Sharon’s Trip to Comber Farmers Market
I’m ashamed to say that this morning was my first visit to Comber Farmers Market.
I went with the intention of grabbing some delicious vegetables from Horners on my way into work.
Heading into Comber village, the place was hiving, lots of activity happening. Parking was great…I was able to park behind the bus station. However, there is plenty of parking in the Square and behind SuperValu.
I had forgotten to bring along some cash. However, this superb location had an ATM outside Tesco.
The food market is tucked into St Mary’s car park – just follow the ladies with their trendy shopping bags and various wheeled trolleys!
The market is well arranged with plenty of variety.
Mangetout Deli was there with the most delicious Portuguese tarts, but the wild mushroom and truffle oil tart caught my eye. Franck Breteche is one very talented chef!
Everything here is “Made With Love”, especially Margaret Cooper’s new Raspberry and White Chocolate Jam in addition to her Berry and 70% Dark Chocolate Jam which is launching soon!
I met the lovely people at Go Yeast who are “Micro bakers” from Donaghadee. They specialise in using organic flour and their passion is for sourdough. I wanted to try their Multigrain Sourdough, cracked malted rye, oats and sunflower seeds and spices including coriander, fennel & caraway.
To go with my bread I picked up some delicious Young Culmore made by Christo Swanepoel from City Cheese who makes his cheese from Organic raw milk in Milisle.
Alison from the Old Post Office Lisbane was there with an array of baked goods, difficult to resist those tempting fifteens!
Susan brought along her new Burren Balsamic Blackberry & Thyme Balsamic Vinegar which was deliciously fruity with a hint of thyme. This product would be an excellent marinade for game.
Charlie from Broughgammon had his usual selection of Cabrito goat. He explained that at the Comber market, he likes to try out some new sausage varieties. So today he had some chorizo sausage and a veal breakfast sausage. These were definitely worth trying!
A lot of locals come to the market to try the very popular sticky toffee pudding by Linda DeVecchis from Sticky Toffee Puddings. As I was super early, I was the first customer to try the new “Guinness and Bushmill’s Pudding.”
This is what I love about local markets, you get to meet the people that make the produce and more often than not they offer you a sample to try to tempt you. With ingredients like this I needed no persuasion. I bought a family sized portion, but fear not if you only wanted a single portion, she makes them in a cute single serving.
For all the fans of Keen Nut Butter, the smooshers brought along their new flavours including Almond Crunchy Maple and Smooth Cashew. So very decadent!
Time was fast approaching for me to leave so I raced to Neary Nogs. Here, I purchased some Lemon and Green Tea Chocolate to sweeten up the fact that I was going to be late into the office. (This was a huge hit – I would recommend some for your co workers!)
Conniseurs Bakery was there if you needed to stock up on your potato bread and soda bread. They also had some delicious looking pancakes. The Local were also there with their locally made chutneys.
Last but not least was the man I came to the market to see, Garth Horner with his fabulous range of local vegetables. Garth’s family have been farming the land in the Comber area for years and the expertise shows in the quality of the vegetables. There is something wonderful about buying the dirty carrots & parsnips, smelling the earth that connects us all to the land that produces our food.
I love the fact that there is no packaging and you can buy exactly what you need.
As I headed into the office to do my days work, my experience at Comber Farmers Market was a gentle reminder of the people behind our food and how important it is to support them. This is my preferred way to shop, it just takes a bit of forward planning.
Comber market has so much to offer and if you have a bit of extra time on your hands make sure to pop into Sugarcane Bistro for a cup of Suki Tea…all this chatting, sampling and shopping is thirsty work!
Comber Market is on the first Thursday of every month. For further information please visit their website www.combermarket.co.uk
