The Best Sausage In The Universe

Brett Westerman
Reporting from London

LONDON -- During my travels in London today I stumbled upon a defining culinary experience. An outside market called South Bank Centre which is chocked full of food tents in an out of the way ally in downtown London. While it was a far cry from the haunts visited by one of my favorite journalists Anthony Bourdain the scene was rich with sights, smells and tastes that left me inspired and longing for more.  The means by which I found the market speaks for London itself. My Friends and I were lost and found ourselves off the beaten track. In an effort to find our way back to our destination, the London Eye, we cut underneath a large highway and were immediately hit with tantalizing smells of all kinds.

The market was crawling with shop owners setting up their stands and preparing food of all kinds. We walked past tents filled with bubbling cauldrons of food from around the world. The aroma of the market was overwhelming I found myself frantically darting around curious about what smells and sounds where around the next corner. Eventually I decided to have a glass of fresh pureed mango juice, and what the sign in front of a tent called the “world’s best sausage.”  I walked up to the tent which was home to a massive pan full of sausages sizzling among small round potatoes. The smell was intoxicating. I approached the owner and was informed that I would need to wait for the “world’s best sausage” because they were still setting up the tent. It was noon. I hadn’t realized the market wasn’t even open yet.

 Impressed at the relaxed atmosphere I looked around and noticed the shopkeepers were casually setting up their tents and preparing their food like an old retired man painting, not a care in the world other than  his art, his craft and the magic found in the act. This hit on something I have noticed herein London, things move at a different pace. While the streets are bustling with busses, taxis, bikers, and pedestrians, the allies are filled with men and women eating late lunches, potbellied Italian men smoking cigarettes, and children playing in fountains soaking in the shockingly good weather London has been gifted as of late.

This contrast creates a good image of London, people working hard to keep the world moving, industry and commerce fill the streets. But so do beautiful parks, beautiful people, and food from every corner of the world. These people work hard, but not at the cost of their own seemingly fulfilling lives. Eventually the very charismatic young man working the sausage tent waved me over. I told him it was going to be worth the wait, because this was going to be the best sausage the world had ever seen. Music was playing in the background, a women singing in French, he responded with a smirk

“nah mate…  that’s a lie….. this is the best sausage in the whole f-ing universe."