Delden Farmers Market, in the heart of the Twente, is a shining beacon in this strange new world!
If you are wondering how to spend the first Saturday of the month and you fancy a trip to the heart of Twente and the beautiful town of Delden, home to the stunning Twickel Castle, then look no further.
Spend a morning or afternoon browsing through this wonderful Farmers Market in the grounds of the Oude Blasiuskerk in the centre of Delden.
Parking in the town is free. Park either near the train station, behind the Swann Hotel or at the sports hall. Alternatively, arrive by train or even cycle.
There are many stalls on this market, so for this post I will just highlight a few, leaving others for another day.
Bosbessenkwekerij La Francaise make so much jam!
As an enthusiastic jam, jelly and marmalade maker myself, I cannot praise Bosbessenkwekerij La Francaise enough. They have quite possibly the largest variety of specialist jams I have seen in the Netherlands.
Having started their business with fields of American blueberries first planted here in Twente in the late sixties, they now produce high quality jam, jelly and coulis such as the usual strawberry, raspberry, cherry and apricot, but also the more specialist varieties like quince, crab apple, plum, white currant, redcurrant and blackcurrant; greengage, kiwi, red and green gooseberry; blackberry and peach.
For a Brit though, the prized product has to be Seville orange marmalade made from huge amounts of specially imported Seville oranges each January and February.
Wagyu Beef
Wagyu is owned by Wilfred and Yvonne who sell some quite amazing beef from their farm in Delden. Wagyu beef is an expensive and highly prized product, and nothing is too much effort when caring for these animals. The cows are given beer on top of their hay every day, they listen to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach to relax them, and they are given a massage once or sometimes twice a day for 15 or 20 mins which they love. All to improve the health and well-being of the animal and produce the most succulent meat possible.
You can purchase a wide range of cuts of meat, or if you don’t have too much money, but want to savour the beauty of this fabulous meat, you can buy a sausage which is rather excellent when sliced and pan-fried as shown above.
Twente Wijn are local wine producers
Twente Wijn can be found just outside Bentelo where they produce wine from vines originally sourced in Limburg, Germany. You can purchase many different wines including a Johanniter, a dry white Reisling; and a Solaris, more like a Musat with tropical flavours. They also produce a sparkling wine and two reds: a Regent, a cross between American Sinso and French Cinsault, and tastes a little spicy; and a Sueterie, a blend of Regent and Pinstin – my personal favourite.
Tours around the vineyard have started again for the new season, so if you really like the wine and want to find out more, then you can book a wine tour, available each Saturday afternoon, and go on a walk like no other!
De Pindakaaspot
Robert, the owner of De Pindakaaspot makes peanut butter, but not just any peanut butter. This is artisan peanut butter in more flavour combinations than I thought possible: natural sea salt, chilli, fried onions, coconut, garlic, cinnamon raisins, cinnamon and date, rosemary, smoky BBQ, aniseed, fennel, whey protein, mustard, ginger, coffee and cocoa (mocha), and finally in true Dutch style – Kruidnoten.
All are handmade from traditional recipes, and have no added sugars, additives, or additional oils.
I bought the natural sea salt butter which was excellent.
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