Be sure to try the distinctive, local Oxford sausage. They contain veal, as well as pork, and lots of spice seasoning.
The Covered Market was opened on November 1st 1774 and, barring a few interruptions, it has been open straight through to the present day. Covered markets are a must in England, where most of the time rain is the rule, rather than the exception. It also helped keep the smelly stalls from the streets.
Today the market is home to many independent shops, of which half are food retailers. These range from traditional market shops selling fresh food, such as greengrocers and butchers, to more specialised ones, like the cobblers and pet supplies shop. It’s a little microcosm of old-fashioned commercial life.
Brown’s Café is the original student greasy spoon in Oxford. Come here on weekend mornings and smile at the hung-over students silently working their way through a full English breakfast and cradling a steaming mug of tea.
If you’re from England, you’ll have had a pie before. But if you aren’t, then this is something you need to try. England does not have much in the way of its own distinctive cuisine - generally preferring to copy bits from other cultures, and badly - but the humble pie is a speciality. Pieminster does an excellent range of hot pies to help you survive the cold; nothing is more fortifying.
If you see crowds pressing their noses to the window of any store in the market, chances are its The Cake Shop. Here you can watch the artisans at work, pouring cream and carving icing, melting chocolate and sprinkling sugar. The end results are on show too, and some are marvellous. Look out for the huge Radcliffe Camera cake.
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