I visited the popular Slow Market in Stellies for my first time this past Saturday.
The weather has been simply amazing in Cape Town for almost 10 days now – it has felt like summer, or at least Spring, but most certainly not Winter!
When we arrived in Stellies on Sat morning it was a balmy 28 Degrees C and everyone was out and about.
The market opens at 9am and closes at 2pm. We were running late and only arrived just after 12. We also made the mistake of not drawing money before hand.
There is an ATM in the building where the cheeses and meats are, but it was broken and even though there was a handy man on board trying to fix the machine, he could not get it to work. So, my partner kindly offered to run into town and draw more cash as we only had R100 between us. 
Before he left however, we had to stop at the steak man, who had a sizzling braai going. We ordered a medium-rare sirloin with the works for R50. It was super delish!
We also grabbed a cup of BUGISO coffee each from the coffee company stand. On offer was an Espresso coffee from Eastern Uganda. And it was good. I would have bought a bag, but they only had already ground coffee – and I’m after the beans. Lattes were R16 each. The Roastery is at Lourensford Wine estate and visitors are welcome to visit it seven days a week.
While my fiancé whizzed off the get more money I went wine tasting.
There are various wine stands dotted in between the food ones. Visitors can always buy a bottle or wine by the glass (remember extra money for the glass deposit). The wines guys are also the only stands that have Card machines.
I enjoyed the Naughty Girl Bubbly (R40), which is a sparkling Rose and not overly sweet. But I particularly enjoyed the Alvi’s Drift Chardonnay (R60). WE bought a bottle of that and enjoyed it later the same evening. 
I then found another stand, selling silver bags of beans called Viva La Vida – organic coffee. They sell the beans for R38 a bag and we had some at home yesterday. I was very impressed and happy with my new coffee. It’s honestly amazing how many boutique roasters are popping up all over Cape Town. The House of Viva La Vida is based in Kuilsrivier.
The next stand that caught my eye was Shelagh’s Shrooms – suppliers of exotic, gourmet and wild mushrooms. My friend, the food fox (http://thefoodfox.wordpress.com/) has raved about these mushrooms before. Try a mushroom kebab – they are beautiful.
There are loads of lovely pesto’s, sauces, olives, cheeses, chocolate, spices and all the usual treats on for sampling and discussion.
I loved the herb lady inside, she has a salt and herb combo to die for called ‘Shameless’, as Shameless is one of my nicknames, I found it particularly amusing.
The Orinoco – Flavours of Latin America – stand was also colourful and attractive with lovely chilli sauces and pestos on offer. 
I bought a lovely slab of gorgonzola from the cheese guy inside the ATM building for R35 (divine!) and some walnut and rocket pesto from the princess pesto guy – it is my favourite (also R35). 
We polished our busy two hours off with an ice-cold Jack Black and some Kudu biltong, which we consumed as we watched the people around us pack up their goodies.
The market also has clothing, jewellery and accessory stands among the food stands.
www.slowmarket.co.za, Oude Libertas, Stellenbosch. The sister Slow Food Market is at Willowbridge.
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