PEOPLE, HAPPY FOOD➃

Team London is still walking. Anna, beer, and the Cannelloni relay.

Old Ship Hackney’s halloumi fries, TESCO’s puff pastry pie, House of MoMo’s Himalayan dumplings and Nepalese curry, Dusty Knuckle Bakery’s sourdough bread and pumpkin soup, the hot dog with a generous topping of onions on top from Greenwich food market, Stilton cheese from Victoria park market, Marks and Spencer granola, Yeast bakery’s cinnamon bun, Lisboa Patisserie’s Pasteis de Nata, cold ginger cardamom tea in the workroom where the windows were always opened, Tony’s Chocolonely for my low blood sugar in the morning, Wilton Way Deli’s focaccia sandwich, Ben&Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream that we had while watching Fleabag, Pophams Bakery’s Apple Crumble filled with vanilla custard for our last breakfast, … London of every imaginable flavour. It is so wide and diverse to define with a single word. Today I think of one day of the ordinary 90days internship.

Last Autumn, Anna and I were full-time interns during weekdays and travelers on weekends. Where ever they come from, they are similarly minded like enthusiastic about visiting new places, and willing to share the fun with friends. We loved to take the seats in the front row on the second floor on the bus of course, and even squirrels and foxes(I can’t forget about the orange Nick Wilde-like fox) on the street were eye-catching. We used to make a bet on a bottle of beer by guessing how many steps did we make after the walking tour on the weekend. It was a very serious moment than any others, very. Funnily enough, we became so good at that and the bet happened to be a peaceful aperitif.

Dinner

However, nothing is comparable with the beer after work. Coming back home and taking a warm shower, having Anna’s fish and chips for dinner, watching Fleabag, and drinking a glass of beer, small but sure happiness.

Breakfast

There’s a range of options for good pastries in cool cafes and bakeries in London, though I have a clearer memory of the breakfast we had at the Airbnb where we stayed about a week looking for a new home. A piece of toast and a mug full of granola mixed with little and big worries, excitement, and milk.

Lunch

Thinking about lunchtime of office workers, you would have some places like a cafeteria where you go almost every day. There is one place that popped into my mind and I even thought about making meal vouchers. It is Wilton Way Deli, a small shop that sells Italian food ingredients and simple dishes. Walking only 10mins from our workroom in Dalston, we could have good focaccia sandwiches. One day, there was a new dish written down on the menu called Cannelloni ricotta e spinaci. It is long cylindrical-shaped pasta, with spinach and ricotta cheese filling inside, layered with béchamel sauce and a generous amount of grated Parmigiano, and baked in the oven. The dish can be varied depending on the filling and the sauce. Somehow I was fascinated by the shape and the recipe probably it’s because I have eaten ‘Mandu’, ‘Ssam’, and ‘Gimbap’ from my childhood. The common thing of those dishes is they are nothing without the stuffing or ingredients inside. Also, it is very fun to make them.

Anyway since then, the Cannelloni Relay has started. We made it together before leaving London and Anna cooked it for lunch as a surprise after 6months in Parma.

I should go over the béchamel making first that she taught me so that I can continue the next relay.

The next episode of ‘Team London is still walking’ continues in Venice, Anna’s hometown.