You all know of my love for markets.  That means at home in Zürich, every Tuesday and Friday morning at my beloved Bürkliplatz, as well as the local markets in Sicily, Berlin, France’s Basque Country and really, anywhere my travels take me around the world. And right now, that means New York City.

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I love going to the market.  But you already knew that.

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I’m just returned from Sicily, so you know what that means – there is soon to be a Sweet Sicily post on the blog here !  But before I get to the gelato, granita, cassata and marzipan, first a stroll through a few Sicilian markets, where I spent most of my time.  (When not eating gelato, granita, cassata and marzipan. Not to mention cannoli and torrone and chocolate and…)

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Whether you’re reading this in Zürich, Brugge, New York or Dubrovnik, I think we can all agree… the weather has been anything but predictable lately.  We may have thought spring was on its way over here in Switzerland, but that quickly turned to cold temperatures, wind and rain once again.  Where to go for a burst of color when it’s nothing but grey outside ?  To the market, of course !

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It’s still summer (despite the weather some days), and the markets have been overflowing with berries of all kinds, nectarines and peaches, fragrant melons and sweet cherries. The first plums have already grabbed my attention, the small greengage variety from France, called Reine Claude are fabulous. I never seem to buy enough at the market. Nor can I ever get too many punnets of raspberries, my favorite fruit. I may have come close though when I brought home a kilo of them (as well as a kilo each of blackberries and blueberries), each and every one picked from their stems by Olivier and myself.

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When I try to express to people just how much I love dates, here’s what I say: I might even love them more than chocolate.  That’s certainly a strong statement coming from me.  An apple a day keeps the doctor away (so they say), a square (or two) of dark chocolate keeps it balanced, and 5 dates a day… keeps me happy.

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It’s the end of August, and I know there are people out there already excited about the fall fruits and vegetables that are just around the corner.  There will be pumpkins and squash and chestnuts all over town.  But don’t miss what’s at the market, now!  The very best plums (recipe for Triple-Plum Galette below), melons and every berry you could ask for.  And what says summer more than watermelon juice on your cheeks and black pits to spit out?  I found the most adorable mini watermelons at the market here in Zürich, just as sweet as their hefty versions we may be more familiar with, but just as juicy and fun to eat.

As for melons, I have always been loyal to the French Charentais or Cavaillon, their bright orange flesh reminding me of summers in France, al fresco lunches with piles of melon slices, so sweet and refreshing.  However, when my market vendor told me about the “Rolls Royce of Melons,” the Italian Jolly, I certainly had to try. And disappointed I was not. So fragrant, every bite seemingly more flavorful than the last. It’s always a letdown to slice open a melon and find that it’s lacking flavor or realizing you should have been patient and let it ripen just a bit more. But just the opposite when you separate the two halves and the aroma lets you know all is good here.  The only thing to do with them is slice open, take out the seeds and eat the whole thing with a spoon. That said, Deb’s melon agua fresca on Smitten Kitchen is quite tempting…

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90 degree days (30 for you metrics), the sun out until 9pm, hordes of people by the lake here in Zürich – there aren’t many signs that the end of summer is near.  And thank goodness.  I’ll keep returning to the market, filling up my basket with berries and the seasonal fruits we wait for all year long.  Back in the kitchen, I haven’t quite sworn off chocolate desserts, but there’s more often a fruit tart or crumble coming out of the oven, and a new jar of jam cooling off on the window sill.  There is one very simple dessert that I have made several times this summer, showcasing a different fruit each time.  It’s basically a fruit compote topped by soft baked meringue.  A dessert that is easy and requires few ingredients, yet looks rather impressive.  Not to mention, tastes delicious!

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If you love markets as much as I do, then there’s one you definitely shouldn’t miss here in Switzerland.  It’s in Vevey, Montreux’s neighbor, a city on the northern shore of Lake Geneva, and not far from Lausanne.  A massive market with fruits, vegetables and products both local and exotic, takes place on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. It’s usually on the main square by l’Hôtel de Ville, but when we were there earlier this summer, it was all along the water.  Could not imagine a better setting for a market. Well worth the 2.5 hour train from Zürich, which was a beautiful ride in itself.

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Since I shared the recipe for my most favorite polka-dot jam tart a few months ago, I have made it over and over again.  With rhubarb jam, raspberry/apricot jam – I even made it with Nutella, a spin on my husband’s idea for Nutella hamantaschen.  A sweet, buttery, cornmeal crust with just a touch of salt, and a filling of any jam you like, let’s just put it this way – I have a lot of empty jam jars to fill now. So off to the market I went for fresh fruit…

My jam du jour: raspberry.  I imagine it would be fun to make jam the old fashioned way in a huge copper cauldron, mixing the day away as if it were a witch’s brew.  But I wanted a small batch for now – and simple – one that wouldn’t require me watching temperatures, playing with pectin or having to stay close to the pot while it bubbled away.  I remember reading about an easy jam making method by Nigella Lawson, where you actually “bake” the fruit and the sugar in the oven.  The same weight of each in separate pans, and not even a half an hour later – voilà, you’ve got homemade jam. Apparently the act of mixing boiling sugar to the hot fruit creates instantaneous jam. Hard to believe, right?  That’s what I thought too.

But as I eat my sweet raspberry jam out of the jar with a spoon, and think about tomorrow morning’s breakfast, I can say, thank you Nigella, it worked.  It’s so simple, you’ll definitely want to set the timer.  You’ll walk away and forget you even have a batch of jam in the oven.  

Okay, so it is a little bit more liquid than I am used to, but it’s always nice to try new techniques and discover different textures.  The jam is perfect swirled into thick yogurt, spooned on to a tartine with thick salted butter or on a croissant, and not bad as a topping for pancakes either.   When you take the two pans out of the oven, they looked unchanged, as if you forgot to turn the oven on.  Do NOT touch them to make sure you did! The second your wooden spoon hits the raspberries, they will start to sizzle, and the mixture of the two will show you that yes your oven was in fact on – and cooking your jam!

Baked Raspberry Jam

250 grams (8  3/4 oz) fresh raspberries
250 grams (1 cup + 2 Tablespoons) sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Put the raspberries and sugar each in their own shallow ovenproof dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and VERY carefully pour sugar onto the berries. It will sizzle when mixed – and be careful, it’s scolding!  Pour mixture immediately into jar, seal shut and let cool. (Turn it upside down a few times as it cools in case some of the sugar tries to settle to the bottom.)

* Important: It will not be as thick nor will it keep as long as conventional preserves. It must be kept in the refrigerator. I would say try to eat it within 2 weeks, but there should be no problem there once you taste it…