The most memorable meal I had in France was one that we cooked from ingredients we gathered at the local market in St Menehould - a cassoulet made with the Champagne area's famous Puy lentils, fresh leeks and tomatoes, and homemade parsley and pork sausages, washed down with Valmy, a fruity beer from the farm down the road.
Ah, happy days. But luckily I don't have to spend 12 hours on a plane and embarrass myself with clunky Standard 8 (Grade 12) French to experience a market stocked with gorgeous fresh produce.
After a 15-minute drive to Woodstock, Cape Town, I could stock up on pig 'n fig sausages, pink Roseval potatoes, organic sparkling wine, caramel-filled crépes and handmade Gorgonzola.
A morning at The Neighbourhood Goods Market at The Old Biscuit Mill is like a holiday. It's festive and you'll eat too much. You might even find yourself buying something you don't really need - a bar of buchu, cranberry and rooibos soap, anyone? ... just because you're in the spirit of things.
On September 1, the market opened a new section, more than doubling its floor space, and Arthur and I visited to see what we could indulge in.
The first exciting new discovery was a stand called EarthApples. Now, ask Arthur, I'd been banging on for months about how we don't get enough potato varietals in South Africa, and here were hessian sacks of at least 10 types I'd never heard of.
We entered the new section of the market (thankfully it's covered, as the weather was decidedly un-springlike) and were almost immediately waylaid by Karen Dudley's stall.
I ordered an aromatic chicken curry "of the seven veils" and Arthur requested the famous roast chicken sandwich (R25 each), and we grabbed ourselves a spot at one of the communal trestle tables.
It's a country fair-like atmosphere, sharing space at a table decorated with jam jars of wild flowers, watching a live bluegrass band play and grandparents bounce their grandkiddies on their knees. Lovely.
My next great discovery was mace. Mace is the husk of the nutmeg seed, and has a subtle nutty, peppery flavour. I often come across it in UK cookbooks, but can't find it on the shelves of my supermarket. At at the Divine Foods stall, I not only found mace, but it was organic mace.
Dessert for Arthur and I had to be one of the famous Bonaparte Flannerie waffles. For R20 you can have a perfect waffle - crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside - drizzled with Belgian chocolate sauce and topped with two dollops of fresh cream.
And, of course, we couldn't leave without a bottle of Edie’s cordial (R30). She now makes a lemon-and-ginger one which we love to glug down with some soda water and ice (or hot water and a dash of whiskey, as she suggests with a wink).
The Old Biscuit Mill offers other great shopping adventures (Beads for Africa is worth a visit on its own).
Recent additions are the relocated Plush Bazaar, for new and used glass and silverware, and the Mü and Me stationery shop, stocked with the famously adorable Meu products. A branch of the A is for Apple children’s book shop will be the cherry on the top when it opens soon by September 15.
More parking has been secured at the College of Cape Town (opposite the mill, but reached from Kent Road off Salt River Road).
Take along your plastic and tin recycling as there are now facilities for this, with people to help you sort your PE-HD from your PE-LD. The market is open Saturdays and Sundays, from 9am to 2pm, for your mini-break from malls.
