Neighbourhood Goods Market

If you like a combination of a bunfight* and creative parking this one is for you.

Be prepared to be bodyslammed several times during your circular creep in the human current that moves supersluggishly around the main hall. The slamming is usually from a woman who thinks she is still in the Constantia Village parking lot with hubby's platinum card in her purse and her foot on the floor of her Porsche 4 x 4. Inform her that she is not. I find her toes are especially vulnerable, and messing up a brand new pedicure scores big on one's personal retribution-satisfaction scale.

Ommmmmmmmmmmm.

..are you talkin to me?

That said. Some products are seriously good and worth the moshpit:

This pastry stall is beautiful and if I had a really sweet tooth I would get very stuck here. I know someone who might, soon.

Origin Coffee's espresso is Proper. In fact, perhaps I might start a blog list of Proper and Not Proper. Below, Honey, Bread, Espresso: proper.

Mark Farah's honey is exceptional. The only other honey I have tasted that comes close is the Italian organic chestnut honey purchased (in bulk after I tasted it) from the Deathstar on East Houston Street.

Mark had four honeys and I fell head over heels for the Mountain Fynbos: deep, dark colour with a hint of bitterness in the finish. Very special. He says that his favourite is the Cecilia, made from the nectar of trees and flowers that grow in and around Cecilia Gorge, but I found it sweeter and still prefered the Mountain Fynbos. Tasting the honeys back-to-back was very interesting and really showed instantly how unique each can be. Amanda, a friend of Marijke's, recently told me how some bees in China are fed sugar water and then produce...sugar honey.

...and the bread (no pictures, sorry) from the Worcester guy is very good. Sold from a trailer parked in the main hall, his ciabatta has a firm crust and completely inviting interior, at once soft and resistant, with decent holes. At home I had some of the rye ciabatta with butter and the Fynbos honey...Mmmmamma.

Then there is a pizza guy who is on his way to the best pizza I've seen in this country until he goes too far: put away the squeeze bottle with balsamic goo. It's over. Enough. Too much. The tomato sauce, very little, and spread on a wafer thin crust, followed by prosciutto, Parmesan and rocket leaves. Is proper. STOP there. No avocado. No squeeze bottle. No creamy stuff. Genius is knowing when to stop.

The little stall at the entrance that houses what is left of the old Salt River Market is lovely and sells seasonal fresh produce and then some interesting homemade chutneys and hot relishes with a Cape Malay flavour. And fresh curry leaves. And the lady next door, misleadingly blonde and Anglo, whose name I should have asked, who makes samosas...very proper and delicious and spicy enough. The samosas, I mean.

More pictures next time. I'll sharpen my flip flops and redden my nails for battle with the Porsche lady. Also to do next time: rent a glass and go wine tasting at various stalls. Prosecco for breakfast is my idea of a good start to a day.

* Bunfight. Online dictionaries are unsatisfactory. South Africans do not use it, to my knowledge, to refer to a grand occasion. We use it to refer to a chaotic occasion; an occasion for which fortitude is required. A free-for-all. Feel free to contribute better definitions...

Neighbourhood Goods Market
Old Biscuit Mill
373 - 375 Albert Road
Woodstock, Cape Town
South Africa