At the Victoria Market

I went to the Victoria Market this morning. I've joyfully adopted the market as my primary food supplier. Although I've always found comfort in consumerism across the board, I began dreading every trip to Safeways. For a start, I can't stand their air conditioning. Susceptible to Raynaud's phenomenon, I dislike cold, enclosed spaces because I quickly lose circulation in my fingers. I'm not fond of their artificial lighting either. And their food is crap. Basically their environment is a reflection of their product: Safeways is a shrine to the artificial. And don't supermarkets have some kind of monopoly that is bad? Last year I heard Raj Patel the author of Stuffed and Starved speak at Melbourne Uni and the verdict was that supermarkets suck for a number of reasons. Given i hate going there, I thought, I won't go there. I was worried that switching to market shopping might be inefficient and expensive. I thought i might mindlessly be embracing a cliche on a whim. None of this has been true. I spend less time shopping, spend less money, get better produce and the whole experience is dynamic of course, but mostly pleasurable. Sometimes I linger and prod and absorb, socialise and experiment. Other times I'm in-and-out in the drop of a hat.

There's a shop in the delicatessen pavillion that stocks our walnut oil. Dad: what is the name of this stall? Does anyone stock our nuts at the market? We should start compiling a list of stockists in the side bar there -->

On Sundays there is a more tourist-y atmosphere at the market and not all the food stalls are open at the cheap end. I'm fond of the stall called Tomato City. When I remember I like to catch Cam Smith's food show Eat It on 102.7 RRR FM Sundays at 12. Cam does a market report with John from Tomato City. John has a very distinctive voice and knows everything about what produce is in season, what's the best to buy, how the farmers and growers are doing, and what and how to cook and eat things. He's a legend. Ages ago I dropped off some walnuts and walnut oil for Cam at RRR HQ. I should give some to John too. It would be great to solve the issue of getting some small sample bottles together. Today when i bought my Doncaster tomatoes he said "see you next time" so I'm proudly starting to feel like a real regular. I confessed to him that i'd been keeping the tomatoes in the fridge so they wouldn't spoil before i ate them and he advised me that they'd keep just as well in the pantry.

Speaking of great resources on the topic of fresh, seasonal, healthy food and cooking, check out Kathryn Elliot's blog Limes & Lycopene. And here's a direct link to her What's in Season in April post (ok, it's for Sydney but is there much of a difference between Melbourne and Sydney regarding seasonal produce?)