Thank you for telling me about this farmers market stall. It is all vegetarian!!! I love the vegan food here. Im very health conscious and its helped me a lot.

Approximate cost: $10

Farmers market stall selling all vegetarian food. Tarts, Meals, Dips, etc. 100% natural food. Good for the health conscious. Check out website. I had a hummas dip i purchased and enjoyed so much. I dont get to go here as much as i would like.

Approximate cost: $12

I discovered A Hidden Secret a few months ago at the North Essendon Village Farmers' Market (see my separate review of that market). A Hidden Secret is so good, it has become the number #1 reason why I visit that market. I thought it deserved its own separate listing on WOMO, because I didn't want to take up my entire market review raving about a single stall.

According to A Hidden Secret's website (which I strongly recommend you visit - it's well laid out and very informative), they make a wide range of vegetarian and vegan meals using "fresh, locally sourced organic vegetables and fruits, free range eggs, Meredith Dairy Cheeses and Yoghurts. The pastry is home made using only Warrnambool butter, and you can be certain that all ingredients are 100% vegetarian."

So: one big tick for catering to vegetarians and vegans at all, and a second big tick for caring about the quality of their ingredients and striving to use local, organic and free-range.

I've only tried a relatively small selection of their foods so far. At least, I thought I'd tried a reasonable number of things, but when I visited their website, I discovered it's only a tiny sample of all the things they make. The total range is considerable, much wider than what I see on the table before me at their market stall. Perhaps they only bring a certain selection of goods to the market, or - more likely - people are getting to know how good they are, and things are selling out before I get there. The chap I spoke to at the stall last month said that if you've got your heart set on buying a particular item, it is recommended that you phone or email and have that item put aside for you to collect. They are more than happy to do that for you.

Now, the food. So far I've only tried their pastry items, but everything I've tried I would rate at least "good", most "very good" and would happily buy again, and several I would rate as "excellent".

The Mushroom and Pumpkin Wellington (vegan) is a must-buy. From their website: "a lovely combination of pumpkin, silverbeet, macadamias, hazelnuts, almonds, breadcrumbs, onion, garlic & spices, all encased within a vegan puff pastry crust lined with a mushroom duxelles." It's delicious. Serve this up to a committed carnivore, accompanied by a salad, don't tell them it's vegan, and watch them polish it off.

Equally delicious is the mushroom, leek and feta tart. (Can you tell I'm a big fan of mushrooms?) A beautiful peppery taste, good chunky texture, and very good crisp pastry. I'm also very fond of their three cheeses, leek and fennel tart.

For tonight's dinner, I have a "4 Quarter" tart thawing out in the kitchen, nearly ready to pop into the oven. (Their pastries freeze very well, by the way.) One quarter of the tart is the three cheeses, leek and fennel; another quarter is mushroom, leek and feta. So it's guaranteed I will like those. The other two quarters, which I haven't tried before, are broccoli, onion, cheddar & tomato; and pumpkin, silverbeet and chevre. Sounds very tempting.

The only dish I've tried which I wasn't quite as enamoured with was a Moroccan tart. The flavour was very good - the spices nicely balanced - but the texture of was a little too grainy for my liking, probably due to the almond meal. I mentioned to the stallholder a couple of months ago that I wasn't as taken with it as I was with their other items, and I was impressed that he was really keen to know why. He said they value the feedback they get from customers, and they use it to tweak their recipes in order to give customers what they will like. So if you bought something that you weren't crazy about, or even if you did rather like it but think that with a little tweaking it could be something even better, then do tell them; they won't be offended, and they will take your comments seriously.

Last month I bought a curious thing called a Homity Pie. From their website: "A simply delicious pie that has proved a hit with vegetarians and meat eaters alike... a traditional British open vegetable pie. Made with potatoes, onions, cheese, a hint of garlic and herbs, it has a history that dates back to WW2 when Land Girls working under rationing restrictions made pies from vegetables that were easily available in the fields..." I'd rate this pie as good - better than the sum of its fairly humble parts. The taste was appealing, similar to leek and potato soup. The texture of the filling was a little runnier than I'd expected, but not unpleasant, and the pastry was crisp. The main problem I found was that after eating about two-thirds of it, I felt I was all potato-and-onioned out, and wanted a bit of variety of taste. I think I should have gone halves with someone and had something alongside it (a salad, or something with tomatoes, or sausages or rissoles) to contrast with it. But I'd still buy it again. I imagine if I had been a Land Army girl during World War 2, I'd have just been grateful for the tasty, nourishing food, and would have eaten it without complaint.

And all praise to A Hidden Secret for reviving these old recipes and customs, and giving us an insight into what our forebears ate. According to their website, they will shortly be introducing to their range an old Scottish dish called Skirlie Mirlie, which a Google search indicates is made from turnips and potatoes. Neeps and tatties, as my gran would have said. I look forward to trying it.

If you don't live anywhere near the North Essendon market, go visit their website anyway, and click on the "Markets and Festivals" link. They get around quite a bit, it seems: Williamstown, Castlemaine, Daylesford, Talbot, Newtown, Queenscliff, Torquay, and more. And they sell their relish by post.

They're good. Really, really good. Highly recommended.

POSTSCRIPT 21 April 2012: The 4 Quarter Tart we ate last night was a huge hit. In particular, the quarter made with broccoli, onion, cheddar and tomato was excellent, and has now been added to my list of favourites.