Friday, May 19, 2006

Sarlot, Off to Le Marche









Every Saturday morning, Sarlat, the capitol of the Perigord hosts Le Marche, a grand produce market filled with everything good that the Dordogne has to offer in the way of culinary delights. This beautifully quaint, Medieval city is a delight in itself, with its honey colored stone buildings and charming alleyways.

These photos were taken in the old town center that is surrounded by much more modern city so they do not give an accurate picture of Sarlat, but a romantic one. Vive la romance! Market day is filled with typical hustle and bustle, so get there early to find parking or you may discover more of the modern city than you would like.



Whether it was being intimidated by the cheese monger who yelled at me for daring to take a photo of his "wares", even though I was not interfering with business, or bad photography, I have only the above photos to share. The first shows the breadth of variety offered on the market with red, yellow and white onions of every shape and size along with 5 varieties of dried legumes. The second is my favorite; it documents the flavored oils I brought back from this trip. The Perigord is famous for walnuts and foie gras, so I couldn't possibly pass up walnut oil. In an old building at the foot of the market I discovered a vendor selling sunflower oils flavored with chantrelles, truffles and morel mushrooms, that certainly deserved to be purchased. The market was lush with produce, cheeses and charcuterie and well worth a trip.

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