The market is on every Sunday between 9am and 1pm. It will be closed while the Royal Melbourne Show is on for a couple of weeks in September.
Most of the stalls are under cover in a large shed at the showgrounds. About six hardy souls had their stalls outside.
When you walk into the shed, on the left, is some coffee being made. On the right is a stall that cooks a burger using produce from the market and from what I could gather, proceeds go back to the market. I am guessing that maybe they have different breakfast options each week, will have to find out.
The burger contains a fried egg and a meat patty and is topped with red cabbage coleslaw with a light lemony dressing, beetroot salad, some celeriac remoulade and some delicious watercress. I had some breakfast prior to the market so had a plate of the salads and some watercress. It was lovely and fresh. I've never had celeriac remoulade before so was keen to try it.
There were a few empty spots in the shed, but being winter there is not as much around. Down the back of the shed was a stall loaded with artichokes and other goodies.
I've been reading a few books on Sicilian cookery and one book, My Cousin Rosa, by Rosa Mitchell, has some recipes using artichokes, cardons and wild fennel, so it was great to be able to see this produce. I've never cooked artichokes before. I got talking to the lady at the stall, and she helped me (and others) select some good artichokes, although she said they are all pretty good at the moment. Just look for artichokes that are heavy with fairly tightly packed leaves. At 10.30 there was a cooking demonstration to highlight produce from the market.
The first person to cook was chef Michael Zendegu. He was cooking up the breakfast burgers. He was also demonstrating a recipe for pickled mandarins (which is on page 109 of the Herald Sun today). As it is nearing the end of the mandarin season, he says it's a great way to use up the fruit. He also adds lemons sometimes. Sometimes he preserves the fruit whole, sometimes halved.
Michael also made some peking duck wrappers and had a tray with julienned carrot, daikon radish and spring onions. He used a little of the pickled mandarins in with the veg as well, and had a roast duck there to slice up and put in the pancake. He had two sauces, plain hoisin sauce, and a mix of orange reduction and hoisin sauce. I got to try one of those duck pancakes, yum.
Next, a lady called Rita cooked some artichoke schnitzels. She showed us how to trim the artichokes. She cooked the artichoke halves in boiling salted water for about 15 minutes or until tender (when you put a knife in). She drained and cooled them. The artichoke halves are then dipped in some beaten egg and then pressed into a mix of of fresh breadcrumbs, cheese and chopped parsley and garlic leaves. (At home she freezes them at this stage with layers of paper). For today she cooked them in some oil. For the frozen ones, she takes them out of the freezer about 10 or 15 minutes before and cooks them in oil. More treats to try and they were pretty delicious. I have filed that recipe away for future reference.
A lady was looking after a stall stocking whole walnuts and walnut pieces. I bought a 100g bag of walnut pieces for $5.00. They are going into some chocolate and walnut biscuits. I also bought a bag of walnuts ($12) and a nut cracker ($10). That should keep my dad happy I reckon.
The walnut season is almost over, so probably won't be able to get them for too much longer, well until about April next year anyway.
Another stall had apples and pears and some other fruit, such as lemons. I haven't heard of howell or cole pears. The man I spoke to said that the cole is an heirloom variety. It wasn't the prettiest fruit I've seen, but I bought a couple of firm cole pears to poach, and a softer one to eat today and it was a tasty juicy pear. At $3 a kilo it seemed like pretty good value to me.
Melbourne Showgrounds Farmers' Market
Every Sunday 9am to 1pm (except during the Royal Melbourne Show)
Federation Hall, Melbourne Showgrounds
Gate 7, access from Leonards Cres, which is off Langs Road
Ascot Vale 3032
We stuffed some artichokes recently and baked them in about a litre of olive oil. They were so absolutely tasty!
ReplyDeleteI just cooked mine in boiling water then dressed them with some lemon juice and olive oil. Was pretty happy, more with being able to trim them (as per rita's demo).
ReplyDeleteOh cool!! I have been meaning to go to this market too. I love the farmers' markets at Collingwood Children's Farm, Gasworks etc, and have been disappointed with most others (e.g. the one in Yarraville Gardens). This looks like it's more like the former, though, with all those rare variety fruit & veg! Thanks for the wrap, will check it out.
ReplyDeleteIt had a pretty interesting range of produce, not a lot, but I expect as the weather gets warmer, maybe more produce and more people. Looking forward to some more visits.
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