fascination with the market

Just before Christmas the markets were brimming with all kind of strange and wonderful foods. With each trip, there are foods that I just can’t identify. Are they animal, vegetable, or mineral? How do you prepare/cook it? And how do you eat it? Some things I may never know... but my French friend promised me that we would go hang out at the market some day and she will identify and teach me about the strange and wonderful foods that I see there. Sorry, I digressed...

Every single time we go to the market or a store, there is one thing that NEVER changes... zuchinni squash, better known as corgettes. The are NEVER out of season. I just don’t know that many different ways to prepare it... but I am learning! There isn’t much else that’s green in the market, ‘cept for that.

Oranges are in season, as are the clementines. In the states, they are very expensive but here they are really cheap. They come from Spain so I guess in the states we pay a whole lot for the shipping.

Anyway... I wondered what would happen to the markets when the temperature was sub-zero (celsius, but still cold!) Wouldn’t all those veggies and fruits turn to mush as they would start to freeze and then later thaw? I went to the market today... it was different... a few stands selling apples, cheeses, and things that wouldn’t freeze. Like clothes. Sadly, it was pretty bare.