San Francisco's Ferry Plaza- Land of Samples

Marta, Jody and I headed out from Jody’s place in Sunset at about 9:30, groggy from a late night of catching up. All three of us were bundled up in layers from Jody’s closet, as Marta and I had packed without consideration for the foggy San Francisco morning chill.  We took the Muni to the Embarcadero, with Jody narrating the tour of her childhood neighborhood along the way.

We found the Ferry Plaza and passed right through the craft market (across the street, and visible in this picture) to the farm-stands along the water. At the information booth there was a map of the vendors that we glanced at, but rather than form a plan we decided to just wander. Our agenda for the morning- to hunt-and-gather some food to eat on the spot that would sustain us until the evening guitar concert. No time to cook at home, and with me leaving the following day there would be no sense in stocking up.

Ordinarily I would do a pretty thorough walk-through before choosing what to buy, but I was unprepared for the abundance of samples that started coming at me from every direction. Almost every stand was sampling something, from whole strawberries to chunks of bread to dunk into olive oil. I was done in by a taste of a sweet, juicy and powerfully flavorful nectarine, so I picked out a plum, an abnormally large apricot and a white nectarine, (each priced at a steep $1.25!), and we kept walking.  When I bit into the nectarine about four stands later I was bitterly disappointed. It wasn’t quite ripe- almost crisp, and lacking in flavor. The apricot wasn’t any better, and in comparison the plum was okay. We finished them off between the three of us, and after that I was much more wary. 

Tip:  If you want to eat something right away, ask the vendor to help you pick out one that is ripe and ready to eat, (as I learned by observation)!

We could have nearly completed our lunch just on samples alone. Jody bought a ripe avocado that we ate right away (having the vendor slice it in half for us), and a tangelo that she put in her bag for later.

We wound our way through the rest of the market, stopping to look at various sandwich, sausage or smoothie stands, but couldn't commit to any of them. The prices just seemed a bit too steep for "walking food."  We settled on some of San Francisco's famous sourdough and a nettle-wrapped soft cheese from Cowgirl Creamery to share, and found a bench with a great view to hang out for a bit.

Squash Blossoms

If there is a downside to an addiction to fresh produce, it's the occasional thing that shrivels up or grows fuzz because it's forgotten among the abundance of an overzealous market trip. I always feel terrible- thinking of the long process from sprouting seed to gradual ripening and avoidance of pests that went toward that particular veggie arriving safely in my market bag, just for it to end up in the compost.

This week's victim was the squash blossoms.  These blossoms actually last a pretty long time, considering that they're flowers, but even these lost patience with me after a week of abandonment while I slaved my evenings away in class. I had planned to make an attempt at the recipe that the Little Italy pasta vendor described.  He even gave me a chunk of cheese (Chaume- a soft and sticky cheese) that he deemed perfect for the job.

I felt an obligation to make it right, so I went on a search for replacements.  Here are the places that do NOT have squash blossoms:

Vons.  Despite their flashy faux-market outside the store, neither of the produce guys had any idea what squash blossoms were and pointed me to the floral department for these "flowers you can eat!"

Trader Joe's.  Not even in a clam-shell box labeled "Trader Julio's"

Point Loma Farmers Market.  Not a lot of produce choices here.  More of a craft market really.  The blueberry guys from Mission Valley were there, though, as was the lady from Little Italy selling delicious hydroponic lettuce. The guy selling summer squashes offered me the shriveled brown (and inedible) "blossoms" from the ends of his zucchini- for free!

Why has no one heard of this delicious dish?!!

When I went out with my new San Diego friend Shelby to Cucina Urbana Friday night, there they were on the menu!  They were stuffed with cheese, deep fried and unbelievably delicious.  Shelby knew exactly where we should go to look for our own squash blossoms: The stand at the famous Chino Farm.

This place has the best of everything, and a bit of the unusual.  Our haul:

Clockwise, from top:  Fennel bulb, cherry tomatoes, arugula, the best strawberries I've ever tasted, likewise with the golden raspberries, SQUASH BLOSSOMS!!!, Purple carrots, artichokes, red onion (?), sweet peppers.

And... the blossoms:

All stuffed, battered and ready for frying!

Meet Up at the Mercato

Sera, Shannon Ben and I met up for the Little Italy Mercato, which runs every Saturday from 9-11.


My personal mission:  To fill the vacant refrigerator of the house that I'm "sitting" for the next two weeks, and to find some accompaniment for the Trader Joe's Baby beets that the residents left behind for me.

