Wednesday 19 March 2014

Markets: a difference of approach

Last weekend Jane and I were over in France visiting our daughter Fiona and her family. Whenever we go we make a point of visiting their local market, in Ferney Voltaire, which is only a couple of miles from where they live. When you are used to British markets, one like this is a real eye-opener. Most (though not all) markets in Britain seem to be geared towards selling produce at the cheapest price possible. Quality takes second place, and people mostly go to a market with the intention of getting a bargain.

The market in Ferney seems to adopt the opposite approach. Most of the items are not cheap, but the quality is very high. The market is not what we would call a Farmers' Market, because much of the produce is imported (at least from some other part of France, or even further afield), so it is not sold directly to the consumer by the producer. Nor is it totally seasonal: for instance this week there were lots of strawberries on sale, and these would not normally be in season in this part of France until late May / early June. As long as you are happy with this concept, then you are in Foodie Heaven. There is not much in the food line that you can NOT buy on this market. There is meat, fish, bread, cheese, preserves, flowers, herbs, spices, vegetables, fruit, sweets, pancakes, fruit juices, eggs, etc, etc, etc.

When I say "vegetables", I mean every type of vegetable known to man - and good specimens as well. Why is it that in Britain you have to hunt far and wide to buy an Endive of any description when in France there are loads to choose from? The display in the photo below is just one of many similar ones to be seen on Ferney market, and you can see that it includes red lettuce, green lettuce, curly endive, flat-leaved (or Batavian) endive, "Variegato di Castelfranco" chicory and (just at edge of photo at left) some "Pick and mix" salads.


We bought one of the curly endives and the four of us ate some of it at two mealtimes, yet there was still loads left - and the price was just 1 Euro 50. (You can see the label that says "Salade au choix" - basically "take your pick of these" for 1.50).

I am also aware that people in France take more time in choosing what to buy. They umm and ahh and dither, weighing up the pros and cons of a prospective purchase, discussing its merits with the stall-holder, yet no-one minds waiting. The queue for a popular stall may be very long, but no-one complains. Quality is worth the wait. You also get to choose exactly which produce you buy. None of this "I'll have a pound of plums please" and then being given the ratty old sub-standard ones from underneath the counter rather than the good-looking ones at the front. Furthermore many of the sellers offer free samples to tempt you to buy. There is one stall that sells particularly good Jambon Cru, and while you are waiting to be served you are often given several samples to try (without having to ask), despite the fact that this is a premium product and costs a lot.

Some of the items on sale this time were relatively obscure - like these:-


No, not the carrots! On the right the chalkboard advertises "Oca de Perou" (Peruvian Oca), "Capucine tubereuse" (Mashua) and "Cerfeuil tubereuse" (Turnip-rooted Chervil). I can't tell you much about these things, because I have no knowledge of them (though I have heard of Oca and seen it advertised), but it is evident that they are fairly specialist items since they are priced at 12 Euros per kilo. I think that all three are very roughly the equivalent of the Jerusalem Artichoke. Does anyone know / use them?

P.S. As you probably gathered, I didn't take my camera to the market (my focus was on food that day!), but Fiona took a couple of shots, so I am indebted to her for those (above).

20 comments:

  1. Great sounding market. I've been to a few but when I was much younger so I didn't fully appreciate it at the time, must go back and have another peek!

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  2. The markets in Croatia are similar to these in France. In bigger towns and cities you can also buy the imported veg and fruits, but in smaller ones, like the one where I live, you can buy lots of seasonal locally produced goods. Though, the supermarkets are cheaper, I prefer to go to the farm market. Here, there is this contact with stall-holders quite common. Many of us have 'their own' cheese woman or mushroom seller, for example. What I mean, we use to buy from the same sellers for years. On the market in Croatia, you can also buy meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, and flowers as well.

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  3. I used to live on a street in Boston years ago where they had separate butchers, fish sellers, and a wonderful fruit and vegetables store. Oh I loved shopping there. Such wonderful produce. There aren't many places that have so many little corner markets anymore. We can find nice produce here though and a wide variety. If I really want to go for more variety than I can handle I can go about 1/2 hour away to the most wonderful market, Russo's. They do sell things like cheese and meat, but mostly they sell a very, very wide variety of produce. There are things there I've never heard of.

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  4. Never grown them but been very tempted. Remember seeing them here for the first time - http://www.realseeds.co.uk/unusualtubers.html

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  5. Ha, Mark! You were spot on with your description of people going to the market. That is so me umming and ahhing, as you so nicely put it!!!!
    Have you been standing behind me in the line??
    I didn't know batavia is called flat leaved endive in the UK. We just call it "batavia" as opposed to laitue or frisée salad.

    Have you ever been to the Marché Notre Dame in Versailles (not far from the castle)? That's my hunting ground and I'd love to show both of you around. I'm sure you'll think you have died and gone to heaven! ;)
    It's the biggest outdoor market in the Ile de France and they also sell meat (venison in season), fish, spices, olives, champignons and flowers.

