THEY tempt taste buds from Camden Town to Clerkenwell, from Highbury to Hampstead, but many delicatessens are struggling to survive.

Author Sonya Barber, who grew up in Highbury, writes in a new book, An Opinionated Guide to London Delis, that “even the most beloved delis are having trouble and need support”.

She told Review: “I think Brexit has been really tough for a lot of delis, making it more expensive and difficult to import products, meaning they have to increase prices. And then there’s business rates, energy bills and rent.”

Though some have closed, others are opening, apparently undeterred.

The guidebook, featuring 55 businesses, is a paean to the deli-licious, relishing goods ranging from local produce to international specialities.

“Forget Michelin-starred restaurants, I think some of London’s best food can be found in your local deli,” Sonya writes.

She starts with Terroni of Clerkenwell, founded in 1878, which proudly calls itself the capital’s original Italian deli.

Another longtimer is the 100-year-old I Camisa and Son (“the best spaghetti in Soho”), which was due to close because of rent rises, but survives after negotiating with the landlord.

Freelance editor and travel, food and culture writer Sonya, who attended Parliament Hill School and Camden School for Girls, said many of the delis she visited as a child are gone. But Da Mario in Highbury, her local deli when she was growing up, is “better than ever”.

She believes the importance of these businesses runs deep.

“Traditional speciality delis can be a really important space for ex-pat communities, young and old, helping them recreate tastes from home or their childhood. Food brings people together and delis have the same effect.

“Then there’s the hipster delis who often work hard to create new communities by hosting special events and inviting people in to meet the producers behind the brands they stock.”

Sonya Barber

The guidebook, with photographs by David Post, aims to provide expert information and concise opinion you don’t get on the internet – or in the supermarket. It’s a compact, handy companion for the discriminating foodie.

Sonya described her research as “a delicious journey of discovery”.

Her diverse local finds – too many to name them all here – range from homemade pesto in Canonbury Lane, Islington, and Kentish Town, to Japanese goodies in West Hampstead; Mexican salsas and hot sauces off Euston Road; classic French cuisine in Camden Passage; Spanish nosh and British classics in Clerkenwell; mezze in Kentish Town; plentiful posh treats in Primrose Hill and Hampstead; Nordic eats in Fitzrovia – an area where Middle Eastern deli Honey and Spice is credited with supplying “what is possibly the best range of snacks in the capital”.

Booze on local deli shelves ranges from sake to rioja and wine from a London winery.

Sonya dubs Panzer’s, St John’s Wood, “the closest thing in London to a gourmet New York Jewish deli”.

She said she created a huge map of the businesses she wanted to feature. “If I didn’t know them intimately, I made sure I visited to check out if they were any good.

“I split them up into areas and did a series of days out where I ate my way around the ones on my list.”

Think deli and you might think expensive.

But Sonya said the book’s delis range from “extremely posh emporiums to some which are essentially like a community grocery store. A lot of delis are definitely more pricey than a supermarket but they sell stuff that you won’t find in most shops and the money goes to independent owners rather than big corporations.”

Some sell refills of items like olive oil and cleaning products, and there are “some very reasonably priced veg box schemes from shops like Nourished Communities in Upper Street”.

Does she have a favourite deli food?

“Growing up with a New York Jewish mum, I have a soft spot for good bagels, chopped herring and crunchy new green pickles. But I’m always on the hunt for types of delicious carbs: filled pasta, savoury pastries, perogi and different types of fresh bread.”

• An Opinionated Guide to London Delis. By Sonya Barber, Hoxton Mini Press, £10.95