I arrived at opening time, and the market was already bustling. It wasn't too hard to find parking in a metered spot a couple of blocks away, and the Little Italian deli I parked in front of was happy to make change for me.  Next time, he said, buy something from the store and you can park for free in the parking lot.  Noted.

The very first stop along the way was a stand with beautiful fresh pasta and olives. As always, I had to make my circuit of the stalls before committing to the first thing I came across, but I knew pasta would be on my list!



The market actually extends over four long blocks along Date Street, and the offerings are so wonderful that taking it all in is almost overwhelming. Fortunately, the stalls are organized for the most part with produce on the North side of the street, prepared food on the South side, and most of the artist and craft stalls are at the far Eastern end.

For breakfast I nabbed a "mock tuna" collard roll at Peace Pies.  As I munched, I lingered at a stand selling pesto packaged (very sensibly) in vacuum sealed plastic bags.  I got an enthusiastic sampling of each of their mind-blowing flavors, beginning with the mildest and working up to "Diablo" and "Hemp Gangissimo."  I would love to highly recommend this incredible pesto, but I wandered off without grabbing their info.  Hopefully I'll run across them again!

When Sera, Shannon and Ben showed up I had previewed the length of the market, and was ready to start buying.  The first spot to return to was Schaner Farms- without a doubt the winner of "Prettiest and Best-Smelling" stall. Fortunately I had had the sense to nab a $2 bundle of lavender during my preview. By the time we returned the big bunches of lavender were long gone.  They also had lovely radishes and fragrant bouquets of herbs with edible roses.  Sera bought one with a good helping of fresh basil and we nibbled on it was we walked along.  Following along our herbal theme, we stopped at Roots Kind Food, which had, among other delicious looking treats, a lavender Verbena iced tea garnished with a bright orange flower. They offered a free refill, but when we returned later the popular tea was all gone.

The next big hit with the group was SoNo Trading Company. I was drawn in by their samples of sweet pickles- not ordinarily my favorite (I prefer them salty and dilled!), but in this case the crisp texture and onion-ey sweet spicy flavor made them an exception to the rule.  We had to try all their mustards (with pretzels for sampling), and I concluded that these guys really know how to work with flavors.  if I weren't leaving town in two weeks I would have bought the "champagne garlic" and slathered on anything from sandwiches and sausages to fish and chicken.  The "Hong Kong Habanero" was worth a try just for its sinus-clearing wasabiesque kick.

Next door was Suzie's Farm, with an impressive array of edible flowers and micro-greens. With squash blossoms for .25 each and sprouts for sale at .50 and ounce (a sizeable bunch), one could get quite an assortment of sprouts for a bit of change.


In addition to our flowery finds, Sera and I also managed to split some good buys- a large bag of grapefruits- $5, a basket of Haas avocados- $5 and an assortment of veggies for $10. It's always good to go to the market with a friend so you can make best use of buying larger quantities for less money!

Sera with her artichoke.

In the end, I spent quite a bit at this market, but will be set for the next few days with fresh fish, pasta with pesto, salad, and fresh veggies.

The Haul:  Lettuce (B-Side Growers), Haas avocadoes (?), broccoli and asparagus (suncoast farms),  Fresh Pasta (Lisko Imports), ceviche, salmon dip (?), sundried tomato pesto (Lisko Imports), spanish garlic grater dish (?), fresh lavender (Schaner Farms), onion sprouts and squash blossoms (Suzie's Farm).

My post-market lunch:

Baby beets over a bed of fresh, mild lettuce, topped with onion greens, freshly grated parmesan (grated with my new dish!) and the faintest whisper of lavender blossoms.

Grated garlic clove with pepper and olive oil

Fresh Ceviche

I'd call it a successful Saturday market-morning!

Mission Valley: From Blueberries to La Jolla Cove

The first stop on the Talking Turnip tour is in San Diego, where I will be for the next three weeks for a training course in Montessori Elementary education.  My colleague and new partner-in-crime Shannon and I were trying to figure out what to do after our course on our first Friday night in the area. What a perfect first mission for the first market stop!

The task: to nab some good fruits and veggies and find out where the locals think we should go on a Friday night.  We located a market in Mission Valley (in the Target parking lot- not Macy's, as it had been listed) and caught the last hour, just before sunset. The vendors were happy to offer suggestions for our evening out. Right off the bat, we got two votes for La Jolla Cove from two vendors selling mangosteen juice and jewelry. As we continued to wander, sampling fruit as we went, we were drawn in by a couple of friendly guys selling blueberries and pomelos.  They were more than happy to help us in our quest, suggesting that at some point we check out Temecula- the origin of their tasty berries, and home of the Pechanga casino, which they said to has great food. Sensing our lack of enthusiasm for gambling, they seconded (thirded) the vote for La Jolla Cove, and we knew we had a winner. 