    One advice, but you are probably already aware of that, is when shopping at a market unknown to you, you must always go to the stalls where the lines are the longest. They have the best produce or the lowest prices. That's what I always do when we are down in the South.

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    1. Is that an invitation...??? The market you describe does sound like my kind of thing!

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    2. Yes, it's an invitation! Be sure to bring your car, or at least a large suitcase to bring back a whole load of stuff. That's what my UK friends always do when they come over. They are the ones actually oohing and aahhing, having to make the difficult choice of what to take back and of what to leave behind. They tend to come over by Eurostar and I have to help them lug everything on to the train. ;) I can do the same with you.
      If you're interested you can mail me privately via FB. I'm going to post a link of the Versailles Market on my FB page.

      Brigitte

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  6. Yes, thank you Fiona for the pictures. They help bring the post to life. Now I feel I've been to the market too.

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  7. I think fruit and veg markets always look so much more colourful in other countries too. I suppose it's because of the nature of what's grown there, especially in mediterranean countries. The stalls always look so much more appealing though.

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  8. Never used them but are they Chinese artichokes?

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    1. I think not, though I may be wrong. I think the Chinese Artichoke is similar, but much smaller...

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  9. Where we live, in Kentucky, you don't see any markets except the "super-market"! In the summer, from about July to November there is a Farmer's Market with an assortment of items to buy. English and French markets look wonderful!!!

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  10. Hi Mark,
    I’m now in my third year of growing and eating Oca and I love them! Dead easy to grow-put a couple in a large pot/container after the frosts have finished in the Spring and basically leave them alone all Summer until mid Autumn-just make sure they have plenty of water and an occasional feed. They make a bushy plant and you can use the little leaves in a salad-slightly lemony tasting. The plants are disease free and pests avoid them which is a bonus. In the late Autumn the foliage dies-do not harvest for a good couple of weeks as the tubers really grow on in that period. I usually bring the containers into the garage or greenhouse at that point to allow the soil to dry out. Then usually around Christmas time start to harvest-just dig down with your hand and find each Oca. They store well in the dry soil so just harvest when you want some. Can be grated raw into a salad or cooked-best steamed I find. The taste is like a lemony new potato. Lovely to have something to harvest and eat in the Winter! Then just keep a few tubers back to start again about now. The tubers are expensive initially to buy but if you keep some back then it works out well.

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    1. VERY interesting! You make them sound very attractive. What is the yield like? I imagine it as being a lot smaller than that of the potato. (P.S. Where have you been? Are you going to start blogging again?)

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    2. Hi Mark,
      The yield is much better if you only put two or three tubers in a large container/pot. I am getting around 2 dozen tubers from each pot. I made the mistake the first year of planting too many in a pot and got less overall. I also tried some in potato grow bags but they didn’t like it if they were near the edges. They do say if you use a bigger tuber you get a better yield but I found some of the very tiny ones which I replanted did go on to produce some decent size tubers the next year. I use a liquid seaweed feed which they seem to like. They are great for a small garden being in a container and like semi shade so they don’t dry out. The main thing is not to harvest too early as they almost double in size after the foliage has died down. With light cooking they are fresh and slightly crunchy and then go more floury if cooked longer. Nice lightly roasted with some herbs but I do like them steamed. No difference really in taste on the different types. If you can get some do give them a go and I for one would be very interested in any recipes they have for them in your daughter’s area-veggie of course!
      Re blogging...had a ‘little’ break but tempted to return now...baby steps...very first one being this reply to your blog Mark!

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  11. We have Jerusalem artichokes here in Turkey and they only cost 30 cents for a kilo!!!

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  12. Mark, the vegetable at the right and bottom that is a jerusalem artichoke, in France is called a 'topinambour'. Grown both for humans - but also smaller ones for pigs etc - I always end up with bags of them from neighbours etc as they are a bit like mint - a bit of a nuisance!

    In our local market, the veg is always good, of course. The only thing to watch is being fleeced by the odd stallholder - especially if you are a foreigner - when it comes to cheese. Everyone gets fleeced once by buying cheese which is much more expensive than the one you think you're buying. It happens to guests, new ex-pats, tourists - but it generally only happens once!

    Incidentally, it is easy to become lax with personal security in rural France. I was at the market once, with my purse on the top of my basket, when a hand reached out and grabbed my purse. I swung my arm back and punched the culprit square on the jaw, only to find it was our shepherd who had crept up behind me as a joke. Luckily, he saw the funny side of it and roared with laughter. My husband thought it funny too, and always reminds me when we go to market...sigh...

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  13. Looks like a wonderful market, I'd love to spend a few hours there!

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  14. Nice vegetable shop. I like it. Thanks.

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  15. Oh I wish we had more places like this in our area! We get the "market" environment for maybe 3 months of the year when the farmers markets are open but that time of year we are harvesting like crazy from our own garden and don't really need a market. I'd love to have something like this in the off season, even if they were imported items.

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