Despite the dark grey sky and rain on the way - off to the Hermanus Country Market we headed. I was hoping that we would drive "through" the cloud and end up on the other side - but no such luck, lol! Upon arrival it was raining. I left my glasses in the car because they don't have windscreen wipers - blind people problems.
As I said yesteray - I pretty much live in shorts, slip slops and a shirt these days and yesterday was no different. Yeah, I took a hoodie along - but did not end up wearing it. Nothing wrong with getting a little bit wet I say! I was pleased to see that unlike how it would have been in the city - everyone wrapped up in everything short of a tent - most people were roaming around much like myself, in fact many were barefoot. Love it!!!
It was probably 11am in the morning, I was hungry! Well, I was probably more hangry than hungry, but you catch my drift. First stop - the breakfast bar! One of the things I love most about being out in the country is that nobody seems to give too many shits. It's breakfast with beer, wine, gin, shooters - anything goes! So, on that note - my breakfast was scrambled egg and smoked salmon. I would have opted for a croissant - but they were sold out already... so settled for what was left, which was the plain rolls - oh and a glass of Pinot Noir... you know, because I am a wine snob ;)
Once the hangry was taken care of, I took a walk around to see what was what. I love country markets. My mom spent many years doing markets back in the day, so I have a great appreciation and respect for the level of effort and dedication given by the crafters. We arrive and everything is set up and ready for purchase or consumption, but there is a LOT of work which comes before that as well as after we all leave with our delicious and delightful new "stuff".
Whilst I love the concept of going to a market and "getting things" - time and time again, I will walk away with absolutely nothing other than the grub I consumed. Yesterday however, I stumbled upon a stand selling tailored t-shirt dresses. I also don't do dresses very often, but I fell in love with the fabric. I am a huge fan of old school granny print fabrics and this one had a lovely twist. She did not have the dress in a small, but said she could alter it... so I will be collecting that next week Saturday. Jayne goes and buys a Summer dress as we head into Winter, lol! I will sport it with a pair of leather boots, I shall. I was clearly too preoccupied by the dresses as I forgot to take a pic of the stall - my bad.
One of the things I KNOW this market has is AWESOME oysters! There was a fair amount of emotion and nostalgia which filled me as I approached that particular stall, because the last time I had oysters there, was with my mom. I actually think I shared a photo of the two of us in one of my recent posts. My heart sank a little to be honest. I opted for three oysters as a symbolism - three words to my mom - "I LOVE YOU".
Each oyster was dressed differently. The first being a coriander, ginger and garlic pureé, the second a red onion salsa and the last was done traditionally... Salt, pepper, lemon juice and Tabasco Pepper Sauce.
And what would a South African market be without a little bit (or a lot) of BILTONG!!!! Pretty much any and every kind of biltong you could ever wish for - including bacon biltong. For those of you unaware, biltong is NOT jerky!! There is a fundamental difference between the two. Jerky is actually meat cooked at a low temperature which eventually dries it out. Biltong on the other hand is marinated and then cured, after which it is hung on hooks in large chunks so the meat can dry out for about a week and is then sliced and devoured afterward. So - as a Saffer, I will summarise by saying that biltong is awesome and jerky is average ;)
One of the other things I love at markets is all the different BREADS! The variety is literally endless! Sampling them with a little olive oil is probably my favourite part! As much as I would have walked away with every single kind of bread on offer... I know it would only have gone to waste... so I bought a loaf of "plaas brood" (farmers bread) because I have plans for a post in the next day or so.
Oh, I did pick up one other thing along the way... and that was a jar of pickled onions for my dads birthday. He is an April Fools baby... so his 74th is next week Thursday. My dad is not big on birthdays, nor spending money... but not giving him anything would just feel wrong. So, pickled onions it was. I spent a GOOD long while at this stall and would have bought everything they had to be honest... chilli jams, sauces... you name it!
Markets are always great fun. This particular one hosts a night market every now and again too - I have attended only one, and again it was raining...pouring in fact, but that did not deter anyone. The live music continued and so did the fun as people tried to shift the settling water off the tents... there was always some poor sucker at the end of the line who got drenched with the "offload" lol. Markets root you. I attended this one a little differently to how I have before... plakkies and shorts in the rain hahaha - what has become of me... I will tell you what - we have a phrase here in SA for what I have become - it is called a Plaas Japie (AKA - A country bumpkin) and I love it!
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Until next time...
Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
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