Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Local Market Day

On the last Thursday of every month a small market is held in a local hall within walking distance of where I live. It's been running for a couple of years and I have been meaning to go and have a look. So at the end of April I took my mother, and she managed to walk there using her new walking aid. I was trying to encourage her to get out a bit and she was as keen as me to see what was on offer.
The first visit was quite disappointing for me because there were no organic vegetables and the few things on sale were a bit tired looking. However there was some lovely meat and cheeses, home made pies and pasties, local jam, honey, pickle, and a chocolate stall (they looked wonderful but were not giving samples worst luck and I did steer clear (mum didn't). There were also a few plants for sale.
March 07- is she going to be tempted by a quiche...
Selection of pies, pasties and meat.
Mum got a little carried away!!!!!!
I did buy a couple of venison and red wine pies, pasties and cheese scones (for Embee) and a blueberry muffin for me (very disappointing so won't make that mistake again). The locally produced horseradish was tasty and I don't think Embee has tried the piccalilli yet. The faggots were alright. I remember, as a child, collecting hot faggots and peas, (you took your own bowl). They were made by an old lady and sold from her shop in our small country town (an early take away).

Mum enjoyed it and wanted to go again and I felt it was worth another trip. So last Thursday on a sunny afternoon off we trundled. It was much better this month. .
April 07
There was plenty of produce grown in Cheltenham, about 30 miles away, but it was not organic. I had a long chat to the guy and he had some old variety of strawberries (can't remember the name should have written it down) and they were delicious. With more fruit and veg coming into season he's going to be there every month through the summer and he tells me he has masses of blueberry bushes so can't wait but he is quite expensive.

This pasty was hot and I had to get one for Embee......

and yes he did enjoy it!!


As you can see I didn't buy very much, the eggs are double yolked but I haven't used them yet. My mother came back with quite a lot but I did manage to steer her past the jewelery stall which had some very pretty necklaces that she quite fancied.
She's already talking about going next month so I think this will become a regular trip.

Postscript:
You may not be familiar with 'Faggots' (type of meatball)!!

this is the wikipedia version which is about right (it also details the American version of the word nothing to do with food).

("A faggot is a kind of meatball, a traditional dish in the UK, especially the southwest of England, Wales, and the Black Country. It is made from meat off-cuts and offal, especially pork. A faggot is traditionally made from pig heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon minced together, with herbs added for flavouring and sometimes breadcrumbs. The mixture is shaped in the hand into balls, wrapped round with "caul" (a membrane from the pig's abdomen), and baked. A similar dish, almôndega, is traditional in Portugal.
The first use in print cited in the OED is in 1851, from Thomas Mayhew, although this appears to be a calzone- or pasty-like dish, with an outer wrapper of caul, covering a filling of mixed pork offal. This was in London.
The dish saw its greatest popularity with the rationing during World War II but has become less popular in recent years. Faggots are usually homemade and are to be found in traditional butchers' shops and market stalls.
A popular dish is "faggots and peas," which is often served with gravy. The faggot and pea batch is a common post-pub snack in the West Midlands. Faggots are also known as "ducks" in Yorkshire and Lancashire, often as "savoury ducks". "In Leigh market in 1905 you could buy a savoury duck rolled up in an oatmeal cake.")

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33 Comments:

At 1/5/07 11:28, Anonymous Anonymous said...

EmBee has tried the Piccalli, as you can see from the top shelf of our fridge, and it is very nice. The other stuff in the cupboad can be thrown out and will be when I am given intructions on where it should be thrown. The Pastie was good and the scones were good and I am trying to get ChrisB to go to another Market next Monday - which just happens to be a holiday here.

 
At 1/5/07 12:10, Blogger ChrisB said...

embee I have dealt with it!!

 
At 1/5/07 13:21, Blogger frannie said...

what a fun outing! and the food looks delicious!

 
At 1/5/07 13:45, Blogger sallywrites said...

So double yolked eggs? I am going to show y ignorance here. I had always thought that it was a chance thing..........

