Johannesburg is overflowing with hidden gems and beauties for you to explore. One of the more well known spots is the Fourways Farmer's Market. Hidden pretty well against the towering entertainment destination that is Monte Casino, this charming market has ample stall space and space for live music, and a bunch of cozy relaxation spots.
While we were planning on going to Fourways Farmer's Market eventually for an adventure, we bumped up the trip to Saturday the 5th May for a pomegranate festival!
When Helloganico tagged us in a promo poster on Instagram, we figured we just had to go. I personally love pomegranates, so it was a done deal.
We got there around midday after a morning of shopping, and were greeted with puppies. We knew it was going to be a good afternoon.
We made our way down to the entrance, paid R20.00 to go in (side note, where do you pay R20 for entrance for anything these days??) and started perusing. I mean, what else do you do at a Farmer's Market?
You see that arrow pointing to the cocktails? We'll get there later, promise.
We stopped first at the main pomegranate stand where the action, so to speak, was happening.
So, upon entering the main stand, the first thing we see is this giant, glittering bowl of antioxidant filled red gems. You sort of wanted to dive right in. Alas, we could only admire. And eat, of course.
For R5, you could get a small cone of pomegranate arils (I was pretty surprised to find out this is what they're proper name is), and R10 for a big cone. For R10, you could get a freshly pressed shot of pomegranate juice. We opted for the small cone and a shot for each of us. This shot was flippin' yummy. Insanely refreshing.
Oh, and how could I forget? I also bought 5 gorgeous, giant pomegranates at R20 each, a fantastic price, considering a tub of gems can be up to R50.00.
From there, we left to walk around the other stalls. Quite a few were empty, but not many can supply pomegranate flavoured goods. That's not to say everyone took part in the festivities, but many tried. We first found a stall dedicated to baked goods. Damn, did everything look yummy, like the Belgian chocolate cake topped beautifully with a ton of red berries, or the white chocolate and pomegranate macarons.
In and around the stalls we found a variety of appetizing treats. Now, with my ginormous sweet tooth, it was super difficult not to grab everything in my path and make a run for it. But, I behaved, and had a proper meal first. We were torn with options. From Indian to loaded sandwiches to Greek to Sum Ting Fresh (a personal favourite), we were just stuck.
In the end, we tried out the dim sum and pot stickers. We eventually found out that this wasn't the best choice. Remember when I said I despised bitter things last week? Without even the slightest hint of a question, the gentleman at the stand promptly doused our food in what looked like a liter of soy sauce.
Okay, not really, but I was super bummed by this. The dim sum would've been delicious otherwise.
Our purchases included R280 worth of sauces. I know this seems excessive, but damn they were good! We got a ghost pepper sauce (Connor's pride and joy, apparently), chilli mint (relatively sweet, actually), an 'EINA!' sauce (for my father, who challenges Connor in the spice department), a harissa paste for steaks and a vanilla bean and mustard dressing. Yep, you read that right. This stuff is mind blowing. Logic and reasoning is thrown out the window here by the taste buds!
To be fair, it might've been a really good salesman at it as well...
We also walked away with 5 packets of fudge (again, might've been the saleslady, but it's pretty damn good fudge, I'll have you know!), including a bright blue bubblegum flavour!
Remember that cocktails sign? After we'd shopped and ate, it was time to relax with a pomegranate pimms cocktail. This was pretty delicious, not going to lie, but had subtle undertones of "this tastes like juice so be careful".
We also treated ourselves to some dessert too, because how could we pass that up?? Court's got herself a bubble waffle cone, and Connor and I got some beignets from the Beignet Brothers. If you've ever had the pleasure of getting some treats from these guys, you'd know that once you take your first bite of delicious pillows of deep fried dough, you are promptly bombarded by the neon yellow fedora clad workers at the stall chorusing "MMM, TASTY!!". Incredibly peculiar at first, but pretty hilarious every time afterwards!
After a pretty relaxed afternoon of ambling around, eating, drinking and shopping, we called it a day and headed home (but first we had an impromptu photoshoot in the entrance, naturally).
We loved this little pomegranate festival and all it had to offer. The food, drinks and company all made our afternoon more enjoyable. Nothing better to do on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon? Go to a farmer's market!
Stay hungry for adventure, friends.
Steph & Connor.