Market Watch #8 Published Advertiser 6.4.11

Easter preparation is in full swing and many traditions are on show at the ACM. An international range of chocolate eggs, mice and bilbies is available. Then there are hot-cross buns made by local and interstate bakers, bunches of flowering Easter daisies and fresh chestnuts. Easter is also the time for lamb on the spit, tsoureki (Greek Easter bread), colomba (Italian Easter bread, see Special), barszcz biały or żur (white borsch from Poland), baccala (salt cod) and seafood.

Fruit and Veg

She’s all apples this week. New season Fuji are in at $2.99kg. Little Johnnies are the perfect size for baking and Pink Ladys are on the way. Bananas are getting tough to get and prices range between $6.99 and $14 kg. Tasmanian beans have the crunch $3.99kg, pumpkin $1.99kg and perfect cauliflower $4.50 each. Avocados are four for $3, asparagus $2.50 bunch. Ribier grapes are becoming popular $5.99 kg and Santa Rosa plums are still in at $3.99kg. Overcast weather is playing havoc with strawberries, slowing the ripening and raising the price for premium quality.

Meat and Poultry

Cold weather signals time for slow roasting. Best cuts are shoulder lamb $11.99kg, South East SA beef rump $9kg and Vegas Stall 62 certified organic chickens $14.99. Barossa Fine Foods now has its Easter-only, Canadian maple and cinnamon-cured and smoked bacon rashers for $6 pack.



Special

Colomba di Pasqua, ‘Easter Dove’, the Italian Easter version of panettone, is shaped like a dove. The sweetened dough contains candied peel and is topped with pearl sugar and almonds. Lucia’s Fine Foods. From $28. Buona Pasqua!

Advantage SA 2011 Regional Awards Program

Advantage SA  2011 Regional Awards program.

The Regional Awards have provided a fantastic forum to commemorate and promote individuals, groups and organisations who live and work in regional South Australia and have contributed to the development of their region.

In the programs twelve year history, 2010 was the most successful as it saw increased awareness of the program with the highest level of nominations and awards.

2011 marks the next chapter of promoting the State's successes under the Advantage SA brand. Join us as we celebrate the people of South Australia.

For more information on the 2011 Regional Awards, contact Advantage SA on (08) 8211 8111 or email regionalawards@advantagesa.com.au
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Market Watch #7 Published 30.3.11 Advertiser #Adelaide

 As Easter approaches, hot-cross bun aficionados are beginning their research for the best ACM buns. The sweet, spiced buns, made with fruit and leavened with yeast are topped with a cross, symbolising the Crucifixion in modern times. Already three stalls are in the run-up. This year chocolate buns are mounting a competitive challenge.

Fruit & Veg

The once in twenty-year weather conditions this summer are responsible for the seasonal incongruities of supply to the market. Winter conditions are affecting normal summer crops, so we are anticipating less late summer vegetables and higher prices. Yet, for stone-fruit, the season is extending to be one of the best ever. Tomato prices rise as the cold sets in and Riverland rockmelons can’t be picked due to 4-5 inches of rain. Peaches and nectarines are still fantastic.

ACM prices always reflect value with carrots $1.99 kg, corn $1 ea, asparagus two bunches for $5 and rhubarb $9,99kg from Nick at Aubergines Stall 57. Mario from Greensides Stall 56 has local garlic three for $2, baby eggplant from his own garden (Oh Yum) at $4.99kg, Damson plums $3.99kg and the first, as usual, local quinces for $3.99kg. Californian mandarins (check for stickers) and are $6.95kg, broccoli $3.50kg and pears and limes are abundant, cheap and delicious.

Search out Cambodian-born Rom, one of the only ACM stallholders who is also a grower and the owner of Bill B’-Stall 37. Chillies, flat beans $8,50kg, hot banana capsicums and his long baby eggplants shine out at $4.99. Rom’s stall has the only remaining electronic conveyor belt to load stock upstairs. Heritage protection?

Meat & Poultry

With the cold snap and high lamb prices, try turkey legs. There is a secret to removing the sinew so ask Tony O’Connell and get his recipes for turkey soups and roasts. Tony’s tequila and lime pork chops $8.90 kg are heart warmers. Feast Fine Foods boned ducks and beef cheeks are perfect to try your French bistro meals and terrines at home.

