Market Day

The Central Market on a Saturday morning is amazing. You can get anything from shrimp to plants, curry powder, St Vincent yam and other weird and wonderful things. It can be a bit salty at times but is well worth the entertainment. Visiting the market with a camera can be rather offputting as reactions run the whole gamut. Most people beg to have their picture taken but there are some like the baptist lady who took GREAT umbrage to me taking a photo of her chicken. I had asked permission but apparently requested it of the wrong person. BIG BUFF.
Then there were the odd plastic-y looking things next to the nutmeg and spices. Who would have thought, cow hooves? Hmmm. For what purpose I had to ask. For the obeah women, I was told. I could only think of "chicken lady" and prayed that I had somehow dodged the "cowhoof/chicken" malju that I was sure was directed my way. As usual I came home laden with chataigne, shrimp, fresh tumeric, fat cocoa balls that are about a million calories per serving. My favourite market purchase is always vertiver grass which comes from St Vincent. There really is no smell like it. Vertiver or KhusKhus is traditionally used to line babies' cupboards and the smell takes me back like no other. If you are ever able to visit the Market it is best to go early to get the real cream of the crop. Go into the second building where the dry goods are sold and look for the chutneys, curry powders and real old time red mango. You can also get imported fruit for a much more reasonable rate than the groceries. Just don't take any pictures of chickens.