It never ceases to amaze me how many times I have been to Central Market here in Adelaide and every time I come across something I never knew existed before. I guess all that food in one location gets me so worked up, you?d think I?d walked into a porn shoot with Justin Timberlake and Ryan Phillipe. Sweaty palms and hyperventilating aside, I finally had what I had needed all along: a tour of the Central Markets.
This was part of my school?s orientation week for new gastronomy students, and I?ll admit, I didn?t really think I needed a tour of the market. I had been there several times before on my own, what else was there to see? Well, according to Mark Gleeson of Chefs Media (and a local Central Market vendor himself), plenty! We started off with a tasting of local olive oils. Apparently, Australia has a surplus of the stuff because most Australians do not even realize they produce it! In fact, the whole theme of the tour was supporting local vendors, a topic that is near and dear to my heart. When it comes to tasting olive oils, you always want to smell it first, like you would a wine. Shake it around in the glass to realize the aroma and then smell. Any off scents should be avoided. When it comes to tasting, you put a little bit in your mouth, swish it around so it coats everything, suck in two breaths of air, and then swallow. The taste you are looking for should be sweet under the tongue, bitter round the top, and pepper in the back of your mouth. We ended up tasting two local oils, one of which was a little less refined than the other, but both still fine pieces of work. We also tasted the more bitter oil sprinkled over fresh cut sweet tomatoes with sea salt and bread. It?s amazing how one single ingredient can totally alter and mesh varying flavors together, and Mark suggests pairing a bitter oil with sweet and salty for a nice combo. Plus, I dig eating, so it was like a double bonus on my part.
From there, we walked past Lucia?s, an Italian store and caf? that had been in Central Market for a very long time, back when the market was not covered by a giant roof but rather when individual stalls were in their own tin sheds. They were actually the first family to bring pasta to Australia, and it was great to see them still thriving there today. The family also sells their bottled tomato sauce out of the store.
This is Mark?s shop, and as you can tell by the sign, he does just about everything. The highlights of this shop, at least for me, are the large pastry selection, truffles, and chocolate fountain.
Right next to his shop is a shop that serves only Greek yoghurt with fresh fruit on top much like a shop would serve gelato or ice cream. I had a sample with fresh mango, and it tasted like my favorite mango lassi drink I would drink in the states. Very fresh.
This is the mushroom guy. His family only farms mushrooms, and he?s been working on their farm since he was a teen. I just love the family owned atmosphere that pervades the vendors at the Central Market!
From there, we moved on to the Water Shop. Yes, that?s right, an entire store dedicated to water. At first glance, it seems like some new age way to sell gadgets for your water, ways to energize and alkalize the water that sound like some hippy mumbo jumbo. But at a closer glance, it is actually quite an interesting little shop. The owner sells tons of these ceramic water purifiers (that are quite pretty to boot) and a variety of water technology as well as waters from all over the world. There were waters for the tired traveler or to help balance out female hormones. And while purifiers like the Brita system help a bit, they also tend to be kept in plastic containers that continue to leach plastic into the actual water we drink. This is why you should never refill those bottles your water comes in. The owner explained that our high consumption of processed foods tends to make our bodies more acid, which leads to problems like osteoporosis. By drinking alkalized water, it restores the balance within your body by helping push out those extra toxins. A very interesting tutorial in water indeed.
Mark was able to point out two produce vendors right next to each other that were as different as night and day. Vendor A is about twice the size of vendor B, and always has any produce you needed, even if it is out of season or he has to import them from the States or other countries. Vendor B is small, only serves locally farmed produce, and always has the latest produce in season. Guess which one serves the most consistently best tasting produce around? This is a shot of some beautiful tomatoes at vendor B.
These are two kinds of plums from vendor B. One is a Satsuma plum, deep red on the inside and a mild flavor. The other I think is called Golden Delight (I could be wrong, but I know it has a ?golden? somewhere in the name) and it was very sweet. It tasted like a cross between a plum and a peach.
Here is Mark, explaining what makes this honey so darn special. It comes from Kangaroo Island, which is just off the coast of Adelaide, and apparently, these special bees were brought to the Island a while ago. They ended up killing all the other bees on the Island, and now this is the only place in the entire world that has this kind of bee, which means only they can produce this kind of honey. It is all the side stories like this that made this tour really worthwhile.
This is a Polish vendor that has quite the selection of meats and sausages, some of them smoked. There are three things that hold a special place in my heart: my husband, my ten inch Wusthoff knife, and smoked meats.
This one is for my Russian friend Elena Mamonova back in the States. We tasted beef and potato with leek piroshkis, which were like pies fried in a very light, almost donut-like batter. This is a picture of their Russian delicacies. I love Russians.
This is a random organic vendor that just looked really pretty. So I took a picture.
This is The Flower Stand. Definitely not your average flower shop. They actually do flower arrangements with food, and they get quite creative. There is nothing I like more than a person doing everything they can to make their product a bit more creative than the next vendor. It?s inspiring. This shot doesn?t do the arrangement justice, but it?s a combo of peacock feathers, fig branches and I think (don?t quote me on this) some velvety sage type plant.
There was more on the tour, but I think you get the gist of it. The tour really awakened my appetite for living in Adelaide. It is a great town with a lot of history and some phenomenal growers and producers. And thanks to Mark, I now know enough to shop a bit more intelligently (and locally) in the Central Market. If you are in or around Adelaide and would like to get in touch with Mark for tours, check out his website at www.centralmarkettour.com.au. Thanks for a good time, Mark. ~LTG
