Sunday walks lined with food opportunities – what better calorie exchange could you ask for?! I set out to walk from my house near Victoria Park in Hackney to Mile End tube taking the scenic route through Victoria Park, along the canal and then through Mile End park.
Victoria Park has a rather grand through road called The Nightwalk that dissects the western section of the park between Queen’s Gate and St Mark’s Gate (between Gore Road and Approach Road, Gore Gate, E2 9JW) that now hosts Victoria Park Market open from 10:00 to 16:00 every Sunday. It’s a varied mix of stalls with an acceptable balance between food produce and takeaway street food stalls. It’s a little on the pricey side however, as with all farmer-style markets, if you want quality and something different there may be a price to pay.
I had just come back from a week in Lisbon and low and behold my first sight was a stall with pastel de nata display at Iberian Deli. 
I could not walk by, but the custardy pastries were not what captured my cash, instead I was guided to the chorizo for eating as it is or cooking and morcilla (black pudding) I personally would cook with. There was a good range of vacuum-packed Iberian jamon and a range of cheeses. The winner for me was Valdeon blue cheese, also known as Picos de Europa. It’s made with 80-90% cow and 10-20% goat milk, pasteurised (sometimes sheep milk is used too). Like a sweet creamy Cabrales, the sample I was given melted in my mouth. My research found this cheese is made in small batches in the mountains of Picos de Europa, usually wrapped in maple leaves though my purchase was not. It has a buttery, slightly salty flavour, variously described as sometimes having a hint of mushroom and even spice. It languished in my fridge for a while and by the time it was shared it was truly ripe – creamy, salty and sweet in the same mouthful.
Victoria Park Market
