From the South of France to Balham ... Hildreth Street Market

Having spent the past week in the South of France near Marseillan, sailing past oyster beds with a passionate French sailor qui s'appelle Albert, munching on some tielles (a delicious local delicacy from Sète, a slightly spicy and very fishy pie of octopus and tomato), scoffing home-made bouillabaisse ("all-in" fish soup) with its accompanying aioli, and frying fresh squid in garlic and chilli before feasting on it with a squeeze of lime, it came as more than a little shock to arrive back last night to rainy England.

However, I was not to despair, since this morning (albeit through the pounding rain) we went to sniff out Hildreth Street Market in homely Balham - perhaps hoping for a somewhat nearer equivalent to "Les Halles"! It was actually pretty good: there was an organic vegetable stall (Wild Country Organics) selling some quite obscure varieties of vegetable like sorrel, ridge cucumbers, cute yellow courgettes, and also a great, peppery mixed salad which I tried for lunch.

To accompany the salad (or was it the other way round?!) I had some paella, scooped up from one of those big dishes which was bubbling away a few moments before, with an assortment of squid, prawns, mussels and that lovely fragrant rice.

Another stall which jumped out was Ms Cupake's: "The Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town". I tried a great vegan Mediterranean vegetable scone. The ex-primary-school-teacher, Ms Cupcake hereslf, was wonderfully lively and enthusiastic, whose main aim isn't just to cater for vegans like herself but allow everyone to "enjoy great cakes". Having enjoyed her savoury scone very much, I'm sure I'll be popping into the bakery in Brixton to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Balham might not quite be the sunny paradise that is Southern France, but it's not far off with its food.