Clearly not???

 
At 1/5/07 14:07, Blogger Beccy said...

So did I Sally! All the same the eggs look pretty good. Do they still have chicken poop on them? Apparently their poop acts as a natural preservative and you shouldn't refridgerate them!

 
At 1/5/07 14:13, Anonymous Anonymous said...

it's so good that your mother is getting out! i love farmers markets. you can get such wonderful items.

 
At 1/5/07 14:47, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Looks like a fun day, and maybe as crops come in they'll get more produce. What you bought looks wonderful.
I think I need an American translation for faggot please.
(Here it's a deragatory word for a homosexual.)

 
At 1/5/07 15:22, Blogger ChrisB said...

frannie and nikki looks like it's going to be a regular date. It's very small and not a bit like some of the markets I have attended.

sally and beccy they apparently have hens that lay doubles the eggs are much larger. No chiken poop and I didn't know that was a preservative- I think I'd rather take my chances and have clean eggs.

Lisa this is the wikipedia version which is about right (it also details the American version).

("A faggot is a kind of meatball, a traditional dish in the UK, especially the southwest of England, Wales, and the Black Country. It is made from meat off-cuts and offal, especially pork. A faggot is traditionally made from pig heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon minced together, with herbs added for flavouring and sometimes breadcrumbs. The mixture is shaped in the hand into balls, wrapped round with "caul" (a membrane from the pig's abdomen), and baked. A similar dish, almôndega, is traditional in Portugal.
The first use in print cited in the OED is in 1851, from Thomas Mayhew, although this appears to be a calzone- or pasty-like dish, with an outer wrapper of caul, covering a filling of mixed pork offal. This was in London.
The dish saw its greatest popularity with the rationing during World War II but has become less popular in recent years. Faggots are usually homemade and are to be found in traditional butchers' shops and market stalls.
A popular dish is "faggots and peas," which is often served with gravy. The faggot and pea batch is a common post-pub snack in the West Midlands. Faggots are also known as "ducks" in Yorkshire and Lancashire, often as "savoury ducks". "In Leigh market in 1905 you could buy a savoury duck rolled up in an oatmeal cake.")

 
At 1/5/07 15:35, Blogger my4kids said...

those rasberries and strawberries are making me hungry!

 
At 1/5/07 15:40, Blogger Pamela said...

glad for the translation - I wondered what they were too.

everything looks yummy.

Our town has a saturday market from spring to late fall. I need to take advantage of the local produce. You've inspired me

 
At 1/5/07 18:02, Blogger FH said...

Cornish Pasties!!! YUM!! Can you believe I miss British food?!;D

Looks like a wonderful afternoon t spend!

 
At 1/5/07 18:05, Blogger ChrisB said...

my4kids they had such a lovely flavour I wish I'd bought more.

pamela I'd be interested to know what local produce you could find.

I think I ought to add a postscript to my post to explain 'faggots'

 
At 1/5/07 18:06, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks, Chris.
Usually I can figure most words for myself!

 
At 1/5/07 20:55, Anonymous Anonymous said...

yum, yum, yum. enidd's looking forward to farmers' markets in sf.

 
At 1/5/07 21:04, Blogger ChrisB said...

enidd now that's a real market, can't wait for all your observations on the calafornian way of life.

 
At 1/5/07 21:09, Blogger ChrisB said...

asha your cooking is so lovely you don't need to buy at a market; I know sam would say I should make my own cornish pasties and I might have a go one day. Embee loves the ones actually made in Cornwall when we used to holiday there every year we always brought some back to go in the freezer.

 
At 1/5/07 21:36, Blogger Sam said...

hey - when is enid coming to SF?

 
At 1/5/07 21:43, Blogger ChrisB said...

sam enidd she has written lots of posts about 'the move' she and 'the man' were in SF not long ago house hunting. They have just bought a house in the mission district (hope I have remembered correctly enidd).

 
At 1/5/07 22:37, Blogger Portrait of Peter said...