Sweet Things

Glacé apricots and figs filled with mascarpone from Leo’s are heaven sent. From $1.90 each.

The ACM Hot Cross Bun Challenge

Email and let me know your favourite bun and where you bought it. The best will be judged by the number of votes.

Special

Samtass Seafood, named after brothers Sam and Tass, has a pre-Easter seafood brochure offering up to 50 per cent discount on 16 major lines. 40 percent OFF SA Spencer Gulf cooked Extra Large prawns...save $12 per kilo Pay $18.99 kg.

I ate fresh Adelaide Hills wild porcini and need more

Yesterday, Adelaide Central Market Mushroom Man  hesitated  to sell me one of the first  fresh wild  porcini ever found in South Australia  possibly in Australia. Marco was saving the wild rarity for his best chef customers and  mobile was running hot with calls to get some. He buckled and I bought this beauty. Lucky for me,  Lachie from the Manse and Callum were about and handy with a frypan.
I only ate a few slivers..but will remember this flavour forever. My first sensation was texture..it's.. velvet and silky with resistance. The flavour gently builds, gracefully releasing of the rich woody forest  mushroom character we know from dried porcini. It's a show stopper so go see Marco and try your luck.

"Porcini are among the most flavoursome and sought-after mushrooms in the world. They are gathered wild and have a rich heady flavour and a meaty texture that make them strong enough to be served with steak, yet delicate enough to use in an elegant sauce."

http://mushroomman.com.au/Porcini-Cepes.html

His Adelaide Hills pine mushrooms are also in the market this week

"Pine mushrooms get their name because they commonly grow under pine trees. They’re also known as milky saffron, as they exude a milky orange sap when cut. Pines pop up in summer to autumn, after warm sunny days and a good downpour. While their vibrant saffron-coloured cap, gills and stems adds colour to any dish, their flavour won’t let you down, either. They have a firm texture and a full, roasted nut flavour perfect with fresh pasta and egg based dishes. "

http://www.cookingwithmushrooms.com/index.html

The Adelaide Review - Celsius

The Adelaide Review - Celsius Some years ago I prognosticated that fennel pollen would be the next big thing. (At least a little thing on a list of little hot things.) It has taken its time. Lardo (a superior Italian lard) has made it off my list and on to menus as well. A few stragglers still wait for their time in the sun. We needed places like Celsius Restaurant and Bar to serve perfectly bubbly pork crackling with yoghurt and fennel pollen. It is called a dry snack on the menu and costs $6.50. It is very difficult not to cancel all orders and demand five more of these with five different beers. We need Celsius to remind us that restaurants are better. They can have kitchens full of dreamers working at lightning speed. They know where to source the best ingredients from all over the world if it isn’t available under their noses. Places like Celsius remind us that food can be adventurous and meals can be fun. Celsius serves up an egg cooked at 62 degrees with bacon crumbles for $6.00. You could make that too. If you had a commercial kitchen and wanted to get up a couple of hours before breakfast-time. If you start sprouting formulae based on the egg diameter and dropping words like “ovalbumin” – give it a rest. If you are inquisitive about a “Vegetable patch” of herbs, flowers, raw and pickled vegetables, which comes complete with soil and snails you will find out that, no, the soil isn’t real, but, yes, the tender tempura battered snails are. ($18) The soil is rather moreish, and based on nothing more challenging than coffee. Snails should be on the plate of every savage gardener every day. In among the leaves, flowers and very small vegetables in various dishes are cucumbers young enough to be sporting a flower on the receiving end. Caramelised sweetbreads with yellow and red beetroots, beetroot powder. Pickled seaweed. Turnip flowers. Turnip flowers. And I am leaving ingredients out. A dish that is tuned up for the judges’ show-bench is rounds of quail in prosciutto with foie gras, parsley root and liquorice for only $24.00. The foie gras mousse wrapped in brik pastry with parsley root and liquorice is more complex than it sounds, but I have to leave you something to discover. You could pay the same $24.00 for a steak at your tarted up local; then you have to decide on pepper sauce or Diane sauce for an extra $2.50; and wonder what exactly is sauce Diane in 2010. Wait, where is that packet? Easy on the Cognac there, Chef. Duck with garlic stems. Black fungi. Shelled broad beans. Pea flowers. Tendrils. Duck consommé poured into the duck dish at service. I’ll stop gabbling now. I have seen the culinary light. Celsius is not a place where all the staff have to do is ask: “Garlic bread with that?” The waiting staff are keen and anxious to explain the magic in each dish. The menu is exciting on the palate and plate. I like a bit of gastro-drama. I have met Chef’s secret weapon, Kasim, his brother. I returned for staggeringly good desserts. Four (4) sorts of mulberry in one dessert. Picked that morning. Yoghurt made into brittle croquant. That is scratching the surface. Kasim is the reason for the little flowers with subtle flavours and vegetables with any sort of flavour. We are lucky to have Chef Ayhan Erkok in Adelaide. He has worked at this year’s ruling best restaurant of the year, in the world, that is, Noma, in Copenhagen, as well as Marque and Pier in Sydney. (We nearly lost him to Sydney.) He has also starred in Adelaide at the Manse. He is crawling with talent. A star Adelaide chef has joined Ayhan at Celsius, but it would be gossip if I told you who. The wine list leads off with a page full of nine French bubbles, two from around here, one New Zealander and a lone Spaniard. The whole list is pretty good now; I am sure it will take on the best soon. Try a wine recommended by Sommelier Pauline: Adelaide Review wine judge James Erskine’s beautiful 2010 Jauma Grauburgunder. (500ml-$52.00) Like hanging your palate out in Times Square at night. Flash. Pop. Ripple. Celsius offers an eight-course degustation for $120, or $175 if you let Celsius choose matching wines (I would). If you are sick of cries of imminent planet-wide disaster, go out and have a long lunch at Celsius. Two courses for $30.00, three for $40.00, five course degustation, $50.00. How cheap is that for this? On the other hand, Celsius is decorated in a hard-edge romantic sort of way. Just like you really. So maybe dinner might be best. Celsius Restaurant and Bar 95 – 97 Gouger Street Phone: 8231 6023 celsiusrestaurant.com.au Mon and Sat: 6pm – Late Tue – Fri: 12pm – 2.30pm, 6pm – Late

