It's one of those funky periods at the Virginia Park market. The tomatoes are not quite there yet, and a few winter vegetables are still hanging around. I did score a bunch of these squash blossoms for $5 a pound. These are for more than just stuffing with goat cheese and frying, amigos - feel free to chop them up and add to your pasta primavera, or throw them into a fritatta. On a side note, here's a brilliant send up of farmer's market culture, courtesy of my buddy Juanus.
I was in Montreal this past week where, despite snow and sleet, the kanooks still have their markets. I visited the Marchée Jean-Talon in the north of the city where I escaped the sleet outside. More photos.
O.K., so it's Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, not the far reaches of the globe. Hey, it's close, though.
What you see here is a mere section of the fruit/spice/goods bazaar surrounding the Charminar and the rickshaws in the street are only one of the several forms of transit in India (along with bull-powered carts, etc.). Anyway, about the food . . .
All sorts of produce may be acquired at the many markets of South India. Particularly tasty are the pomegranates, apples, and ubiquitous watermelon. In addition to fruit, though, are the best curries you could imagine. Sometimes available at little shacks with "Meals Ready" signs out front, the curry known simply as "Mutton Biryani" is a force to be reckoned with. As not one of the "Grind Bros" but rather as a regular Gringo in India, one might be warned (several times) by the waiter that the dish is "too hot for you, kind sir"; nevertheless, press on to find your reward. If the dish is too hot for you, white bread, then perhaps it's time to pack your bags and head back to Wyoming. If you can stomach it, though, after you've sweated the chilis out of your system while eating this treat of a meal, consider washing it all down with a little-known gem of a soft drink called "Thumbs Up." Much like though better than Dr. Pepper, this beverage will sate your thirst.
To start the year off right, a special treat: a guest
market report from my friend D-Rock, a man of no fixed abode who currently
stakes his tent in Tel Aviv. Without further ado (and with hope for more from
the Rock in the future), we bring you the lowdown on Carmel Market, Tel Aviv.
Greetings from the Middle East, where the terror
threat level is ever ascendant but the spices and
produce competitively so. As a frequent reader of and one-time
allusion (yep, the Cheesehead)
in the Grind Bros. "flog" (ed. note: so called because he admires
our workmanlike ethic when it comes to indulgence, perhaps?), I've loved
the Market Report.
Here in Israel (the pics are the Carmel Market,
Tel Aviv), I like to talk about two things: food and where to get it. The
simple answer to the latter is your local shuk; as for the former, well, that's
more complicated. Here are a few tips for a tasty lunch should you find
yourself in the land of milk and honey.
Lastly, find yourself a falafel vendor
and buy some balls. Chances are, you've got 10 within a 9 iron. I like the
dirty ones most; it's all flavor to a High Life Man.
Every friday a little market springs up at the end of Venice Boulevard, and since I work down there now I figured I should scope the scene. I like the tiny socal markets, but they kinda all end up looking the same: equal amount of prepared food and produce vendors? Check. Just enough variety to get you by? Check. Out-of-season, horribly overpriced tomatoes? Check. The good thing is you do see a few familiar faces - my frisee/raddichio guy is down there. Plus, it looks like there's a decent bread vendor. As for veggies we are firmly in the funky between season thing, but as early as next week the wnter favorites shouldbe popping up. Mmmmmm... squashes!
Among the delights at this week's market were these wacky-looking eggplants, grown by the adorable youngsters who run the Yale Farm. I did them up in my favorite way to do eggplants simply: cut them into little medallions and fried them up with sweet onions in olive oil, all topped off with nothing more than a shake or two of sea salt. (The trick to them is the heat: it's got to be hotter than you'd guess to get them to caramelize around the edges, which means you've got to stir pretty regularly to keep the onions from ending up burnt.) The only real problem with my method is that, for all that it's delicious, the end product is kind of fugly, especially in contrast to how the started out. The eggplants lose all that great color, and everything ends up just kind of brown. A little chopped parsley as a garnish helped a lot, but this baby ain't winning any beauty contests, that's for sure.
Although they signal the late innings of the tomato season, I'm always happy to see these beauties show up at the market. They aren't technically an 'heirloom' variety - but I think the flavor is superior - kinda fruity, but also mellow. I give you the Chocolate Plum:
Right now it's all about the pluots - that's a cross between an apricot and a plum (I blame that stem cell research). Appearently cocktail meastro Capt. Scurvy actually met the inventor of the Pluot once in the Burbank airport - and he said each variety has a very short harvest time. So act quickly. And while you are at the market make sure to get you some heirloom tomatoes - they are at their peak.
Just remember, folks, you saw it here first. And now the NYT is rocking it Grindbros style, trying to tell you what's up and what ain't at your local farmers markets. That's all right: they steal our idea, I steal their pretty picture, tit for tat.
CLICK HERE to learn all about the game game and the best lunch in London, all at the Borough Market in Southwark.
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