plenty to keep a gluten-free vegan happy after building up an appetite wandering around the endless twists and turns of Camden’s vibrant street markets.
I washed my arepa down with a large cup of fresh lemonade (another current fixation) from one of the many juice stalls. And if I hadn’t been so full I would’ve visited the Thai coconut dessert stall (sweet little bites made from rice flour, coconut and sugar) — next time.
P.S. I just found out there is an Arepa Cafe on Queen Street West in Toronto…more reason, along with Magic Oven (gluten-free pizza and pasta), Mimi’s (Vietnamese), and The Big Carrot (juice bar with gluten-free sandwiches and snacks)…as well as my friends of course
to look at booking another visit soon…Tags: gluten-free, London, vegan