I too luv the local farmers market each month and their tempting stalls - means I buy and buy again - and my waistline knows it too.

Lovely photo's and I fond memories of Cheltenham many years ago.

Thank you so much for good wishes, feeling better today and enjoying sitting out in the garden in the beautiful sunshine.

 
At 2/5/07 01:05, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wouldn't mind trying the faggots and peas. There's no punchline here, I'm serious. Anything with meatballs, peas and gravy is a winner in my book.

After buying my 3rd half dozen eggs that all turned out to be double yolkers recently, I mentioned it to the shopkeeper. Imagine my surprise when she explained it was no coincidence.

 
At 2/5/07 05:20, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Whew - thanks for the translation.

I've also heard the English call cigarettes Fags.

Looks like a pretty neat market place. I need to visit my local one more often.

 
At 2/5/07 06:00, Blogger Princess Banter said...

YuMMMMMMMMMMy! They all look so good!

 
At 2/5/07 08:07, Blogger ChrisB said...

portraitofpeter glad you're feeling better, I empathise with the 'temptation and waistlines'

willowtree you're an easy man to please!!

karmyn that's true cigs=fags. Fag is also a tiring or unwelcome task (I get too many of those) and it's what they call a junior pupil in English prep schools who works and runs errands for a senior (so we have a lot of fags in this country)!!

princess banter hi thanks for dropping by. I've just enjoyed reading a few of your recent posts, I particularly liked the one about loneliness.

 
At 2/5/07 10:06, Blogger Unknown said...

I bought eggs last week at our market and they were all double yokedd. I got quite a susrprise as I din't know. THe raspberries look delish.

 
At 2/5/07 10:13, Blogger ChrisB said...

barbara I think they have all these hens working overtime!! The raspberries tasted almost as good as the ones we used to grow before we moved here. I miss having gooseberries, blackcurrents and raspberries for free as it were. I don't think I really appreciated what I had as it was difficult to cope with it all at the time. Now of course i could really use it all. sods law of course.

 
At 2/5/07 11:53, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, you can have a goosegog bush bush as quick as a flash if you want one. Thought that you did not care for them. Have you done the rhubarb yet - if not do not forget my juice please. Love.

 
At 2/5/07 14:25, Blogger ChrisB said...

embee is that a hint I detect about the rhubarb; we do not have the space for a goosgog bush.

 
At 2/5/07 16:45, Blogger AfKaP said...

Oh gosh that all looks So good. I'm starving. except (sigh - I know I swore nothing bad about British food) the offal. I don't eat pork and certainly not bellies and hearts. I bet it tastes really good, but oh my, I just can't get over the nature of the ingredients.

 
At 2/5/07 17:00, Blogger ChrisB said...

wendy we don't really eat offal anymore not since all the food scares; but this purchase was just for nostalgia. I do not like heart but I do love liver with bacon and onions, thick gravy and mashed potoatoes and veg. Haven't cooked it for years though.

 
At 3/5/07 16:12, Blogger Sam said...

So you left a comment on Cookiecrumb's blog whining that it is not possible to get locally grown/produced food where you live and then you write a post about all the locally produced and grown wonderful food in your hood. And Bristol has a famous farmet's market that also sells local food. So why were you telling porkies to CC?

None of us here in CA just pop to the local Safeway to do our shop. We have to do a little work to sniff out the good local produce too.

 
At 3/5/07 18:21, Blogger ChrisB said...

sam I stand by the fact that it's difficult. This local market is only once a month. The one in town is not easy to get to. The bus takes too long and parking is not easy anymore, particularly as they are re-developing the whole of 'broadmead'. Can you walk to your market ? so I was not whining just saying.

 
At 3/5/07 19:20, Blogger Sam said...

it would be a long walk - but starting tomorrow i plan to take public transport there instead of driving

 
At 3/5/07 20:25, Blogger ChrisB said...

sam let me know how much it costs you and how long it takes to get there- is this bus or tram?

 

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