Im a gormless tourista. my mouth hangs open, always and i walk around not speaking; just looking, absorbing. it doesn't matter how exotic or plain the location. if its new, its fascinating and i just want to absorb all of it in every way, with every sense. i think it must be pretty boring being alongside in someways. Im not talking unless its to ask endless questions. im a socio-cultural anthropologist disguised as a a visitor. 2 new finds for me today, 1 edible, 1 visual/emotional.
We managed to squeeze in a trip to the Marin Farmers Market today. After reading great things about it on Im Mad and i Eat i insisted on trip downtown. Now if you were here, you'd see that we definitely do not need anything edible to be brought into this house. Between Mark owning the store and Jen (his partner, my SIL) being a shopaholic, i have never ever seen a fridge /freezer like this one ,nor pantry nor shelves, id take a picture but i might look odd! its just OTT. the most incredible thing is everything is organic. The cashew butter, the sausages, the avocadoes, the tea, the coffee, the egg nog, the pie, the beans, the chips, the breadcrumbs, the capers, olivees, anchovies, fish, turkey, the pepper and salt, the black sesame tahini, blah blah blah, i could go on. But its america folks and not content with organic wholefoods, the house is full of 'value added' ( a loaded term) organic food product. Im not even going to look at food miles...anyway...i digress.. i went to the market just for a looksee pretty much and i did discover the most wonderful 'new to me' vegetable. Its jicama and it has the texture of a water chestnut, similar consistency to a nashi pear and the smell/taste of a celery/apple/and something undescribable and its just fantastic. Its eaten raw and is refreshing and quite frankly just delicious. The markets were full of ripe persimmons, satsumas (oranges not plums here) ruby reds and pink grapefruits, wonderful lebanese spinach stuffed flat breads with cilantro pesto, yoghurt and many other toppings ( i did buy some), tomales and tortillas of many kinds, walnuts, waffles, cheeses, breads. Farmers markets the world over are always lovely. I discovered my favourite rotisseried organic chickens but decided against it due to said fridge situation.Sigh.
My second newbie experience was the christmas tree lot. Soo cutesie and pretty and full of ohh so not the bagged up sad floppy things one picks up from the back of the 'servo ( gas station to you outside oz) but spritely pretty perky sprucy ones, all set out in pretty formations with little stands and a fantastic fragrance and a cute white picket fence surrounding the lot, swathed in fairy light, stands of life size toy soliders, candy canes and snowmen. It was quite a sight and a long way from faux christmas trees of my childhood. LOL.
4 comments:
I've seen jicama at one of the
Asian shops at the market - Lien
Heng, I think - if you want to
keep the jicama thing going when
you get home. Enjoying the
travelogue - don't think I"ll
ever be back in the Bay Area
again so it's interesting to
hear what it's like now!
oh great news Barbara and thanks for the directions. we were wondering if we could get it at home. its great. raw in salads the way to go so ive heard/
Look like you are having a ball in the U.S.A. I know that sometimes they can be OTT, but when in Rome.... Just don't consume the way they do, please!
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Gav
Those jicamas are ugly things before they're peeled though. We also like them alone with a bit of lime. It's a good summer snack or lazy salad.
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