Shopping for groceries or eating in restaurants in unfamiliar places can be an engaging adventure, and entertaining too. While visiting foreign countries, shopping for groceries is one of my favorite activities.
In southern France, for example there is no shortage of market vendors, or supermarkets. Most towns have a market day, where people can walk to the local town square and buy just about anything one might need.
There are booths with brilliant, colorful displays of fresh organic vegetables, fruits and flowers. Each market, even the smaller ones offer stunning varieties of vegetables. At a market customers can shop for inexpensive clothing, household items, fresh seafood, mussels, prawns, farm fresh honey, eggs, various varies of smelly cheese, some that are strong and fragrant, or cheese that is mild yet flavorful. There are meat vendors with chickens fully roasted, or uncooked and various cuts of meat, as well as local sausages and preserved meats. The Catalan region is famous for charcuterie and shoppers will find many types of cured sausages.
Market or supermarket shoppers can always find the usual assortment of ‘awful’ offal. Tripe, for example is sheep stomach lining, supposedly very tasty in a crepe with an over easy egg topped off with an egg cooked over-easy with a runny yolk. Tripe is available in most meat market stores. It’s white in appearance and I’m told that it must be “whitened” to make it more appealing or maybe safer.
Incidentally, eggs are free range, the shells are much thicker than eggs in stores in the US and in my experience always fresh, delicious, easy to cook and safe.
Additionally, there’s fresh liver, kidneys, pig’s feed and head cheese. It’s not uncommon to buy slices of meat that are cut from a hoofed animal hind end while the customer waits.
The French like to eat baby squid, and octopus. We sat next to a group of diners one day who were enjoying a fully tentacled octopus for lunch. Of course, I wanted to take a photograph but didn’t.
There are usually quite a few artisans and crafters who offer art for sale too, as well as street musicians who play for donations.
Although it seems strange, what’s really fun is handing over money to pay for one’s purchases. (minus the offal). The food is locally grown, fresh, delicious, healthy, and maybe best of all, surprisingly affordable.
Read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
