Curly Potatoe Sticks at the Market

It looks like our extended weekend visit to the family in Kiwitea will be rather wet, it hasn’t stopped raining since our arrival yesterday afternoon.  Perhaps a Friday morning visit to the Feilding Farmers Market will take us away from the mud underfoot which surrounds our caravan parked up on the farm?  Who knows what bargains we may find?  There was something for everyone, local lamb packaged up, vegetable stalls, cakes and biscuits – and what’s this, curly potatoe sticks.  That’s something we hadn’t seen before.  We spoke to a happy customer munching away and asked her opinion.  She was so impressed with her purchase that she gave us a taste to try for ourselves.  That did it – we really need to buy one of those.

Back we went to the stall and watched as the pototoe as prepared.  It was poked through with a skewer,  the machine was turned on, and voilla!  One potatoe cut into a spiral, dipped in batter and then all ready to cook in the hot fat.

Preparing the potatoe

We waited patiently as Gerry kept turning the potatoe sticks, one for us and one for another customer behind us in the queue.  Another prospective customer came up to the stall to see what was going on.  “I want one of those”, she declared, “and I want it NOW!”.  She will have to wait, we were first in line.  Out came the spirals, on went a shake of salt, and there we were, all ready for our tasty treat.  And the verdict?  Just delicious – next time we will get one each.  Take our word for it, these are worth a visit to the market even if you don’t buy another thing.

Hope he remembers to share

Robin is a bit of a honey connoisseur so spent a little time checking out the stall selling local honey.  With his mind made up, a large pot of Bush Blend honey changed hands and he is sure of honey on his breakfast toast now.  

I think I’ll take this one

Feilding is an attractive little town and very proud of it’s farming roots.  This busy country town was named after Colonel William Feilding who purchased land in the 1870s on behalf of the Emigrants and Colonists Aid Corp.  The layout of the town was modelled on the city of Manchester, with two central squares.  The handsome town clock tower looks over the market square.

Feilding clock tower

A statue commemorating the early farmers who settled the land stands at the northern end of town.  The plaque reads:

“Erected as grateful tribute to the shepherds, stockmen and drovers and all who have worked with the land and who for over a century have been the lifeblood of Feilding”.

Commemorating the stockmen of Feilding