15 March 2010

MATAKANA FARMERS MARKET

I have become a total farmers’ market addict. I spend almost every weekend in the Matakana region and every Saturday I arrive at the market as close to 8am as I can. I grab a coffee (the clever boys at Matakana Roasters know exactly how I like mine) and check out the fresh seasonal vegetables and fruit, real free range orchard laid organic eggs, artisan products, fresh fish and meat, smoked goodies, and a truly tempting array of freshly prepared ready to eat food. I need to take at least three baskets which I always seem to fill. (If I do have to stay in Auckland I always head to the Parnell farmers’ market in the car park of the Foundation for the Blind. The vegetables there are superb, and the crowd is much later to arrive than I am used to so it’s really easy to move around.)

This summer has been the best ever for the Matakana market. We’ve seen many new stall holders and every single week there’s a new surprise for those who look carefully. I love the Something Fishy stall, and this weekend was thrilled to see Bluff oysters, meaty chunks of tuna and fresh whole salmon. I bought the oysters, and then found wonderful aubergines, incredibly intense sweet bright orange baby tomatoes and lovely lettuce and rocket with the dirt still clinging to the roots in a nearby veggie stall. And many other things: smoked salmon, baby beetroot, avocados, smoked garlic, roses, green beans, passion fruit, grapes, buffalo fresh cheese, and a jar of locally made mustard.

But what I love most is watching the development of the stall holders. John and Wi of Pak Thai grow Asian produce, and this week John came up with a new innovation. He put together large brown paper carry bags filled with all the ingredients, including a recipe, for a green Thai curry. For $13.50 I got a packet of green curry paste, sachets of kaffir lime leaves, birdseye chillies, those pea-sized Thai aubergines, a can of the best coconut cream I have come across, a chicken stock cube, and large bunches of fresh coriander and sweet basil. I didn’t buy chicken, but instead made a potato and aubergine curry for friends on Saturday night. Lovely!

Annabelle Guinness never fails to surprise me with her wonderfully innovative bowls of food. She started out with sorbets, mayonnaise and fudge, then developed a range of superb soups (the shiitake tea soup is my all time favourite) and now makes ready to eat treats each week. I can’t go past her breakfast polenta topped with poached plums, figs, apples or pears, swathed in cream and honey and finished with a sprig of mint. But she also has potato and mushroom gratin, beans and croutons in tamarind on rice, and other amazing combinations of delicious food.

And it’s been great to see the return of Silvana Silvestro and her husband Mike, who make authentic, inspired Sicilian food including sweet custardy cannoli, a rich lasagne made with Salumeria Fontana sausage, and fantastic rice suppli which Silvana will heat to eat at the market.

These people have all become friends, and as those of us who have long recognised, the connection of grower to consumer is the real strength of a farmers' market. There’s trust, faith and understanding. As much as I love my local New World in Remuera, the amazing Jack Lum and Co, and Remuera Fisheries, it can never be quite the same as knowing exactly who grew my food and presented it to me.