SAB & Eat In Night Market

I couldn’t really contain myself for most of the week since I heard about this event.  I have been meaning to get to the Saturday morning market at The Old Biscuit Mill for ages, but somehow my schedule just never allowed for it.  When Eat In announce that they are organizing a Night Market along with the launch of the 2011 edition of Eat In Magazine and the 2011 Produce Awards I was friggen excited to say the least.  This would mean that I could do my after work shopping at the market instead of the grocery store!!

When Richard Bosman told me on twitter that he had some Guanciale I could take off his hands I was practically wishing the hours away.  I have been looking for this stuff for +- 8 years, and at last I have found it, a simple tweet away!

I did not even get to the actual awards, I was like a kid in the candy store in the Night Market, stuffing kick-ass ingredients into the conveniently sold shopping bags, and also the most passionately prepared foods into my mouth.  Quite the balancing act I tell ya!

Colorful people all around, I really enjoyed the vibe, was a good feeling being around so many people that are passionate about good food.

These guys had the freshest looking vegetables I’ve seen in a long time.  I picked up some red onions, limes, garlic and beautiful large brown mushrooms.  I got big plans for those puppies for breakfast tomorrow.

Next I got round to the Puglia Cheese stand, where they had a variety of different types of mozzarella available for tasting.  I didn’t even know you get that many different types!  Unfortunately I did not take notes on the names but I will investigate this stuff in more detail.  I walked off with a cool looking air dried ball, a soft matured lump, and some other kind of mozzarella that I don’t really know how to explain, I can only say that it is delicious.  As a cheese lover I really need to learn more about the products these passionate Italians have on offer, and so should you!

Next it was time for a wee snack.  I thought a bar one filled Crêpe would do nicely, so I asked the friendly gentleman at the Crêpe stand if that could be arranged, to which he replied “With pleasure!”

Yes yes you can’t see the bar 0ne I know, but thats because he folded it so expertly! Stick a knife into this pouch and a gooey sweet river of dark brown goodness oozes out. Woohooooo! Great Success!

Another hit was the friendly and passionate looking Italian with his creations, the mother of all pizzas. I did not tuck into one, but they were a big hit amongst the other punters!

My eye caught on to something else though, this gigantic wheel of Grana Padano, a cheese very similar to Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan to the non cheese freaks).  He imports this stuff from Italy, and after he handled me a couple of slivers of it to taste, I understood why, it is incredibly good!

I reluctantly asked the man if he would be willing to part with some of it, thinking he would say no, as seems to use generous amounts of it on his pizzas.  He smiled and says sure he will sell some, told me it is rather expensive though, R400 a kilo.  Money was no object I had to have some.  He tried finding a scale and after no success on that front, I asked him to eyeball it and he cut me off a nice chunk and we called it square at R100.  I was overjoyed and quickly popped my chunk of gold into my goodie bag!

Onwards! I made a stop at Richard Bossman‘s stand where I picked up the Guanciale he had for me (Finally, I have it in my hands!) along with a selection of other fine pork products, including “real bacon” which looks like it should be framed and hung in an art gallery.  I cant wait for breakfast tomorrow!

I somehow forgot to take pictures! Never yee mind, I have a number of ideas on what I am going to do with this stuff and I will take pics and post the recipes here.  The man’s products oozes quality, and after munching on a selection of Coppa, Salami and Bresaola (read, I finished the whole friggen pack) I can assure you it more than delivers on taste! He will definitely be seeing more of THIS pork addict!

The famous Knead bakery was also there with a selection of their artisanal loaves.  I picked up a sourdough and it is a work of art I can tell you that much!

I also spotted this dude that was busy starting up a giant Paella.  I didn’t sample some of the end product, but I saw plenty of smiling customers walking around with some of it in their hands! I love the big ass pans he got set up!

I also got to briefly meet up with some of the Cape Town Foodie Twitterati, twas good to be able to put a real person to the personality in the box!

I think the Night Market is a great idea, starting at 5pm, its the perfect timing in my book.  People are on their way home, they need to cook dinner and if they can get fresh local produce of this quality in an environment like this, I have no idea what will stop them.  I saw loads of happy faces all round, I have a feeling this is going to be a great success!  Well done to the Eat In SA and SAB teams who put this together, I salute you!

 
For more detail visit Eat In SA’s website http://www.eat-in.co.za