Down on the Allotment

Matron grows vegetables and fruit in a Hampshire garden. I've been growing veggies since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Some traditional varieties and old favourites as well as new ideas. I share my garden with my allotment assistant Daisy the Labrador. On Twitter as @MatronsVeggies

Friday, November 07, 2014

A Trip to Bruges

 Regular readers will know I love visiting outdoor markets when I travel round the world. There is something very vibrant and exciting about all this fresh produce on sale. Also a sense of history when the market square is and always has been the centre of society for centuries. None more so in the Market Square in Bruges, Belgium.
 So where else would you find fresh, local Brussels Sprouts than in Belgium! National pride!
 But it is more than that. This is wonderfully displayed, squeaky fresh and mouth wateringly tempting.
 Why can't we display and sell produce like this in the UK? These carrots with tops and bottoms are just fantastic! You could actually smell them!
 Even the regular produce was displayed so beautifully.
 Top quality, locally produced fruit and veggies.  Why can't we get this over here?
 The Fish Market was amazing too.  These North Sea Langoustine were freshly landed just 7 miles away in Zeebrugge (that's the sea port of Bruges) and steamed at the market and sold straight out of the pot still steaming! 
 and look how these leeks are sold.  Still with their green tops and their roots on the bottom, bunched and displayed so attractively.  British supermarkets cut off all the leaves and roots and just sell them in a boring, sterilized, sanitized, plastic bag!
 Fresh markets are just the life and soul of a community.  Most UK local markets are over-run with mobile phone covers, jewellery, plastic stuff and more plastic stuff... I live in London and there are just so few outlets for really wonderful fresh fruit and veggies - I suppost that's why I grow my own!
The market in Bruges is on every Wednesday, and the Christmas market starts at the end of November.

2 Comments:

At 6:05 PM, Blogger Mark Willis said...

I feel exactly the same way. We are rubbish at markets in the UK. Almost everywhere else is better. I love visiting markets when I'm abroad.

 
At 8:37 PM, Blogger Lee said...

Looks great. We are crap at markets in this country. We'll learn, one of these days.

 

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