Thursday, December 1, 2011

San Isidro's Farmer's Market

Aujourd’hui, nous sommes allés au marché fermier de San Isidro de El General, un marché qui se tient tous les jeudis dès 8 h, à environ 40 minutes de chez nous. Quelle abondance, mes amis! Je n’avais pas amené mon appareil photo pour des raisons de sécurité, mais comme c’est plutôt tranquille à ce temps-ci de l’année, je l’apporterai la semaine prochaine pour vous faire voir à quoi ça ressemble.

Today, we went to San Isidro de El General farmer’s market, that is held every Thursday from 8 am, about 40 minutes from where we live. So much abundance, my friends! I didn’t bring my camera for safety reasons, but since it is still pretty quiet at this time of year, I will bring it next week to show you what it looks like.

Malgré le fait qu’il est inévitable qu’ils nous fassent des prix de gringos, nous sommes déjà rendus un peu plus habiles dans le négoce. L’avantage est aussi qu’on achète en grande quantité et que nous sommes en position de faire baisser le prix. Nous avons acheté une caisse d’ananas (20 succulents gros ananas pour 16 $ — 80 sous chacun!), une caisse de petites bananes (6 grosses mains pour 3 $), 15 jeunes noix de coco, 5 gros sacs d’oranges et 5 grands jus d’orange fraîchement pressés pour 10 $!! On a des mangues (de type piña), mais elles sont quand même chères, car ce n’est pas la saison (20 mangues pour environ 15 $), des fruits de la passion, des sapotes, des melons, des mûres, et plus encore.

Despite the fact that it is unavoidable that they give us gringo prices, we are becoming more skilled at negociating. The advantage is also that we are buying in bulk and we are in a position to drop the prices. We bought a pineapple box (20 juicy and sweet big pineapple for 16 $ - 80 cents each!), a box of small bananas (6 big hands for 3 $), 15 young green coconuts, 5 big bags of oranges and 5 tall glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice for 10 $!! We have mangoes (piña variety), but they are still expensive since they are not in season (20 mangoes for about 15 $), passion fruits, mammey sapote, melons, boysenberries, and more.


:: Raw goat milk and raw cow's milk with lots of yellow cream!/Lait de chèvre et lait de vache cru avec plein de crème jaune! ::

On a aussi trouvé du lait de chèvre et de vache cru, du bon fromage frais, de l’huile de coco bio et crue, du miel et des tortillas fraîches à très bon prix. C’est drôle, tous les produits liquides se vendent dans des bouteilles de Coke réutilisée!

We also found raw goat and cow’s milk, great fresh cheese, raw organic coconut oil, honey and fresh tortillas at a good price. It’s funny, all the liquid products are sold in reused Coke bottles!


:: Local raw organic coconut oil and wild raw honey/Huile de coco bio crue et miel cru sauvage locaux ::




Puis, nous sommes allés à l’épicerie pour nous équiper des ingrédients de base, mais aussi de bottes d’eau pour pouvoir aller cueillir des fruits et des feuilles (et des fleurs) d’hibiscus – saviez-vous que les feuilles d’hibiscus sont super nutritives? Et il y en a partout autour de la maison!- sans craindre les serpents, des pailles pour boire l’eau des noix de coco, mais aussi (et surtout!) un oreiller sans tâches de moisissures et confo pour moi (à 6 $)! Sans aucun doute le meilleur achat de la journée!

Then we went to the grocery to get the basic ingredients, but also rubber boots to be able to pick fruits and hibiscus leaves (and flowers) – did you know those were super nutricious wild greens? They grow everywhere on the property! - without fearing the snakes, straws to drink the coconut water, but also (and especially!) a comfortable pillow for me without mold (for 6 $)! Undoubtedly the best buy of the day!



Ce que nous n’avons toujours pas réussi à trouver, c’est du savon à lessive et à vaisselle naturel et surtout, non parfumé…

What we still haven’t found is some natural, and especially unscented dish soap and laundry detergent…

Puis, il va falloir perfectionner notre technique de retour… Ça fait deux fois qu’on revient à la maison avec du beurre tout fondu partout dans le fond des sacs…

And we will have to work our our return technique… We came back home with melted butter spread everywhere in the bag… twice!

Après avoir fini les courses, nous sommes allés dîner dans un soda (tous les petits restos Ticos s’appellent des sodas), où nous nous sommes régalés d’arroz con pollo et de taco doble pour trois fois rien!

After we were done shopping, we went to have lunch in a soda (all the little Ticos restaurant are called sodas), where we had some delicious arroz con pollo and taco doble for very little!


