Chocolate, fudge and food at Dùn Laoghaire´s Sunday market

In this moment of constant flaunting where everything has become a possible status symbol it is easy to forget but food doesn't need to be expensive to be outstanding. You don´t need to spend a lot of money to have a fantastic gastronomic experience, and the best examples of this are food markets.

Glorious sunny Dublin

Dún Laoghaire´s People´s Park Market opens every Sunday and is close enough to me to have stumbled upon it by accident yet we only met last week, and let me tell you, my life is all the better for it. After my partner´s sister shared the love by informing us of the existence of this gem, we set course for it for a day of (Irish) sun and wonders.

Open from 11 am to 4 pm, the market is located in the victorian park at the edge of the town centre, offering more than fifty food vendors from all sorts of edible goodies. The first line of stalls are hot and ready stands from around the world: dumplings, falafel, cider, kimchi, the offering was wide and smelled delicious but my Spaniard heart soon found every stand offering croquetas and we got a cup of gazpacho that would make any fellow countryman homesick.

Brownies aside, I´ve always had a soft spot for truffles.

After the street food stalls came the produce area, which might be less dangerous scent wise but tempts through the eyes. We had been told about this magical "Truffle Fairy" where chocolate is divine in all formats, so we decided to put it to the test, and the fact that the two nice vendors offered us some rice flour brownie to try seemed like a good start. Now, I have a confession to make: I don´t like brownies. I find them too heavy and sickeningly sweet and can´t rarely go beyond one bit but this was heavenly, fluffy and sweet and delicate at the same time...Long story short, we bough stuff. It made us happy.

24 flavours of sweet goodness

The other big discovery of the day was "Man of Aran Fudge". Believe it or not, I have lived my life devoid of fudge. I knew toffee existed (and what it does to your teeth and speech) but it wasn´t until a couple of months ago that I was introduced to fudge. This family business makes twenty four different variety of award winning creamy, mouth melting fudge with flavours as fabulous as salted caramel, sultanas and whisky, chocolate orange, caramel and vanilla, tiger fudge, honeycomb or Bailey´s. You can get a packet of four chunks for less than a tenner and, if you have skills with a knife and mercy on your teeth it will last you more than a week. Or not.

The market also offers a wide range of vegetables, home-made pies, hand -made soaps, baked goods, the biggest raspberries I have ever seen, glorious honey and a cheese stall that we had the sense not to approach since we had spent more than enough, for that day at least. It was an absolute surprise and pleasure to discover this not-so hidden gem of the Dublin South so if you are free and idle on a Sunday and have only little to spare you know where to head for.

Have you ever been to this market? What was your impression of it? What would have been your first food market experience? I would love to know. Thanks for reading.