Galaxy Guides Cooks' Club

COOKS’ CLUB subscribers advance notice for the cooking classes at


River Cafè with Tina and Neil Jewell, Bread and Wine Restaurant le Quartier Français Franschhoek June 2011. This goes live weekend and there are only 50 places for le Complèt Cochon and 30 for Tina’s bread class so if you wan’t to come make the most of the advance notice.


http://www.galaxyguides.com/
food editor and publisher Galaxy Guides

Market Watch #6 Published #Adelaide Advertiser 23.3.11

The ACM has 22 fruit and veg stalls, 14 meat/poultry stalls, 10 gourmet stalls, 6 bakeries, 10 cafes and 30 more general food businesses under one roof.

Food quality, price, origin and variety offer the consumer the best food shopping experience in the State. Add history, migration, families and ambience and the market earns its ‘iconic’ status.

Fruit and Veg

Apples take centre stage now. Grannies, Red and Golden Delicious, Galas and Johnnies from $2.99kg. Fuji and Pink Ladies ripen in a few weeks. Stone fruit season ending with late varieties O’Henry and Somerset peaches still here andStall 69 still has baby white peaches from Renmark. Grapes and tomatoes $2 to $6kg are terrific now. Go green with asparagus, beans and broccoli $4kg all perfect.

Meat and Seafood

The full moon fattens the blue swimmer crabs and Smokey Bay oysters are bursting with sea flavour. Both $10.99kg

Centre aisle Con’s sliced cold meat display is tempting. Top-selling line is single-smoked bacon rashers $7.95 kg. The Savvas family food history goes back three generations and they began as traders from Greece to Turkey.

Cheese

Just arrived in Australia, Cazelle de Saint Affrique is a sheep milk white-mould cheese made in the perfect size for two. The straw aroma introduces a nutty and earthy taste. Smelly Cheese $11.95 ea.



Pasta

Freshly made linguini, spaghetti, fettuccini, gnocchi and lasagna sheets $14 kg from Lucia’s. Gluten free also available.

SPECIAL

Tunisian Brick Pastry - Feuilles de brick means ‘leaves for bricks’ and bricks are the fried, filled pastries found in Tunisia, Morocco and the Middle Eastern countries. The paper thin wheat pastry is best used for savoury fillings (see website for recipe) and are quick and easy for a weeknight. Jagger Stall..