Other recommendations from out Temecula friends: The Gaslamp District, which we decided to return to with friends from the course, Little Italy, where there is a Saturday morning "Mercato," and Don Carlos burritos in La Jolla, where we were told to order the La Jolla and the California burritos.

Highlights of the market:  Greenfix organic smoothies, Hani's Market with delicious olive oil spreads, and Kettle Babes popcorn.

The Haul:  Clockwise from top: Pomelo, tangelo, blueberries, greenfix smoothie.

The Idea

I've been living on Grand Cayman, in the British West Indies as a teacher for ten months. As soon as the grocery store opened on my first day I was through the door, ready to stock up on exotic West Indian fare. My usual mantra of "eat local" that I chased after in Boston seemed much more exciting in a place where the flora and fauna appeared so vastly different. Here, Coconut trees sprout up along the roads and beaches and in nearly every yard. Trees with bright green leaves are laden with heavy breadfruit (yes, breadfruit) and noni bushes plop their stinky white fruits on people's front lawns. Tamarind branches dangle thick brown pods over the roads while goats and cows chew grass at their roadside tethers underneath. Chickens wander freely on the beach, raise chicks in swamps, and strut down the streets in front of island shacks and groomed mansions alike.

It turns out, however, that walking into the grocery store on the island is like walking into any Shaw's or Stop n Shop in the United Sates. Shoppers are greeted by the same assortment of apples from Fiji and oranges from South America, the same "fresh juices" from Bolthouse Farm, and the same Brown Cow Organic yogurt in plain, maple, and vanilla. Great stuff, no doubt, but not the local experience I was looking for. Globalization, apparently, extends its reach to this small island nation as well. Which is why Cayman and every other place with local flavor NEEDS farmer's markets.

Fortunately for those who desire something fresher than "straight off the ship," The Cayman Department of Agriculture has put together an open-air farmers market about a twenty minute drive from George Town. It has permanent stalls and is open every Saturday year-round. I have always loved Farmers Markets- the rich produce smell, the colors and sounds, the surprises as the yield changes from season to season. As the daughter of a genuine Californian foodie growing up in a Texas college town, I always found an exciting exoticism in obtaining fruits and vegetables anywhere other than the local H.E.B. This Caymanian market in particular, however, has become something special to me. It's a tiny market. There are never more than twenty or so vendors on a given Saturday (and that's a stretch). The small size that sometimes drives market-shopping lightweights away has become part of the appeal for me. I love the familiar faces and the solidarity among the early-morning regulars who are out of bed with the sun to vy for the best shot at the juiciest mango or fattest heirloom tomato. The vendors recognize me, and they often know what I am looking for before I ask, shaking their heads apologetically if it's already been sold out.

The best part about the market, though, is that I learn something new absolutely. every. time.  Like that one shouldn't even try to grow passion fruit if one has iguanas around (a disappointment) and, later, that the best way to get rid of iguanas is to wrap tin foil around the coconut tree trunks nearby (I am now growing passion fruit!) I've learned how to prepare Callaloo properly so that the stem pieces aren't tough, how to open a young coconut so that a little piece of the husk serves as a spoon, why sub-tropical citrus fruits are all green on the outside (even if they are orange on the inside),  how to core and fry breadfruit, make Cayman-style hot sauce, and mix up refreshing "swanky" and Jamaican sorrel drink. The vendors (and shoppers too) are so generous with their stories that I show up and stay for an hour or so, even when all I need is a jug of coconut water.

This last Saturday at the market I was chatting with Brian from the DOA, telling him of all the travelling I have lined up for the summer and how I've been hoping to hit some farmer's markets along the way. He told me about the farmer's market conference he attended in the US and listed off some of the best and most well-known.  Wouldn't you know that many of them are situated right along my route!  Well, the idea came together, and with a little bending of travel plans and some emails here and there I managed to pick out FIFTEEN farmer's markets of various sizes that I absolutely must see. The challenge is on.  Starting in July 1st, I will embark on a six-week market tour of epic proportions- attempting to hit every market on my list, ranging from the San Fransisco Ferry Plaza to Boston's Haymarket. The goal is to not just look around and buy food, but to gather up some stories and knowledge that can only come from hanging out with other people who love produce. I'll compile the stories and advice here, along with photos and recipes that will together form a complete market experience! I don't know what will happen, but I am excited to find out.

Wish me luck!