One of the many delights of my recent visit back to the UK was how much I enjoyed the food. Living in China for two years, it's easy to forget that there is a whole world of other wonderful food beyond the borders of the People's Republic. But though of course I was expecting great things from France and even London, I certainly did not anticipate the foodie heaven than Edinburgh turned out to be...

Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities in Britain, and my connection with it goes back quite a while - I worked there for a month at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2005, and have been back almost every year since. This time, I visiting my great friend Peggy Hughes, who I worked with at the Book Fest and who is now a busy busy bee on the Scottish literati scene. Knowing about my love for food, she and her lovely partner Colin took it upon themselves to give me a one-day food-tour of their city, and in doing so totally turned around my previous favourable-but-not-amazing foodie impression of Edinburgh.

We started at the Edinburgh Farmers' Market, which Peggy, who will herself admit is not the biggest foodie, is nonetheless a huge devotee of due to the infamous Hog Roast. It was a beautiful morning, and what with being festival time as well the market was packed and bustling. While Peggy headed straight to the aforementioned stall,

I chose first to sample the wares of one of the market's success stories, Stoats Porridge. This ain't no ordinary porridge; this is, if such a thing exists, gourmet porridge, exemplified by my own choice of Stoats Cranachan: porridge, fresh rasberries, toasted oats and single cream.

It was sublime, and for me at least, took porridge to whole different level.

Though my hunger was somewhat abated by this oaty delight, I still had room enough left for something I spied at one of the very first stalls - homemade Scotch eggs.

This is no supermarket junk foodstuff, but the real thing - crisp breadcrumbs, surrounding a deliciously savoury sausage meat mixture, itself wrapped around a huge, rich duck's egg.

It really was fantastic. Years ago I heard a radio program about real Scotch eggs; it must have piqued my interest for I remembered it at the market, and was so excited to try something that is usually pretty gross, but done properly is just brilliant.

And the fun didn't stop there! After the market we went for a little peek at Edinburgh Books, the magical shop that hosts some of the events at Peggy's festival, West Port; and after that, a trip to my old favourite the Mosque Kitchen.

This was but an hour or so after the market however, and I really wasn't hungry enough for a full meal. Luckily, rather than miss out on one of the best (and cheapest) meals in the city, I had the inspired idea of asking them to serve my dal in the tupperware box I'd brought along to the market for any takeaway purchases (that I didn't end up making).

The lovely mosque folks obliged; my dal was totally yummy, and even yummier eaten an hour or two later when my appetite had returned.

But it didn't end there, oh no. Much, much later in the day and accompanied by other friends, I made a trip to the wonderful, inspirational Susie's Wholefood Diner, where I ate many a delicious meal during my various visits to Edinburgh, and to where I was eager to return.

The friends I was with were, in fact, rather reluctant to eat at Susie's, and I had to insist that they would like it. Once they'd tasted the fantastic, homecooked vegetarian food however, they were of course won over (though you will have to imagine it for yourself because the dining room was too dark to photograph!).

Finally, close to midnight, it was time for my last supper: wonton soup at the Szechuan restaurant under Peggy and Colin's apartment. I won't go into too much detail about it here, because I will be doing so elsewhere soon, but needless to say, it was perhaps the perfect end to a perfect day. I guess a foodie is a foodie, wherever she is.