Sunday Market and Afternoon Tea

When the lady who makes the delicious Mallownuts locally posted on facebook that she was organising a vegan market I knew I had to go, and when an afternoon tea was announced I was beyond excited. I took my long suffering friend Mhairi with me as she is always happy to try new foods, share food and makes THE best faces when shes surprised by the epicness of vegan foods. The market was held in the Old High Church Hall on Academy Street in Inverness. By the time we got there around 45 minutes after the doors had opened the place was packed with people (and a few dogs - Yay!) and there was a fantastic atmosphere. With a mix of food to eat there and then as well as some to take away,  homewares, and eco-friendly products there was definitely something for everyone. Please excuse the photos - the market was wonderfully crowded and we all know my skills are interesting! I have linked to all of the Facebook pages I could find so please go and Like, follow and shop.

Left Coast Culture:

Anyone who knows me, and probably plenty who don't, will have heard me drooling over the incredible cheeses hand crafted by the amazing Ella. I genuinely can't get enough of them and having introduced Mhairi too them a few weeks ago she had apparently been dreaming about them! We hit up Left Coast Culture as soon as we got to the market as we know how fast everything sells out. Only 45 minutes after opening, Ella had sold out of around half her cheeses and the rest sold within the next hour with her going home for more supplies. I grabbed some of her Cheddar spread which is like crack and makes THE BEST macaroni cheese you've ever wrapped your gob around as well as a good hunk of brie which melts like a dream. Mhairi took some of the Havarti and cream cheese, slightly gutted that the garlic and onion cream cheese had already sold out but we will get some next time. I stole the pictures of Ella's stall from ones I took at a previous market as the crowd around her stall was too big to get one!

Alleycat:

Next on our hit list was the Alleycat restaurant. I reviewed both their pop up (Friends not Food) and the restaurant when it newly opened but Mhairi and I are due a dinner date there to check out the evening selection . Selling their incredible pies along with a selection of sweet treats and hot dogs, my dinner is sorted for a few days. We both took whisky and haggis pies as well as their classic scotch pies. Added to our piles were snickers bars and ginger scones which I'll dig into later as while writing this I'm still cradling my food baby!

Juicy-ness:

We had both strategically skipped breakfast this morning, so we decided that smoothies from Juicy-Ness were an excellent plan. As we approached the stall, a passing customer told us we HAD to try the mango madness - a blend of mango, pineapple, passion fruit, apple and banana - and the Green Goddess  - Spinach, cucumber, apples, celery, carrot, ginger and avocado - caught our fancy on their menu board. I'm not usually a fan of savoury juices and smoothies with my major sweet tooth but I was surprised to like the Green Goddess for its fresh and clean taste while the Mango Madness was heaven in a cup and totally up my street.

Keltic Kitchen:

Up next was the Keltic Kitchen, another stand I am familiar with from other local markets had an incredible selection of their dairy-free fudges. These bags of happiness are simply divine and while not all of their selection is always vegan friendly, the owner had totally pushed the boat out for this market and had an incredible range of flavours which had been carefully researched and sourced. I bought a bag of the cherry, kirsch and dark chocolate fudge while there were little bites of what I think were the raspberry, gin and chocolate fudge as part of the afternoon tea.

Highland Tea Box:

Next door to the Keltic Kitchen was the Highland Tea Box selling all kinds of flavours of tea beyond our wildest dreams. I picked up a bag of Choc-la-tea for my brother who adores anything with a good dose of chocolate and a bag of the Fruit medley for myself for drinking and baking with. Mhairi took a bag of the Blood Orange tea which is apparently excellent both hot and cold. They also had a fantastic selection of tea accessories which were very tempting.

Eco-Ness:

Our next stop was Eco-Ness to have a look at their range of plastic free, sustainable products, everything from tin lunchboxes to skin care to dish soap! Passionate about sustainability and zero waste, the team make its really easy to shop and were knowledgeable and helpful. I went home with a facial scrub, as my previous has just run out and I'm on the hunt for my new favourite, as well as a cherry lip-balm as a girl can never have too many.

Cheeses//Sliced:

Our last stop before afternoon tea was at Cheese Sliced for toasties - I know we were just about to have a full afternoon tea but we had spent a good hour and a half wandering around by this point smelling these toasties being made and seeing people scoffing them with huge smiles on their faces and we simply couldn't miss out. This was the first ever event for the team and while they had a few technical issues the toasties were 1000% worth the slight wait. All of the toasties were made using cheese from Left Coast Culture, the perfect collaboration. I had the macaroni cheese toastie - pretty self explanatory with the sublime cheddar spread enveloping perfectly cooked pasta all sandwiched in nutty, crunchy brown bread. Mhairi went for their Nice and Spicy which blended cream cheese with slices of the Left Coast Culture Muenster, jalapenos and peppers in a delicious package, I'm not big on spicy things but this was beautifully balanced.

Afternoon Tea:

We were part of the first sitting for the Afternoon tea, which we had understandably had to book ahead. The food itself was delicious with each stand holding two of each treat to share with your neighbour. I would say that while the food was excellent and Mhairi was particularly impressed with the 'salmon and cream cheese' there wasn't really enough tea and coffee to go around, there were several different milks on offer but no indication of which was which and it would have been great to have had a couple of jugs of water on the table as the food, while delicious, was quite rich and sweet. I still absolutely loved the food and the experience having never had a high tea before.

Also at the market were:

Gut Feelings - selling Kombucha, we had some of the samples and they were fantastic but by this time we had run out of cash and both blown our budgets- ooops

LOOK - selling ethically sourced curtains and soft furnishings

HRM - ceramic and glass artist

Plants etc - fantastic succulents and other plants in really unusual pots and containers

Lets Go Lentil - selling loose dried goods, jars of delights and other edible goodies - I have bought from them at previous markets and their caramelised onion houmous is drool-worthy.

Highland Fairy - selling clothes and jewellery

Back into Balance  - sound baths and therapy

Ti Handicrafts -  bags and crockery made by and benefitting women in SE Asia.

I could happily have spent an absolute fortune and bought easily from every stall there if my budget had allowed. I am really impressed with the selection of traders that had been brought together and delighted that Inverness was so supportive of the venture with it rammed from start to finish.

Fingers crossed there will be another - I'll be there and I would highly recommend you are too. oh, and if you do go - wear something stretchy for all the food!