This is Marie, contributing an article about a treat that is available at the Buford Farmer’s Market.
Our friends Helen and Vincent had told me that there were poffertjes there and that they would be glad to give a tour of one of their favorite stores, so of course we had to go. I’d not paid very much attention to the place before, under the mistaken impression that it was an ordinary booths-in-a-lot weekend affair. Wholly incorrect, of course. It’s actually a mini-mall, and open every day. And they have poffertjes!
For those who are not familiar with them, poffertjes (pronounced “POF-fer-tches”) are street food somewhere on the pancake side of the fried dough continuum. In the Netherlands, they are made with a mix of buckwheat flour, making them darker in color than the ones you see in the photo here, and with a somewhat richer flavor and chewier texture.
The proper way to eat a plate of poffertjes is on a park bench or outdoor cafe table, or standing up at a fair. They also had jam and whipped cream as toppings, which aren’t particularly authentic in my memory but I took them anyway because my American girlchild would be helping to eat this treat. It turns out that my only one-quarter Dutch son, although perfectly willing to stuff poffertjes whole into his mouth with just the butter and powdered sugar that belongs with them, defended the pile of whipped cream with a cry of “mine!”, his newest favorite word, and ate cream with his wooden fork.
However, the food was actually the last stop and it doesn’t do the Farmer’s Market proper service to talk just about the treat at the end. We were on the lookout for a few things on this visit. There are some really wild and fun selections in the produce department. I picked up a bag of zucchini bigger than my head for $.99 and was informed by the family that they were the best they’ve had in a while. I will need to go back for more.
I was tempted by another bag, even larger, of eggplant, also 99 cents, but decided that experimentation could wait for later. Helen wished she could have grabbed that but had a ways to go and didn’t risk it. We whipped through the aisles while they pointed out highlights, lingered for a while in the Holland section (I will have to come back when they have restocked the dark chocolate sprinkles) and then Helen and Vincent showed me around the Asian side of the store, probably at least a third of the floor space. And then we grazed the happy samples set out everywhere. It was a fun visit and only the beginning of what is going to be a proper long-term relationship.
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Marie, Let's Eat! 
I have never heard of poffertjes before. Are they like the Dutch version of funnel cakes at the state fair?
They are actually pancakes. The cook makes them in a big iron sheet dimpled like a golf ball and pours the batter into the dimples to make little pancakes a little over an inch across. You eat them with so much butter, though, you may as well fry them!
Oh, I didn’t get your reply. I’m sorry, what I mean is, when you go to fairs or amusement parks here, there is always a vendor selling funnel cakes. Is that what it’s like in Holland, when you go to carnivals, there’s a pofferjes vendor?
It’s more of a street food, but yes, I’ve had them at that kind of event as well.
I prefer Buford market to Dekalb as it has more elbow room and a better asian section. What I like is that they have great selection of ethnic vegetables as well. I also buy my fish there as I find it fresher than most places.
Oh, we will definitely have to do more of our veggie shopping there. And the fish did look really interesting. I thought it was neat that you had to draw a number to go place a fish order.