I CAN'T STOP EATING THE FOOD IS SO GOOD HERE

Eating Local 

I'm not sure that the world needs another food blog but since I cannot stop eating, I need to do something about it. I'm also a bit of a crusader for artisan producers (being married to one) and blogs make brilliant soap boxes. Hopefully that's enough justification.  

Recently I've started to divide my time between the Kwazulu Natal Midlands where our children are at school and the British Virgin Islands where we own a bakery, a commute of 58 hours door to door, no less. I'm not sure there is a support group for this.

The island is tropical, remote and very hot. The Midlands is rural, damp and has a lot of cows and the N3 connecting it to Johannesburg to the north and Durban to the south. I suppose the constant in all of this is food. And Skype, but food is more interesting to write about.

Food on the island is shipped in at huge cost to both taste and pocket and restaurant fare is largely indifferent, with some exceptions. Food in the Midlands by contrast is about as local as local can get and it's true 'Farm to Table' stuff.  Apparently it's quite hard to find a restaurant open after 8pm though, which is a tad alarming.  Since us locals (smirk) are all  back at home in front of the fire - even in Summer - trying to decipher our children's sports schedules, this is not a short term problem.  I do see it becoming a challenge when it's time to start having one's own life again. Maybe one dosn't have that in the countryside? Just muddy dogs. I've yet to discover all of this.

Although we are newcomers, I have been eating for a long time and I get the sense that Midlands food is starting to 'grow up' and come of age. The recent proliferation of artisan producers seems to bear this out and KZN appears to be in line with global trends.  In Britain, for example, the Food & Drink industry is set to grow by another 20% in the next 5 years, with artisan producers leading the charge. Not only is there a growing environmental awareness around carbon footprints but consumers are also apparently cutting back on bigger purchases like holidays and new cars and finding solace in smaller luxuries such as artisan condiments and cordials. A good mustard goes a long way then to replacing that Med cruise (but not quite skiing).

Along with farm shops there is a good selection of farmers markets in the Midlands, at least two every weekend. Whilst the boys settle into their new schools, I'm making it my mission to visit as many of these as possible. The kids get dragged along but dont seem to mind as long as I sling them a bag of biltong and some Cream Soda. They also provide a good excuse to stock up (boys have to be fed) and they hoover up the results of these forays anyway, so it's all win-win.

Last week was a quick trip to Karkloof Market in Howick which is the 'grand daddy' of the Midlands farmer's markets, but some urgent puppy business cut short my visit and a repeat visit is in order.  I did however find some sublime white flesh peaches from Goosen farms, which look like nectarines and brought to mind drinking bellini's at Harry's Bar in Venice. We can but dream.

Today was the Rosetta Country Market which is held every second Saturday at the village dam and is a fairly recent addition to the market circuit. Since we live in Rosetta and have a certain loyalty to supporting 'local' we shopped with alacrity whilst scarffing down Rotary pancakes.

Top of the list for me is being able to buy vegetables (picked that morning) from Eastvale Farm, which borders on to our home. I'm a great fan of vegetables and particularly love all the current seasonal vegetables which I call Ratatouille Season and which thanks to Walt Disney is a big hit with the kids too. There is an abundance of courgettes (zucchini) brinjal (egg plant) and peppers at the moment as well as big blousy cauliflowers (who can ever have enough roast chicken and cauliflower cheese?) and beetroot. Today Liz from Eastvale also had lamb (for just R75/$6.50 a kilo!) and I signed up for the weekly veggie box.

Today's loot from the Rosetta Country Market

Next up were pork bangers from Viking Foods, which we've actually been looking forward to for the past two weeks. They are quite simply some of the best sausages I've ever eaten. I've also found that boys are happy to eat sausages every day of the week apart from the occasional spaghetti bolognese.  Most homemade sausages don't get the balance of fat to meat to seasoning right, but Viking are spot on. We're going to have them for supper tonight followed by a wonderful apple pie oozing with spices and raisins and real Jersey cream, all picked up from the Grapevine in Howick. I'd bought this on Friday for my eldest son's first dinner leave from boarding school but since we were so disorganised he never got to eat them. "Sorry for yooou" as we say in the South. More for us.

Also at the Rosetta market was Franco who makes his own charcuterie and I picked up some bacon for Sunday breakfast as well as a double order of Overdale Guest House's Chicken Liver Pate, it's that good. We had the pate for lunch today with the perennial South African favourite wheat cracker Provita, which we all grew up with. Today's combination was a big improvement however on the sweaty cheddar cheese we had in our school lunch boxes and we finished the lot.

I was thrilled to find Elderflower Cordial made by Kish Mish which is just about the only drink apart from Sauvignon Blanc that I actually like. And maybe Ting (from Jamaica). Actually Pongrancz too, but that's about it. Anyhow today Kish Mish had already run out of Elderflower (boo hoo) by the time we arrived, so we got their Lemon & Lavendar cordial instead. I'm also test-driving their brand new 'fiery liquid chili' called Felfel as I've gone all American and cannot eat a fried egg anymore without hot stuff all over it. Kish Mish's owners Sharon and Amal were charming to chat too and I'm looking forward to visiting their store in Pietermaritzburg as they specialise in Middle Eastern spices and other foodie stuff which you can see on their rather attractive website.

Last time round at the market I went completely mad and bought about 10 jams and marmalades, so there was no need to buy anymore this week. A special mention must go out to Heronmoor's Raspberry Jam which is more confit than jam. It's so good that it inspired me to make some of Nigella's rather good scones for tea on Sunday - basically an excuse to slather on as many raspberries as possible without actually spooning them directly out of the jar which is a bietjie onbeskof.

Market prices are generally keen and in line with supermarket prices for similar products. There are even quite a few things which are cheaper than the supermarkets (lamb for example) so an incentive in itself. There is the usual quota of stalls selling biltong and crocheted toilet roll covers but by and large the quality is right up there and the emphasis is definitely on local producers.

Artisan producers work bloody hard but sentiments are not the same as sales. For some reason penury and passion seem to be acceptable but hey I DON'T THINK SO! Artisan enterprises are businesses so if we want to eat good food then we need to actually buy the stuff that artisans make and not just go along for the bacon & egg rolls and a little chat with the nice ice cream man.

The crappy bit about selling artisan food is that producers often think that it will sell just because it is so good. The reality is that whether you are marketing battery chicken eggs or feather-speckled free range beauties, the fight for market share and the selling process is exactly the same. It's competitive and it's always a hard sell. Good old supply and demand rules and the best place to start both selling and buying (and eating) are at Farmer's Markets.

See you next Saturday with your baskets.