Yesterday was quite a busy day. I got up and out and was in town at the market by 7:45am. We were quite low on everything since I had not been foraging for food all week. The elections were last Monday, so we stayed far from the city and I missed the boat from Dominca with all the fruit. Here is a picture of the market before vendors and people.
Anyway, I scored some great herbs at the market. While I was parking the car, I spotted flat leaf parsley across the street. Don't ask me how I did that, but I did. That of course was my first stop and I was happy with my find and went about my way down the crowded side walk to find other treasures that the farmers had so graciously brought with them. As I am walking, I feel so much like I am in a movie for some reason. To the left and right of me there are ladies and men with their long dreads tied up in colorful scarfs and hats with all of their goodies scattered on cardboard or cloths ready for someone to take their pick. Some had fresh pigeon peas still in the pods, along with carrots, potatoes and other vegetables that I am not quite sure of the names. Mounds of sorrel, which are a rich ruby red, are stacked on tables along side of sweet potatoes, pineapples, christophene and plantains. The colors are just beautiful. It could be the morning sun hitting them just right, but whatever it is, it is beautiful. I proceed down the walk to the main market, which is an open air building painted in bright colors, and there a so many early risers bargaining and chatting with the vendors and a minister who has his speakers on top of the car, preaching to all those that will listen. Actually, you don't have much choice but to listen, because it is very, very loud. Everyone that passes says, "Good Morning" and I smile and extend the greeting back to them. Once inside the market, there are tables all in rows and the farmers have organized all the fruits and vegetables so you can see them easily. I decide to start at the right side of the market and work my way back because I really don't have a list of items, I am just going to wing it. That will be the adventure for the day, lol. Whatever the market has is what we will eat. On Saturday mornings, and only on Saturday, the butchers are there to sell their meat. Curiosity has the best of me and I decide to venture in and see what they have. It actually wasn't as bad as I expected. The forever burnt memory of the first time I went into the Bridgetown market and saw the head and feet of so many pigs propped up on the shelf for all to see, is something I just can't shake. To my surprise, it was mostly slabs of half frozen meat that they were chopping up for their customers. One thing in particular is an Ox Tail, that is chopped in segments all the way down the tail without going completely thru, so it can be used to flavor soups and stews, only to be picked out later if you decide. Don't get me wrong though, the thought of turning vegetarian is highly likely once you have been in there. There is no refrigeration, the machetes they are cutting with are rusty and who know what was on the countertops before they arrived. Just to confirm your thought, NO, I did not buy any meat.
As I was walking out of the meat market, I saw a table that had alot of herbs on it and I was happy to purchase a huge bunch of fresh basil. I can taste the bruscetta now, yummy. By this time my friend Bree has come and we wonder around for a few minutes to see who has the best items so we can go back and make our purchases. The last time we were at the market, one of the vendors had a bunch of herbs tied together, and if you touched the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb, that is about how big around this bunch was. These herbs were used to make Bush Tea. I had bush tea at the cooking class and didn't quite capture the concept of it, and so I had to ask lots of questions about how to make it and all that. Just to make a long story short, the one very important question I didn't ask, was how much to use. To make a long story short, we drank bush tea until I don't want to look at it again for a while. The same vendor was there this morning with the herbs for bush tea, but I didn't buy any. The bunch consists of basil, mint, lemon grass and cinnamon leaf. I have to find out more about the cinnamon leaf, it is commonly used in alot of dishes here on the island.
Bree was a real sport and humored me and walked thru the meat market again. I just had to show her what an island meat market was like. This is her first time living on an island and she just needs to experience some things. We giggled and passed on the offers that the butchers were trying to sell us. Now that she was ready to be a vegetarian, back out into the market we went.
It is funny because I notice now that I have been to the market a few times now, the prices are cheaper. Huh...wonder why that is? We are starting to know some of the vendors and it never fails, someone always asks if we are students at Ross University. At my age, I love being asked if I am a student, lol. Little by little, our bags are getting heavier and heavier and soon we will have to leave or we won't be able to carry the bags. Mine was full of pineapples, mangoes, ortanique oranges, cucumbers, pumpkin, tomatoes, bananas, avacodo, papaya, christophene and herbs. This was the first time that I have seen mangoes at the market, so that means they are coming into season. One thing I didn't see were breadfruit and we love to eat breadfruit. It is a nice alternative to potatoes. There is a breadfruit tree in the middle of town that is bearing breadfruit, so I will have to go check that out and see if any have dropped on the ground or are at least within my reach.
With a smile on my face, I lug the heavy bags down the street to Bree's car, cause she parked closer and she gave me a lift back to my car so I wouldn't have to carry the bags so far. So nice of her to do that.
I will now venture over to the grocery store to see what they have and that will determine what we will be eating for the next week. Should be interesting. This afternoon we are heading to walk with the Hash House Harriers, so I know that I need to make some energy sustaining food to get us thru that. I started a batch of dough for breadsticks before I left the house, so with my gorgeous bouquet of basil, I believe that pesto may be on the menu for today.
Stay tuned for the next post....The Hash
0 comments:
Post a Comment