Comments (0) Best Farmer's Market - 2005
The GreenMarket
Who are you kidding? You're not a chef. You're not even a sous chef. You're a hack. You can't whip up a walnut sauce on short notice, have never chilled a soup in your life, let alone bisque, couldn't clarify butter even if it got you really high. But the dirty little secret? It's all in the ingredients. Of course your tomato salad's gonna suck if you're buying red baseballs from Wal-Mart. Greens from a grocer? Pish-tosh. The secret is tucked away in a parking lot on Washington Avenue, just east of Euclid. Each Saturday morning from June through October, a dozen-odd organic farmers set up shop and sell their produce: the GreenMarket. It's great. For the same price -- OK, a little more -- you can get gosh-dang sunflower shoots from Claverach Farms that are plucked straight from the dirt and taste like heaven with a sprinkle of olive oil and a touch of salt. From Centennial Farms you can get the sweetest, most sexually arousing peaches you'll ever taste and pay the actual human being who nudged the little blossom along. La Dolce Via sells its stellar scones (moistened with the juice of fresh peaches and blackberries), and you can wash 'em down with honest-to-heavens raw milk straight from the teat courtesy of Living Springs Ranch. Not even you could fudge it up with this stuff. Cook the vegetables briefly, add a little salt, pepper and, sure, butter, and you're good to go.
