GCSE Food Students take a Talk Eat Walk Eat tour of London
We took our Food GCSE students on a journey through some of London’s most popular food destinations with a chance to learn about the history and culture of the area. It was a school trip they will never forget!
Last week, we took our Year 10 GCSE students on an exciting school trip on a food tour to London. We took them on a journey through some of London’s most popular food destinations with a chance to learn about the history and culture of the area. It was a school trip they will never forget!
We started off at Spitalfields Market which is one of London’s oldest and most famous food markets founded in 1197. Our students learnt about the history of the market and how it all started from a hospital originally! The tour took students from Spitalfields Market to Banglatown on to Brick Lane where they learnt about the culture and history of this interesting area. They all had the opportunity to taste a variety of different food from a Bangladeshi Deli. They tried Samosa, Pakora, Chicken Tikka Rolls and Onion Bhajis. Next we headed to Truman’s Brewery and discovered it was once home to London’s largest brewery which started in 1669. It is now East London’s choice of destination for the public and businesses and the students could see how it has changed so much. After building up an appetite we walked to a beautiful chocolate shop called Dark Sugars where we heard the story of its owner, an African lady called Nyanga who began her business in Spitalfields Market with a small amount of truffles. The word spread amongst the local residents and market visitors that an African woman was bringing a taste of Africa in the form of chocolates. After many successful years, Nyanga packed up her truffles and spent three years researching cocoa on her family’s farm. She returned bringing her experience from Ghana to the streets of East London. The students were told the story from cocoa bean to their chocolate bags and how chocolates are made. They were fascinated! We were able to choose a variety of chocolates to sample and a rather large hot chocolate!
During our tour we were amazed and in awe of the street art painted by some very talented artists and spotted broccoli on the walls outside of shops and on walls. We learnt the history of the ‘Broccoli Man’ who has an art shop in London selling broccoli in picture frames! It all started when the ‘Broccoli Man’ once had an idea to paint whole broccoli and display them on the streets of London which became so popular amongst Chinese tourists that he was asked to create them as pictures. This has now spread worldwide and he is selling ‘broccoli art’ all over the world!
The next stop of the tour the students had the opportunity to visit ‘Beigel Bake’ which provided the historic tastes and traditions of the Jewish East End, mixed with the flavours of an ever evolving multi-cultural community. We tried Salt Beef Bagels which were enjoyed by everyone. ‘Beigel Bake’ is a popular choice by Prince William and Princess Kate who visit there often and we were very happy to be sharing this experience too. We wondered why ‘Beigel’ was spelt differently. We learnt that ‘Beigels’ are made the traditional way being boiled first to get that chewy texture, modern bagels are not always boiled.
Amongst many other tastes and delights of more food vendors, we finished off with a Bubble Tea at a Taiwan café which we think was the perfect end to a fabulous tour.
The Talk Eat Walk Eat tour was a magnificent way for students to explore the London food scene and learn about the city’s history and multi culture at the same time. The students tasted some of London’s most delicious food while gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation for the people and places that make London such an exciting place.