Market Watch #5

From 7.30am its the smell of bacon and coffee that fills the Central Market . No wonder..put your hands together for Barossa Fine Foods, winners of the prestigious ‘Best Bacon In Australia Award 2011” Three generations of gastronomic wizardry, three days of redwood and beechwood cold smoking result in this sweet salty caramel flavored bacon. Outstanding.

Fruit and Veg

Its official, bananas are expensive now selling at $8-$10 kg.

Rain, however has been kind to most vegetables and the grapes, but damaging to beans and celery. Expect higher prices. Tomato, zucchini and cucumber prices are creeping up as the end of season dawns. Capsicums and peppers are hot to trot.

New crop bunch-lines such as swedes, turnips, beetroots and carrots are fresh and snappy.

The supermodel of green leafy vegetables, chicory has also arrived. Look for the darker leaves.

Organic blackberries from Ashton are at McMahons, S47/48. Ruby red blood plums are similar to the satsuma but some say better for jam and available at Thompson Bros, S26/27

Best Asian vegies now are variegated watercress $2 bunch, Perilla, known as japanese basil or shiso add sharpness to fish and tofu dishes. Add garlic chive stalks and flowers to your stir-frys $3, Lien Heng Stall W47





Meat

Meat Braising stretches the dollar further. Use ham hocks at $6kg and bacon bones $3kg from Tony O’Connell, GR47/49. Try the wild rabbits from Penola available at Wild Oz for $9.99 kg. S55

SPECIALS

Sour dough bread from Dough, S45. This artisan bread is made using a 4-year old starting culture fermented using Coonawarra grape skins. Named Le Grande Pain, the bread is made with Rye or white rye flour and sold by the kg

Market Watch #4 Published Advertiser Taste 9.3.11

March delivers a diverse range of fresh local produce in SA. All the seasons cross paths in these next few weeks offering some of the best produce of the year. Lemons, chillies, limes, peaches and plums are bountiful and now is the time to bottle this great fruit for the coming winter months. Preserving is rewarding so dust off Nana’s Green and Gold Cookery Book.


Fruit and Veg

Word from the wholesalers and the growers is positive. Interstate market demand from SA remains high with apples, potatoes and carrot exports peaking. The not so good news is that small business food retailers across Adelaide are experiencing declining customer numbers. It is timely to remember that the supply of such beautiful local produce rests on continued support for local businesses.

Best buys are avocados, lemons, sweet potatoes, grapes, rockmelons, blueberries, apples, plums and peaches. Grape varieties to look for are red globe, midnight bounty and the seedless Thompsons from Mildura at $2 -$6 kg. Adelaide Hills apples are terrific now and Royal Galas are crunchy, juicy and sweet. The stone-fruit season has about three weeks to run and the Sunburst peaches from Adelaide Hills are still beautiful. The sensational Royal Blue potato is back and best roasted up with sea salt and rosemary.

The banana price-hike is still ahead but this week market prices begin at 99c kg.

After 500 years carrots have been grown to return to their original colour – purple! These are available at Cocos Stall 20/21, $3.50 a bunch.

Brian Swanson’s McLaren Vale Kalamata olives are processed the old-fashioned way, containing no artificial preservatives, colourings or caustic soda and are available from Leo’s at Stall 28/29.

Best Asian vegies now are variegated watercress at $2 bunch and Perilla, known as Japanese basil or shiso. This is used to add sharpness to fish and tofu. Add garlic chive stalks and flowers to your stir-fries at $3.

Next week: New season persimmons and nashi pears are on the way in.



Meat and Seafood

End of season Tassie lobsters are a great price now $77kg and whole flathead $11.99 are the go from Samtass.

Pork belly is all the rage at $7.99 kg - using rock-salt will give you great crackling. Tweet me for Billy Law’s recipe for Crispy Roast Pork Belly – Siew Yuk (烧肉).

Eat Now Food!

Gourmet To Go, Stall 42 - Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free savoury range is unbeatable. Famous for lentil pies and sweet corn and fetta fritters.



SPECIAL

C2 is a hand-made, raw-milk cheese made by Adelaide boy Nick Haddow, now in Tasmania.

