Vive le Market!

Well I just love fresh food, don't you? I especially love other people making it for me!

Bring on the local market, which takes place in the nearby town centre on a regular basis. Marketed as a French market, in reality, there are stalls featuring produce from all over Europe, which only makes it more attractive as far as I'm concerned. From a variety of olives to a selection of meats and garlic cloves at every turn, whoever is responsible for coordinating and approving this event in Harrow deserves a medal. And did I mention the sweet, flaky pastries? Delicious!

Perusing the produce, I couldn't resist buying half a garlic sausage, which will apparently last two weeks in the fridge (not that I imagine I'll be able to verify that - half of it has gone already!)

For those with more adventurous tastes, you could even buy snails to cook at home - I didn't dare!

What I did do, however, was sample the various take-away foods available. Unsurprisingly, I loved the Normandie garlic prawns (or should that be prawnies?! See photo), which were succulent, fresh and juicy. I also loved the tarteflette, which combined soft sliced potatoes, cream, lardons of ham with garlic for a filling and totally satisfying dish that could be enjoyed while walking around the market.

I also want to give a shout out to the man working at Jacc's coffee; firstly, because having coffee as part of the market just makes so much sense and secondly, because it was good coffee - aromatic and strong - and thirdly because he was also selling various syrups to enhance the coffee. I ended up buying a bottle to take home!

His good humour and friendliness really summarised the market for me: small traders trying to make an honest living by providing fresh, good quality produce in a warm environment that draws you in and enhances the town centre experience for everybody.

Now, when's the next one?