Saturday was showery and windy but that didn’t seem to deter the crowds to the Farmer’s Market in Bandon. I popped down with big sis Fiona and babba Fionn. Before I headed out I had been reading a great article on the “old” market in the Bandon Opinion. Well worth seeking out, particularly for the description of the overwhelming stench of s***te that used to accompany the market in the old days.
I took along my new N70 to snap a few pictures but I only managed to take a few. Apologies to any stall owners who have not been photographed yet.
First stop was the Baking Emporium from Dunmanway. These people make one of my fave products which we buy all the time in supermarkets around Cork - crisp breads. But these are not your average ryvita, they are packed full of flavour and texture and make the basis for a great lunch. There were none of those on display yesterday, just a great selection of interesting looking breads and cakes. I heard one of the people behind the stall say “nay” to one of the others. “ah, they must be Dutch” I thought. Then they spoke more and I realised they were German. I guessed they might be Schwabisch from the “nay”. Sure enough, the customer beside me said “my husband will be thrilled to hear you are here. He is from Stuttgart too”. It turns out she was also German and a big chat auf Deutsch ensued. I stood there remembering the summer of 1988 when a bunch of student engineers from UCD headed to Stuttgart, stayed in a campsite near Neckar Stadion for a while, then got rooms in a studenten wohnheim and worked in the kitchens of an altenheim outside Esslingen. I bought some lovely rye bread and mini-tarts. I had a sambo later with the bread and further reminiscences of salami sandwich breakfasts came to mind!
I was gasping for a cup of coffee and the Cork Coffee Roasters stall was exactly what we needed. Great lattes and some fine looking biscotti and kettle popcorn too. I got some of their ground coffeee the previous time from Urru but forgot yesterday. Dumbass.
I hadn’t got to Sonia’s Pickles the last time and made a beeline yesterday. She gave me some tastes of ones involving peppers, aubergines and pinenuts. It was a tough choice and many could be bought in either nice looking jars or bigger plastic tubs for the same money. I got two types and sis got a lovely looking rosewater jelly.
After not spotting them the last time, there now seemed to be eggs everywhere! I got some fine looking free range O’Briens ones. Fiona got some chicken liver pate from the same blokes.
I rounded the visit off with more super-delish choccies from Gwen’s.
Sis bought some great veg which had the reassuring mud still on them. Her only negative comment, which I agreed with, was that it was a pity that there are no fresh meat vendors there. There are guys who do their own organic beef at Skibb and Midleton. It’d be great to get similar in Bandon. Is there also a guy over near Aherla who has a big Duck and Goose farm? I’m sure they would be popular.
It really does look like the market is getting better and better. All of the new stands add to the breadth of goods on sale and I think it has already become an integral part of the Saturday shopping for a lot of people. Roll on the next one in two weeks time.
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