A Taste of France... Fresh Off The Ferry (Brunomart French & Continental Markets)

Member Name: snowbunni

Product:	Brunomart French & Continental Markets
Date:	30/10/06 (2771 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ambience, Quality Produce

Disadvantages: A Little Costly

Last Sunday, a little unexpectedly, I found myself in the midst of a traditional French market. The insistent shouts of the fruit-sellers, the scent of crêpes and roasting chestnuts, and the creative assembly of the simplest of merchandise, from cheeses and fruits to sausages and olives, all combined to create an unmistakably Gallic ambience. Meandering amidst the stalls, I secured a pungent sheath of smoked garlic, some olive bread, several pastries, plump red grapes, olives, a thick wedge of smoked ham and a number of cheeses. Then, satisfied with my haul… I decamped to Debenhams, and had a coffee. A Debenhams on the Continent? Well, not exactly. For in fact, this particular market wasn’t in Toulouse, or Dijon, or anywhere else even remotely French. Rather, it was held on the Buttermarket, a town square in the centre of Ipswich. However, whilst the produce and ambience were certainly redolent of a market on the Continent, for the most part the prices were not…


THE CONCEPT:

Founded in the late 1990’s, Brunomart represents a collective of some 35 French market stallholders. These traders visit the UK towards the end of most weeks, recreating their small scale, traditional French market on regional squares and marketplaces throughout Britain. The enterprise is named, a trifle vaingloriously perhaps, after its founder, Bruno Giradeau, whose rugged, Mediterranean profile is displayed prominently on Brunomart’s eponymous website. Brunomart publicity suggests (a little fancifully, in my opinion) that a visit to the market represents a good alternative to that day-trip to Calais. Admittedly, the good bread, excellent selection of cheeses, as well as unexpected delicacies such as a freshly prepared Cassoulet are more than likely to give your average Francophile a temporary fix. However, the selection is still limited and the produce expensive. Furthermore, for most people, that day trip to Calais is still more about stocking up on unseemly quantities of cheap booze or cigarettes than about the more subtle pleasures of a freshly prepared Cassoulet anyway… All the same, the market is a charming idea, well executed, and well worth a visit should Bruno and his troop happen to descend upon a town near you.


THE MARKET:

On my visit to the Brunomart in Ipswich, the market consisted of roughly twenty stalls. These included a boulangerie/patisserie, a cheese stall, a stall selling smoked and cured meats, an extensive fruit and vegetable display, a crêperie, and further stalls selling such produce as olives, Belgian chocolates, honey, charcuterie and home made biscuits. Anyone still labouring under the misapprehension that the English hate the French would do well to pay a visit to a local Brunomart. Once there, consider the extraordinary spectacle of dozens of people queuing for up to 30 minutes (in the rain, no less) to secure a humble baguette. At the cheese stand, similar scenes, more reminiscent of communist-era Bucharest, prevailed. Who would have imagined that a little goat’s cheese, or a whiffy wedge of Pont L’Eveque would ever provide such a draw? Our local market was very well advertised in advance, both in and around the town, but even this cannot entirely explain its astonishing popularity.


THE STALLS:

At the boulangerie stand, baguettes and croissants were freshly baked throughout the day in specially designed mobile ovens located behind the stall, and the resulting scents were almost irresistible. Other items, such as specialty breads and fruit tarts, are baked in France very early in the morning and then brought across the channel by the stallholders. The (admittedly rather small) specialty loaves, such as olive or walnut bread, cost around £3 each. Baguettes and croissants, on the other hand, were very reasonably priced.

An excellent selection of olives was available at a nearby stall, in glistening mounds emerging from small wooden barrels. A small pot of toothpicks sat beside each barrel, with the stallholder continually encouraging passers-by to test the produce. There were fat green olives laced with garlic and herbs, Morrocan style olives, huge and moist Kalamatas, tiny onions pickled with cumin and chilli, amongst an array of others. These were all priced at £4 per 250gr, which seemed reasonable enough, but a couple of smallish scoops cost me just over £10, probably a little dearer than expected.

The fruit and vegetable stall was probably the largest at the market, with fresh produce displayed along one side, and an impressively comprehensive selection of dried and smoked garlic along the other. Tomatoes, which were enormous, sweet smelling and violently red, were priced at £3 a kilo. Firm little clementines, complete with token leaf attached, and reasonably priced, were displayed in a bright orange band. Beside them, there were some huge, mahogany-coloured chestnuts, bigger than walnuts, and assembled in picturesque mounds. A small number of large artichokes rested at the edge, looking very superior indeed, and costing £3 each.

Crêpes were sold from a small caravan-style stand, encircled by the ubiquitous hordes, and doing a roaring trade. The crêpes were sold with a large selection of the usual toppings, both sweet and savoury, including Grand Marnier, Nutella, Gruyere and ham. Adjacent to this was a stall selling home made biscuits, Belgian chocolates and boiled sweets.


AND IF YOU THOUGHT MARKETS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE CHEAP…


After little more than half an hour spent strolling around the Brunomart in Ipswich, I had somehow succeeded in spending almost £40. Astonishingly, this costly haul fitted comfortably into a couple of smallish carrier bags. Of course, the exercise would have proven more expensive still had my current pregnancy not prevented me from adding a little Pont L’Eveque and Livarot to the load. Still, my shopping expedition was well worthwhile, we are still enjoying several of my purchases some days later, and I would happily visit the Brunomart again the next time one is held in Suffolk. Recommended.



INFORMATION:

Brunomart has held markets at the following towns so far in 2006: Amesbury, Attleborough, Bath, Bexleyheath, Bromley, Berkhamstead, Brackley, Bicester, Barking, Bognor Regis, Buckingham, Bourne, Broadstairs, Chester, Cranleigh, Croydon, Darlington, Diss, Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Farnham, Faversham, Fleet, Godalming, Grantham, Gravesend, Hackney, Hartlepool, Hastings, Ipswich, Lavenham, Leytonstone, Milton Keynes, Market Harborough, Newark, Norwich, Shoreham, Stamford, Swindon, Staines, Stowmarket, Salisbury, Southampton, Sudbury, Thetford, Tunbridge Wells, Winchester, Walton on Thames, Walthamstow, Whitely Village, Woking, Woolwich, Wootton Bassett, Worthing, Yarmouth (Isle of Wight).


Further information, including a full list of upcoming markets, is available at the website www.brunomart.com .

Bruno Girardeau
OFFICE ADDRESS
7 Buckland Road, Lower Kingswood, Surrey KT20 7DN
Tel/Fax: 01737 832718

Summary: A Travelling Market, Fresh From France