I am drawn in by a small display cabinet fronting the street, decorously hung with pale, langorous blanched tripe, cows' feet, pigs' trotters and a bit of calf's head all dripping with the water which was continually sprayed over them.
Opposite Dalston Kingsland Station is Ridley Road Market – again, not an ideal place for a vegetarian, it caters largely for the local West Indian community with displays of goat meat and cows' feet, as well as a variety of unfamiliar (and often rather aromatic) seafood, spices and fresh produce – and the biggest cooking pots you've ever seen.
And, what about some stewed cows foot for breakfast?
Among the drugstores and the inescapable Chinese takeout were hair braiding parlors and restaurants offering jerk pork, curried goat, oxtail and cow feet.
It's best eaten in hand-torn pieces and dipped into a stew, such as La Savane's exceedingly gelatinous mixture of finely chopped okra, tomato, and chili peppers, bobbing with turkey meat, cow feet, and lamb bones — on which the table was similarly divided.
Stepping out into a stifling South London summer afternoon, our first stop was Brixton Village, formerly Granville Arcade, a rundown, ramshackle consumer favela where shops selling phone cards, cow feet, magic candles and toilet brushes once stood incongruously among each other; unloved, uncared for and unappreciated by even the long-term residents.
Cow foot stew is also revered as an aphrodisiac and recommended as a hangover cure.
"Forty years ago, we wouldn't have a cow foot," Mr. Savarese said, pointing to a bucket of them.
If there was ever a dish that represents Jamaican history, class and culture, it would be cow foot stew.
Like most of Jamaica's signature dishes, cow foot stew was created during the days of slavery.
Noting that the street is home to a diverse group of merchants, Ms. Gerend added, "You can eat anything from cow foot soup to great burritos there".
