The location is one of its advantages - in the grounds of St Mark's Church, Kennington, right opposite Oval station. It's a tranquil green space in busy south London, so when the weather is warm enough you can make a picnic from your purchases without having to walk more than a few feet.
Stalls include some that I have encountered at other farmers' markets, including Honest Carrot (interesting vegetarian snacks like Brie and mushroom pudding or a spicy London Roast). I have mentioned the Cakehole before - their orange and almond cake is still moist, tangy and luscious. I tried the excellent cream-filled chocolate sponge, too.
Baked goods are quite well represented, with breads and sweet things from the Old Post Office Bakery, plus a whole stall of giant cookies (the cookie stall also does a wonderfully rich brownie) and another stall selling home-made madeleines, meringues, cheese scones and few other savoury things. Their cinnamon cookies were pretty good (and my grandmother thought so too!)
A new producer to me was Bath Soft Cheeses, selling three of their own cheeses (they were there last Saturday but not today, so not sure if they go every week). There is Wyfe of Bath, a medium strength cheese like a Gouda, Bath Blue, and my favourite, a soft cheese simply called Bath Soft Cheese, somewhere between a Brie and a Camembert, which goes nicely runny when ripe. The stylish packaging also has the original recipe, dated 1908, on the back.
A second cheese stall sells some very fine English cheeses (Appleby Cheshire, Tunworth, Blue Monday and much more) alongside some Continental ones. But I can't help thinking that farmers' markets should ideally be staffed by the producers - if you sell cheese from all over the country, are you doing anything different from a cheese shop? (It also struck me that Bath is a long way from Oval - this long-distance aspect of London farmers' markets has been perplexing me.)
There are also vegetables, soft fruit, eggs, Giggly Pig sausages, apple juice and quite a few other things.
A tip: go with sufficient cash. The only functioning cash machine I could find in the area was the kind that charges you for the privilege of extracting your money.
Vital stats:
When and where: Every Saturday, 10am to 3pm, St. Mark's Church, The Oval, Kennington, SE11 4PW
Website http://weareccfm.co.uk/Oval.html
Number of stalls: 15 (approx, on my visit)
Range of produce: Good
Value for money: 8
Marks out of 10: 8
The Bath cheeses sound divine, if, however, not terribly local.
ReplyDeleteThey were - I was really disappointed when they weren't there on my second visit!
ReplyDelete