One of the highlights was the farmers' market at Green Park station. It was the first indoor farmers' market I've been to for a while, and being under cover seems like a definite advantage on cold February days.
Stallholders were a good mixture of proper farm produce like meat, vegetables and milk, alongside lots of prepared products like pies, cakes, and jams. As usual, the cheese stalls attracted my attention. There was Bath Soft Cheeses, whose products are familiar to me from several farmers' markets in London - their Bath Blue and Bath Soft are real favourites of mine. And there was Somerset Cheddar, as you'd expect, and another stall selling unusual sheep's cheeses including a fresh soft cheese and a halloumi-style cheese.
There were beautiful jams from Rachel of With Her Hands, who makes seasonal fruit preserves. At this time of year there were early rhubarb preserves in different variations, including with ginger. And there was a chocolate and Seville orange preserve, an unusual and wonderfully luxurious spread or sauce.
Choosing a cake was no small undertaking. Jane Frere's cakes from Southside Fam were some of the most unusual, including a Lord Randall's cake - a variation of the traditional, if slightly obscure, pudding, featuring apricots and marmalade. Apparently it was created by an inventive cook of Lord Randall's, with the ingredients that were to hand when he requested a pudding. We brought back a souvenir in the form of a chocolate and ginger loaf cake - it stayed soft and moist for several days, until the last crumb had been eaten.
Beyond the farmers' market, we had a wonderful meal at Tilley's Bistro, including a memorable piperade, a rich stew of peppers, tomatoes and onions cooked with egg. We finished back with cheese again with a cheeseboard featuring no less than 10 specimens, though it was a shame one of them was a Danish Blue.
Our souvenir cheeses to take home came from a cheese stall in the Guildhall market. It's well worth popping into this tucked-away market for bread, vegetables and all kinds of deli products. We just stocked up on local cheeses, including Kelston Park organic cheese, a brie-style cheese that is stronger than most Somerset Brie. It actually comes from Bath Soft Cheeses again, but wasn't on offer at the farmers' market.
We didn't get to sample many of the cafes, but there were some great little independent places to choose from. And there was no end of good pubs, including the Raven, which does many varieties of pie and mash along with a cracking selection of beer. Bath is certainly not a city where you can go hungry.
The only downside was that we didn't actually sample any Bath buns. A return trip may be in order...
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