There’s something comforting about buying your produce from the folks who grow it. The same can be said for breakfast and lunch, sold to you by the hands who prepare it, sating our growing appetite for knowledge about where our food comes from.
It’s why shopping at your local markets is always a good idea. There’s no shortage of stalls in the east, with markets in Kings Cross, Paddington, Double Bay and Moore Park, ready to spruce up your spring.
Once a place to snag some salad ingredients and a quick gozleme afterwards, markets have come a long way, pedalling more regional flavours and acting as a barometer for food trends happening elsewhere, with many using them as a testing ground for ideas.
“We’re seeing a lot of plant-based stalls coming through, which seems to be a trend in eating habits at the moment,” says Madelienne Anderson, who runs the Cambridge Markets with her business partner, Rebecca Fox, at Moore Park’s Entertainment Quarter each Wednesday and Saturday. (Cambridge also have an annual spring market in Watsons Bay, and the EQ Christmas Markets will also return on Sunday, November 24.) “Veganism is one of the fastest growing food diets in the world.”
The EQ Markets have been going strong under the Showring’s canopy for more than 17 years, but Anderson and Fox acquired them two years ago and got to work refreshing them.
“It needed a little bit of a revamp — but some of the old favourites are still there.”
Kukufu is one of their more recent stalls, selling eggless frittatas made from chickpea flour, and a revolving rainbow of chopped salads. Then there’s Bellamy & Co, who make restaurant-grade stuffed flatbreads and salads, including plant-based options at at the EQ on Wednesdays, Double Bay on Thursdays and Kings Cross every Saturday.
“There’s something cool about trading at a market,” said chef and co-owner Rob Bellamy.
“Everyone’s got a different story. When it rains, everyone huddles together and helps everyone out. It doesn’t feel like you’re your working, it’s very laidback.”
Plant-based foods are a recurring trend across markets in the east.
Elizabeth Taylor ran London’s famous Spitalfields Markets before launching the Organic Food Markets in Sydney in 1995 with 11 markets across town, including in Kings Cross and Double Bay. Now, she’s just kicked off the city’s first weekly Flexitarian Markets around the El Alamein Fountain in Potts Point, the same address as the Kings Cross Organic Food Markets.
The semi-vegetarian flexitarian diet focuses on minimally-processed plant-based foods, with meat and animal products in moderation.
“I do think a lot of people are interested in veganism but they still want to have meat in their diet in a smaller way,” Taylor said.
“The gozleme stall, for instance, will probably have a meat option, but also a vegan one with jackfruit as a substitute for pulled pork.
Double Bay Organic Food Markets must-haves:
● A pillowy, chocolate- and cinnamon-laced babka from Babka Baby.
● A sugar-dusted jam berliner (German doughnut) from Berliner Bakery
● One of Xesus Blends’ cold-pressed juices, to balance the babka and doughnut.
8-2 Guilfoyle Park, Double Bay; Thursdays, 8am-2pm
Paddington Markets need-to-eats:
● An “everything bagel with lox” from Brooklyn Boy Bagels: they nail the chewy, malty, salty trifecta.
● Bag of handmade coconut and cherry chocolates from the Emporium of Chocolate.
395 Oxford St, Paddington; Saturdays, 10am-4pm
Cambridge Markets EQ must-eats:
● The roasted cauliflower kuku (eggless frittata) with grilled eggplant salad and miso dressing from Kukufu, for colour and crunch.
● Beef pho from Eat Fuh, which is like a big, warming, star anise-scented hug.
● Coconut hopper (Sri Lankan gluten-free crepe) with slow-cooked beef and kale salad from The Hopper Pan, chased by a coconut treacle dessert hopper.
● Just-picked produce and seasonal bowls from star supplier, Moonacre Farm.
122 Lang Road, Moore Park; Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8am-2pm
Kings Cross Organic Food Markets must-tries:
● A halloumi and egg flatbread with a punch of salsa verde and almond dukkah from Bellamy & Co.
● The Saigon brekky wrap from Jimmy Liks: pulled pork drenched in a thick yellow curry, with cucumber, coriander, pickles, and a crisp wok-fried duck egg, piled into a fresh roti.
Fitzroy Gardens, Macleay Street, Potts Point; Saturdays, 9.30am-2.30pm
Flexitarian Markets
top picks:
● Halloumi fries from Halloumalicious, for the squeak factor
● Falafel wrap from Vego Corner.
Fitzroy Gardens, Macleay Street, Potts Point; Sundays, 9.30am-2.30pm