Eveleigh Markets

On what was a spectacularly sunny Sydney morning, my fiancé  and I decided to have a look at Eveleigh Markets (‘Eveleigh’).  What inspired us to go this? Perhaps it was the fact that on our recent trip to Montreal we had visited Jean Talon markets with some of our friends. It was brimming with the freshest produce Montreal had to offer. Tasting their fresh fruits and vegetables, their home made pastries and their delectable cheeses made me hungry to visit the markets in our own local area.

 

So waking up bright and early (at least for a Saturday morning) we headed out toward Redfern.  Perhaps by chance it was the same morning that Kylie Kwong was promoting the release of her new book “Simple Chinese Cooking Class”. She was extremely personable and warm as we conversed and she then provided me with a signed copy of her new book. 

 

We then gathered around her stall to watch her cooking demonstration of what were really, two simple dishes. She began with a vegetable san chow boy (an assortment of Chinese vegetables wrapped in a crisp ice berg lettuce) and followed suit with stir fried lamb fillets with caramelised rice noodles.  

As her cooking class demonstration ended and the crowd dwindled, we spotted Audra (from this season’s Masterchef).  I couldn’t help but take a quick snap!

 

But aside from all these ‘celebrity’ spotting’s (at least in the food world), the markets itself is a true treasure.  These are not the type of markets you would come to do your weekly grocery shopping, but what you will find, is local and unusual produce.  You have Mr Fungi who sells an assortment of fresh mushrooms from porcini to wood ears and everything in between.  You can also find items like truffle oil, micro-herbs and edible flowers.

Offcourse they also have a small selection of fresh fruit and vegetables and you can be assured they are organic and pesticide free. We picked up a bag of mandarins grown from a nearby by orchid. They were incredibly sweet, in a way that I have never found from the mandarins we have bought at our local supermarket.

 

And no trip to the market would be fulfilled without tasting some food! There are only a few stalls selling breakfast and/or lunch.  But you will find an interesting range from the high end boutiques such as Bird, Cow, Fish (a one hatted restaurant which recently closed their restaurant in Surry Hills) to smaller local producers.  We couldn’t go past the smell of the chorizo sausage being cooked on the hot grills, teemed with caramelised onions and a spicy dressing.

So if you are looking for a way to enjoy the local produce in your area and find some interesting items to add to your pantry then don’t miss a trip to Eveleigh!