Christmas the Shoreditch Way (Part 4) – Leila's Shop

Now, Leila takes a different approach to her stock than Philip. She does supply a great deal from around England. Her stock of bread, jam, salmon, mackerel, eggs, apples, apple juice and milk are all definitely from this fair country, which are you’ll need for a well-planned, 10/10 delicious breakfast on Christmas and Boxing days. Add some peanut butter into the mix and you’ve got the breakfast of all breakfasts. Her vegetables are all in season, which is commendable, however some are from slightly further away in Europe, as our her cured meats, smoked sausage, cheese, nougat, pistachios… it goes on.

Determined as I was to write this piece following my strict guidelines, after reading all of the blogs, reviews and feedback of Leila’s Shop, it is impossible to bad mouth her. Leila does, with a firm belief, check and cares about each item sold in the shop, English or not. She cares about food as much as everyone else in this article. Yes, the smoked sausage is from Poland, but she’s hunted it out and found a supplier who uses a 200 year old recipe. We should all try our hardest to buy English goods, support our own economy and use vegetables we ourselves grow in the right season, but we can also shop at Leila’s knowing full well that the products are all from brilliant suppliers and have been chosen with her standards, which are terrific.

So, I ask you to take a trip to her shop, have a coffee then peruse slowly through her brilliant collection of goods. Maybe get Father Christmas some nougat for Christmas Eve, he’s sick to his stomach of milk and cookies, choose a few root vegetables for your Christmas Dinner, get some pistachios and sausage as savoury snacks while everyone is opening presents then grab a lovely soft loaf of bread to toast and have with some of her French cheeses as a late night snack on Boxing Day.

Leila also supplies Shoreditch, Dalston, London Fields, Bethnal Green, Spitalfields and Whitechapel inhabitants with weekly vegetable boxes and delivers them right to their door. She does this by going once a week to the market, hand picking each item and eyeing up each parsnip and garlic clove with a passionate and critical set of eyes.

These four establishments have all chosen their stock carefully. They’re all dedicated food-lovers and definitely deserve your attention towards the Christmas period. Don’t have a boring Christmas with everything from Sainsbury’s or Tesco’s, go a bit further and root out your vegetables, cakes and meat from one of these beauties.

Support your local shops and have a very merry Christmas.

15-17 Calvert Avenue  Bethnal Green, London E2 7JP