Sunday, October 09, 2005

Sunday Market in October

Though it is still quite warm and humid around here for October, fresh fruits and vegetables at the market tell us that it’s Autumn now.
*Click photos to enlarge.



I'm happy to see wider variety of grapes sold at stores these days. In the past, we only had grapes with thick skins in Japan (or at least in Shikoku, I guess) and we never ate the skins. So I was shocked when I saw, for the first time, people eating grape skins in the U.S. Now we have grapes with thin skins here in Kochi, too, and my mom wouldn’t be frightened to see her daughter eating up grapes, leaving seeds and stems only.


I always love to see the crafts at this stall.

When I was a kid, one of my dreams was having my own chestnut tree so that I would be able to eat chestnuts anytime I want.







Here they sell “red rice” and “black rice,” the kinds of rice widely grown in ancient times, but very rare now. Their nutritious values have been rediscovered recently and some people seem to love mixing them into regular rice. (But see the price…)



Big Asian pears, ginger roots and early tangerines.


Honeycombs& honey, and of course, sweet potatoes!


Mushrooms and greens.

I didn’t see many today, but pretty soon persimmons will be in season. Oh, there's no break for foodies, right? ;)

9 comments:

KT121 said...

Never been to Kochi but I'd love to visit there one day.

Anonymous said...

Selling Japanese style

Art of Presentation!
I've been on a vegetarian kick lately. The combination of many vegetables, nuts, legumes is wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Obachan;
How wonderful it is to have the ability to shop for fresh produce like that!!!! You are so fortunate. We have few farm markets where I live and certainly not any variety as I see in your photos.....I think I would like to live in Kochi....

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the photos, Obachan. I had never seen chestnuts with the skins, so when I saw the photo, I thought they were rambutans (my favourite fruit)! www.rambutan.com

obachan said...

KT121
Please come! Lots and lots of local dishes will be waiting for you :D

Joanna
Looks like many people around me is on a vegetarian kick these days. (IMBB effect?) Enjoy your vegetarian dishes.

carlyn
I would have been luckier if I had more money to spend on those good fruits/veggies.

Amber Amethryne
I’ve tried rambutan just a couple of times before and I liked it, but I only saw the white flesh inside then. I didn’t know until very recently how it looks when it has the rind on. Sounds like it’s a popular fruit over there. Lucky you.

Farmgirl Susan said...

Wonderful photos. I think if I were at that market I would have gone wild wanting to buy one (or more) of absolutely everything! : )

obachan said...

Hi farmgirl
I bet you’ll have a great fun there. But I have to warn you; there’ll be a challenge for many Western people at the market. Sometimes a strong smell of traditional daikon pickles will surprise you, and let me tell you, that’s a VERY strong smell.

obachan said...

Definitely. I just wish it was easier to peel them...

obachan said...

Absolutely right ;)