:: We have many, many pineapple! We will freeze them for smoothies! Nous avons beaucoup, beaucoup d'ananas! Nous les congèlerons pour faire des smoothies! ::

Mais là, c’est bon, j’ai tout ce qu’il me faut pour me remettre totalement au cru! Puis, j’ai trouvé mes repères en cas d’urgence-faim : Chapy’s à Dominical fait des smoothies juste fruits et glace (c’est d’ailleurs eux qui nous ont fait découvrir le succulent combo ananas-fruits de la passion-glace) et il y a quelques kiosques de fruits dans les environs qui ont presque toujours des bananes mûres ou des ramboutans qui peuvent être mangés immédiatement!

But now, I am good, I have all I need to get back to full raw! And I found some places where I can go in case of hunger-emergency : Chapy’s in Dominical makes fruits-only smoothies (it is there that we discovered the amazing passion fruit-pineapple-ice combo) and there are some fruit vendors in the area where there is almost always ripe bananas or rambutan that can be eaten on the spot!


:: Let's play name that fruit! It is manga-something, it's like a tiny unripe mango, very acidic and eaten with salt. Do you know the name of it?/Jouons à nommer ce fruit! C'est manga-quelque chose, c'est comme une petite mangue pas mûre, très acide qui se mange avec du sel. Connaissez-vous le nom? ::

C’est tellement humide à cause de toute la pluie, les vêtements ne sèchent pas… et tout est humide (les draps, les coussins du divan, les vêtements qu’on a apportés et qui n’ont pas encore été portés, les livres, les feuilles de papier…). Vivement la fin de la saison des pluies!

It is so humid because of all the rain, the clothes don’t dry up… and everything is damp (the sheets, the couch, the clothes that we brought and did not even wear, the books, the paper sheets…). Let’s hope the rainy season will end soon!



Et vous savez quoi? Nous avons aperçu notre premier couple de toucans aujourd’hui! Juste à côté de la maison!

And you know what? We spotted our first toucan couple today! Right beside the house!

18 comments:

Francesca said...

I've never seen that manga- fruit before. Looks like you are in the perfect place for your raw diet!

taisa said...

Wow- this looks so amazing- look at all that wonderful food! That must feel really good. I think that green fruit might be a green (unripe) mango. In India we ate the green mangoes with salt or as a pickle and they look quite similar to that one.

Catherine said...

Taimarie, that is probably what they are. The taste really grows on you... but I don't need another reason to eat salt!

Unknown said...

Sounds like you are settling in there. We pay 15 cents for a banana and 80 cents for Pineapples. We also pay gringo prices..happy you found some raw milk.. I forgot to tell you to take some yogurt starter because you can make yogurt on the counter you don't even need a machine in that warmth. Green papayas are also good and even more nutritious than ripe. I remember the green mangos in India, they also put a spice on it.

Catherine said...

I know Jeanene, I would have loved to have some yogourt starter... Maybe I can buy some nice (super expensive) bulgar yogurt from a lady at the market and make it from some of hers... Our raw milk turned because it got too warm on the way back... Would you still drink it?

Unknown said...

Sounds like an adventure! Have you made kefir from young green coconuts? I have always wanted to but where we live they are certainly not available. Supposed to be SO good for you (Body Ecology Diet).

Catherine said...

I know... I should have brought my water kefir grains and bulgar yog cultures with me... It might have been a bit complicated on the plane though...

Stacey said...

Preparing to move to CR, good to know what to bring! Thanks for the great post and also the helpful comments following!

Carine said...

Miam les ananas !

Catherine said...

Yes, Stacey, and bring dates if you like them. There is no good dates to be found here...

Stacey said...

I guess that its an ok trade off for fresh young coconuts - for me at least - I've been missing out on those (I do love dates and they are plentiful here, I will try to bring some). Let me know how your yogurt turns out using the bulgur instead of starter? Then I'll know to bring starter or not ;)

Catherine said...

I will let you know Stacey!

Stacey said...

So how was your yogurt experiment?

Catherine said...

It didn't turn out really good... Maybe I should have warmed the milk a little... I just let it sit on the counter and I think it was just not enough... or maybe the starter was not potent enough for raw milk... I would need a real starter... We had such a good one at home...

Stacey said...

Was it Body Ecology one? I was thinking to buy/bring that one, do you know of a better one?

Catherine said...

No, it was from a local company, but I am sure the body ecology one is great! Just ask for the bulgar culture, it makes a thicker less acidic yogurt.

Sheila said...

Where did you find this farmers market? I live nearby but I've never heard of it.

Catherine said...

Really Sheila? It's the biggest one. It's the Feria de San Isidro del General, every Thursday and Friday, all day. Ask around for the directions. Unless we are not talking about the same San Isidro (there are 3 San Isidro in CR)... San Isidro del General is 50 min from Dominical.