Country-born, urban-bred

Nowhere in Edinburgh is the pleasure of good food evinced more honestly than at the Castle Terrace Farmers' Market. The stalls swell with artisan-quality produce and the stallholders beam with smiles and down-home British cheer. It's no wonder that the Market is alive with rustic, muddy, agricultural enthusiasm. Though not buzzing histrionically with souk-like vitality, the market has an energy of its own: a natural, intelligent excitement. The people here really know their stuff and have done for years. You feel a sense of awe at how attuned they are to their livelihood and produce; working so closely with the land and the sea, they learn a great deal and impart it generously to you. So, what's good now?

It just so happens that the weather here in Scotland—drizzly and much-maligned—is perfect for raspberries and the best winter vegetables. You can't fail to notice the plumpest, loudest, fattest little red fruits as they overflow their tubs; they taste damn good, too. Patricia Stephen from Phantassie Organic Vegetable Boxes tells me that beetroot, leeks and root vegetables are at their vigorous best this season. My favourite new find, Romanesco, is a mild cross between cauliflower and broccoli; its florets keep their funky shape on cooking and are great in light pasta dishes.

Man cannot live on vegetables alone, and it is with this in mind that I introduce you, via Sarah of Blackmount Foods, to mutton. This aged and old-fashioned meat must be given a new lease of life, for it is both cheaper and better tasting than its popular precursor, lamb. With friends, buy a joint on the bone, slash the skin, rub it with butter, place in a roasting tray, add water mixed with an OXO cube and roughly chopped carrots and leaks. Add a slug of honey, some thyme and a few bay leaves, and after an hour or so in a medium heated oven you'll have a brilliant dinner; local, cheap and delicious. Oh, and buy organic if you can!

If wintry root-vegetables and old lamb are not your thing, the market still has plenty to offer. A & D Patterson do brilliant fish. Cairn O'Mahr's fruit wines are sparklingly delicious. The butter from Stichill Jerseys is reportedly “the best in the world” and they are the only producer of clotted cream in Scotland. Traditional sweet treats can be found at the Border Tablet stall.

The Edinburgh Farmers' Market offers much that delights in an immediate sense. But its most attractive feature is the benefit it brings to an urban community. You can make direct contact with food producers and the warm atmosphere that the people working here create is inescapable, leaving you with a brisk sensation of feeling refreshed and inspired by their knowledge and enthusiasm.