Megan and I have always had a love of farmer’s markets, but since moving to Europe we’ve really embraced the concept.  As you’ve probably seen from our travel blogs, we try to find a market every place we visit.  We’ve found some great ones (I’ll never forget having the best baguette & tapenade of my life in some beachside village in the French Riviera), and they give a great sense of the local food & culture.  However, we don’t have to travel far to find great markets as London has some of the best. 

One of my favourite things about markets is the availability of really specialized items which are unique, fresh, or especially delicious.  Nowhere is this on display more than Borough Market, which is loaded with traders dealing in items from truffles to ostrich meat.  What exemplifies the market spirit is the “parmesan man.”  This is a market trader who sells nothing but parmesan cheese, and it is excellent.  Here’s a picture of him in action:

It can be a bit of a trip to make it all the way over to Borough and fight the crowds, but thankfully we have a great local farmer’s market within walking distance in Barnes.  It’s not huge - just fitting in the lot of the local surgery - but it’s got one of everything:  a veggie stand; speciality stands selling goods like apples & tomatoes; different Italian stands selling fresh pasta, wine, and oil; a butcher; a fishmonger; English & Continental cheese stands; a couple prepared food stands with cakes, quiches, and other snacks; hot cuisine from France, Portugal, and Morocco; bakers with fresh bread; a coffee stand; and a guy selling sushi (OK that’s sort of an odd one ;).   We do most of our week’s shopping every Saturday at the market.  Unfortunately, I find it quite difficult to capture the essence of markets on camera, but I’ve posted a few pictures of the Barnes market here.