Market Culture: The Living Cookbook

French Caribbean markets preserve and transmit culinary culture:

Marché de Fort-de-France

Saturday mornings transform the covered market into sensory overload: - Doudou sellers: Women who've sold in the same spot for decades - Spice vendors: Custom-mixing blends - Fish section: Species unknown elsewhere - Produce mountains: Colors defying description

"The market is our university," declares vendor Marie-Hélène Bélisaire. "Here, young people learn which christophene is ripe, how to choose breadfruit, why this yam costs more than that one. Knowledge passes through hands and noses, not books."

Traditional Vendors

The herb woman: "For cooking or healing—sometimes both" The seamoss vendor: "Good for everything that ails you" The preserved foods lady: "My grandmother's recipes exactly" The punch maker: "Each fruit has its rum and spice"