This London food journey begins at Borough Market and ends at home with lamb shanks braised in red wine, creamy mashed potatoes and peas. Filmed in 2021, it combines a walk through one of the city’s great food markets with the slower pleasure of cooking a substantial dinner from carefully chosen ingredients.
Shopping at Borough Market
Borough Market provides the setting for the first part of the film. Its covered passages bring produce, butchers, bakers and prepared-food stalls into a compact part of Southwark, close to London Bridge. Even when the city feels unusually quiet, the market remains a place where food connects the surrounding streets to farms, producers and kitchens beyond London.
The route passes coffee and street-food traders before turning towards the ingredients needed for the main dish. Lamb shanks reward patient cooking: the tougher cut becomes tender when it is given enough time in a covered pot with stock, wine and aromatics.
The visit is also a reminder that buying food in person changes the way a recipe begins. Instead of treating the ingredients as a checklist, the walk makes their origin part of the meal. The market, river and surrounding streets give the eventual dinner a clear London setting.
Building the red-wine sauce
Back in the kitchen, the lamb-shank recipe begins by developing flavour in stages. Aromatic vegetables are softened before red wine and cooking liquid are added. The shanks then braise until the meat is tender and the sauce has taken on the richness of the lamb.
Creamy mashed potatoes
The mashed potatoes are treated as an equal part of the plate rather than an afterthought. The potatoes are cooked until completely tender, then worked with butter and seasoning to create a smooth, rich mash capable of carrying the red-wine sauce.
Lamb shanks, mash and peas
The finished plate brings the three elements together: tender lamb, mashed potatoes and green peas, with the dark sauce spooned across the meat and mash. It is generous, traditional cold-weather cooking—the sort of meal that justifies the time spent braising and reducing.
Braising is forgiving, but it is not hurried. First, the sauce needs time to deepen. Then, the meat must cook gently enough to soften without drying out. Meanwhile, the potatoes can be prepared near the end so that the mash reaches the table hot and freshly worked.
Peas provide colour and freshness against the richer components. More importantly, they keep the finished plate balanced. The result is familiar British comfort food, strengthened by a carefully made sauce and the quality of the lamb.
Watch the Borough Market and lamb-shanks film
This article forms part of Roberts London’s continuing study of living and working in London.
