A Winter Notting Hill Farmers Market
On Saturday mornings a great thing happens in London, and its been going on for hundreds of years. Can you guess? The good old fashioned farmers market. OK, so its happening in many cities across Europe actually, and now even growing in the U.S. too. All over Asia, India, Arabia… Its a marvelous human phenomenon and should be celebrated no matter where you live. I miss the NYC Union Square one like an old friend. The Thai markets are out of this world and I have spent hours photographing stills of totally lame stuff like chopped fish heads and little cute Thai ladies selling beans. I wont even talk about Italy or India; I could go on for hours the visual and foodie joys. But London offers a great variety as everything is almost as you can imagine as it was years ago, still organic, and totally local, cute little signs and even better accents. I love the whole English approach, and is deliciously appealing to my Yankee roots. My go to is the Notting Hill Farmers Market, in a little car park at Kensington Place, just around the corner from my flat. It is hands down one of my favorite things to do, especially if I am cooking on Saturday evening for people I tend to adore. I can then pick the freshest stuff out there, which takes a good menu to greatness. It is fantastic for so many reasons. It’s cheaper than a supermarket for the most part, and it’s naturally macrobiotic (in season). It keeps the farms running (good for planet, check) and the farmers, butchers, and fishermen paid and their families fed. We need the little guys and we need to support our community in which we live. So there are many reasons to make the effort to get up a bit early and check out your local market on a Saturday morning. Sometimes, admittedly, I still have a bit of a headache from a late Friday night, leftover sparkles in my hair even! But I don’t ever really mind to make the early morning journey.
I love winter greens. I love cavalo nero… I love kale, especially red. I love rainbow colored chard and spicy winter lettuce. The whole lot. And now is the season of full winter green glory. Head to your local market in winter, and if in the U.K., it is a particular British speciality I am finding, much to my delight.
What is interesting, however, is that your local grocery shop does not even really supply chard, kale, and cavolo nero (well, the latter is a speciality from Italy, but still), which is shocking as its such a big crop in England at this time of the year. I think they are to focused on keeping the asparagus supply from South America in stock honestly. Whole foods stocks it but you pay double. So it makes sense to wake up and get the local stuff. Also to understand what IS local so you are supplying your body with what is naturally available in your own environment.
Rainbow chard is so beautiful; it plays to my artist heart strings. And it is entirely wrong to cut off all of the stem; it holds so much flavor and looks great on the plate. Just cut it in half and slice out the tough bottom bit. Think about it like a stretched out triangle. Put it into the pot whole as well, they will shrink down after tossing them around in some salted boiling water almost immediately, and then you can neatly slice them after they are cooked and drained in a rolled bundle, like you would basil.
The nutrients in winter greens are dense and rich, perfect for keeping off colds and chills and viral bugs. It is rich in the usual winter veg stuff… vitamins A, C, K, calcium, beta carotene, folate, and loads of antioxidants. It is important to eat lots of these seasonal vitamins that are automatically packed in for you by the earth. They make sure your body is strong enough to take the weather. Plus I really consider the whole “winter green group” a superfood if you think about how much it offers you. I actually think my body craves it more than my tastebuds when it gets cold. But it can be extremely delicious if handled properly, I promise. There are numerous ways to do them. Do check out my swiss chard recipe with kale chips and seeds. I will enclose more as the winter season comes forth for sure.
There are also some great looking squash and pumpkins around. All shapes and sizes. A great source of unrefined carbs, and rich in Vitamin A, B6, C, E, Niacin, Folate, Calcium, and Magnesium. Again, all great to keep you going strong in the cold. Plus if you roast the seeds and sprinkle them on salads, it’s not only awesome tasting, but a great vegan source of protein.
There are some excellent winter salad greens out there as well. On Saturday, I came across a new variety I had never seen before, called “Claytonia”. It is soft and almost furry, with delicate heart shaped leaves. It has a taste in between spinach and watercress. A slight touch of bitter but pleasant and elegant. Would be lovely simply steamed, served in a salad, stir fried gently in a coconut curry in place of spinach, or tossed in an omelette with some garlic, chili, and onion. It is full of polyunsaturated fatty acids from Omega 3. It also has a large amount of vitamin C. It is a great source of dietary fiber and minerals.
Speaking of chili, it’s almost out of season to buy local and fresh if you live in London apparently. My little market has a great stall where they grow them in greenhouses until it simply gets to cold to maintain. Chilis are obviously from warmer climates (originally from Mexico and tossed around the world in fact by the Portuguese), so to get them local here is great… but as it was explained to me by the farmer, if he had to continue to heat his greenhouse through the winter to keep the chilis happy, we wouldn’t be able to afford them! You can do what I do which is dry them by a semi sunny window in a big bowl. They are great, but in a different, much milder way. Or go Italian and boil them for about 30 seconds…then dry them, throw them in a sterilized jar with good Italian olive oil to the top of the jar, and within half an hour you have very tasty chili preserve, kept in oil that lasts for months.
I must also mention the Brookleas fish farm stall. Lovely chipper bloke manning the operation. Now we are talking omega 3, 6, and 9. Great combo in terms of flavor and nutrition, especially if then thrown on top of your steamed winter greens. They do farmed trout, in a variety of ways…smoked is amazing. He will even give you his wife’s recipes, and you can even hire him out for fishing trips…
Most climates in winter are cold, rainy, snowy, and pretty grey. Particularly London and Europe, and I don’t want to gripe here. It’s just not so pleasant. But it’s lands are filled with an amazing abundance of food that helps us through it. Check out your local market and enjoy what your farmers are growing for us to get us through these cold and dark months. It can change a dark dismal winter’s day into a warm, delicious, and comforting experience.