Nick operates the Bruny Island Cheese Co., settling at Bruny Island after almost ten years of working with specialist cheese in many different countries around the world. C2 is matured for six months, resulting in a hard crust, cheddar style consistency centre with a nutty yet robust flavour - Smelly Cheese, Stall 44.

Melbourne Press Club Group Chefs visit SA

A taste of the Murraylands

24 Feb, 2011 10:17 AM

THE best fresh produce from the Murraylands was on show on Tuesday as a group of Melbourne chefs took part in the first agri-tour to visit the region.While on the inaugural Central Market Tour the chefs, from restaurants owned by The Press Club Group, visited three Murraylands producers to get a taste of some of the best products South Australia has to offer.
Tour guide Mark Gleeson said once the first tour was completed it would go onto the Central Market’s website in the hope of drawing chefs from around Australia.
“Small to medium sized growers have a place in the tourism business,” he said.
“Agri-tours is new and we want to start bringing people through the area.
“What we have seen so far today is inspiring.”
On the tour schedule were Murray Bridge based businesses Swanport Harvest and Celcius Restaurant kitchen garden and Rio Vista Olives, in Mypolonga.
Swanport Harvest owner Don Ruggiero said over the past 12 years his business had produced its Stay Crisp lettuce label people have asked to see his crops and production, but this was the first time such a tour had stopped by.

Getting a taste: Visiting some of the region’s fresh produce businesses during an agri-tour of the region are tour guide Mark Gleeson, PM24 chef Sascha Randle, Hellenic Republic chef Travis McCaule, Swanport Harvest owner Dan Ruggiero, Press Club Group chef Johnathon Mackie and St Katherine’s chef Paul Dunlop. Pic: The Murray Valley Standard

The Murray Valley Standard

Adelaide Central Market Watch #3 Published 2/3/11 Advertiser Adelaide

 

An SMS ‘banana alert’ from a national banana distributor this week warned that the availability crisis has started - with case prices set to triple.  Predictions indicate that unaffected fruit will rise to $10kg as ‘pick-up’ or off the ground bananas now at $2 - $5 kg will run out.

Fruit and Veg

SA tomato stocks are in high demand in QLD and NSW, keeping our local prices up. We still have abundance, with eight tomato varieties available in the market. These include Tella from Murray Bridge, Blush and truss red from the giant indoor farm at Two Wells, also baby green tomatoes for pickling. Vine- ripened are at their best and sauce tomatoes are hard to find. Prices are all under $5kg. Like to grow your own? Plant the late variety Burnley Bounty seedlings available at Prettejohns - Stall 4.

Beetroot, the most versatile of the summer veggies, is brilliant now. Endless uses, but my favourite recipe this summer is Pancar Saltasi, from Claudia Roden. The beets are boiled, chilled, sliced and arranged on top of a platter of thick, plain yoghurt .  Drizzle with an olive oil, lemon and garlic dressing.

The sensational Royal Blue potatoes this week can be roasted up with sea salt and rosemary to satisfy all your culinary senses.

Best now are sweet corn at 3 for $3 and seedless grapes $4; Adelaide Hills lemons and limes are 4 for $2. Also the eco-friendly cocktail avocados grown at Ashbourne Hills by Frank Belperio are perfect and a great price at 8 for $2. McMahons Stall 47/48  

Look out for the superb HOT SHOT rockmelons from the Riverland - well priced at $1.99kg. Now is the time to indulge in fresh figs. Try the brown turkey, the white Adriatics and the black genoa varieties from House Of Organics Stall 34/35.

Meat and Poultry

Fire up the coals this weekend and BBQ Barossa Fine Foods Italian mild sausages at $11.50kg and duck and veal snags at $13.50kg - Stall 60.

Whole certified organic chooks $14.99 kg from Frank at Vegas - Stall 62.

Eat now food

Try Big Table - Fat Toast Big Brekkie- the complete breakfast of champions, topped with fresh basil pesto $13.50. Stall 39/40

SPECIAL

Visit the new market Stall – A Taste of Marrakech. Owner and spice veteran Anouar’s collection of exotic Moroccan ingredients and spices includes dry harissa, ras el hanout, sumac, preserved lemons and dozens more. Gouger Street central entrance on Stand R19.