Xmas markets (Read: Good Food)

Omg, Xmas markets. Possibly the best thing since sliced bread. In fact, they're WAY BETTER than sliced bread! Especially if you're a bit 'gourmand' (ie you like food). Which I do. As most of you know.

As mentioned, the Xmas market in Paris was visited on a couple of occasions, generally in a great rush! And tasty things were eaten there: tartiflette, crêpes, aligot and farçou, savoyarde, mulled wine... I've probably missed something there, but you get the idea. YUM!

Anyhow, it was in Montpellier that I (and Sabrina) really made the most of the local Xmas market. We were there pretty much every day for lunch, sometimes dinner too, and it was awesome. Every day, it was so hard to decide what to get, but we managed.

Here are some pix of the yum stuff:

Aveyron speciality shop.

Cured meat and cheese plate... (from Aveyron stall).

Kingi with an extra thick hot choc. Think it might actually have been because it was near the end of the batch, but I seriously had to get a spoon to get the last of it out of the cup. Yum.

Choc-covered marshmallow kebab

Some kind of Lebanese pastry. I can't remember what it was called, or really even what was in it, but I remember that it was super-sweet and super-tasty!

Also from Aveyron stall (but another day - I swear): aligot and farçou. The white-ish stuff is a cheesy dealio, and the patties are pork.

I forget who and where everything came from. I think this guy was Lebanese too, but I'm not totally sure. I was pretty happy to see some decent veggies, though. :)

It's accompanied by mint tea, a biscuit that reminded me a bit of shortbread, and a pistachio pastry. Oh, yes.

PHOTO (I'll find this one later...)

This is cheating a bit, as it is not something I ate, nor is it at the Christmas market. BUT it's kinda interesting... in Provence, there are traditionally 13 desserts for Xmas. Mainly dried fruits and stuff. Anywho, you can prob see for yourselves here.

Also made a rather dangerous discovery at the local pâtisserie: almond croissants. They're croissants (I know: imagine that!) with sliced almonds on top, and an almond kinda paste inside. Wow. Like I said, dangerous discovery.