It was inevitable wasn´t it? Yes, my friends are nodding. For I am obsessed with this colour.

But I do not stand alone. Pantone, the absolute authority on colour, declared the 2014 Colour of the Year to be purple. Well Radiant Orchid to be precise. Number 18-3224 if you want to be really precise.

They even whipped up this cute illustration for Halloween. Seems I˙m not the only one campaigning to rebrand all major festivals in a purple hue.

In the spirit of celebrating this fabulous colour I bring you my Purple Collection.

Purple sweet potato and chestnut tart, Hong Kong: Tell me this isn´t the most stunning little pastry that you´ve ever seen! The fact that it didn´t taste amazing was in no way a determent for me. It wasn´t sweet enough for my palate and I never have fully embraced the concept of root vegetables taking a starring role in desserts.  Didn’t stop me from eating one a day though.

  

Aubergine, Hong Kong and London: this is an obvious addition to the list, perhaps too obvious. But the calibre of produce at the Graham Street and Borough markets respectively is top notch, and the colours so luminous they had to make the list. I found myself cradling these beauties like newborns.

Purple potatoes, Berlin: A delightful discovery for me this year was the Turkish market in Kreuzberg where I had some of the best Turkish food I´ve ever eaten (and that includes in Turkey). Amongst the gozleme stands and fresh produce was an unassuming crate filled with purple potatoes that I almost walked straight by because their skins were not dissimilar from ordinary potatoes. But one look at the sign and a sliced up specimen spoke the truth. Unfortunately I didn’t have access to a kitchen on this occasion so didnt´t buy any and I´ve been looking in vain to find them ever since.

Flour, Stockholm. Trust the design saavy Swedes to package up something as generic as flour into a design classic. I am almost wept at the beauty of this display.

Cauliflower, Stockholm: Thanks to purple varieties, cauliflower is going through a renaissance. No longer languishing on crudité trays and under mounds of melted cheese and breadcrumbs, this underachieving brassica is finally having its (purple) moment in the sun.

Blackberry soup, Stockholm: My Swedish friend Johan drinks cold blackberry soup every morning and hot blackberry soup when he is sick. He happens to be the fittest person I know so when he told me this I ran to the nearest store to track some down. A super food in super packaging, does it get any better? 

You might have noticed that the last three items all came from Stockholm. So keep an eye out on the shelves of Ikea, no doubt this will be next season´s feature colour!

Does anyone have a purple food item to add to my collection?