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Go Green, Go Organic!
By daniel | December 27, 2007
Unlike most tourists, Esther and I have strange preferences when we travel. We like to visit sights that truly reflect the character and lifestyle of the people at the places we visit. And the fact that we enjoy walking and eating (a lot) also means that we end up in places that tourists don’t normally venture to.
For example, we ended up at San Francisco’s Ferry Building, which offers an amazing farmer’s market on Tuesdays and Saturdays. They sell almost exclusively organic foods grown in the neighbouring regions, so this is as local as you can get.
It was probably one of the most fun mornings we had in San Francisco, jostling arm to arm with the locals.
Now that we’re back, we really wished we had an organic farmer’s market of our very own in Singapore. Esther and I would do our grocery shopping there anytime.
Take a look at these pictures and you’d know why:
A fruit vendor here offers an array of different apples and pears for tasting.
How can the tomatoes we get in Singapore compare to these ruby red, luscious ones? The vendor was even offering samples to try, a testimony to how sweet they were.
Beautiful gourd-shaped squash that we won’t ever get here.
Check out the types of beans they had on offer! Cauldrons and cauldrons of protein-packed goodness…
Fresh bread, anyone?
Here’re bottles of sugar flavoured with various herbs and spices on offer.
We seldom, if ever, get Chanterelles nor Porcini mushrooms in local supermarkets here.
Smoked meats and fish, with literature on why it’s good for you (and includes recipes on how to prepare them). How fiendishly clever!
Bottles and bottles of flavoured olive oils - many of them are spiked with different kinds of chili (Esther and I had a blast - literally - trying them).
I’ve never heard of fingerling potatoes until now…
Jalepeno and habanero chilis… fiery stuff that are staples in Mexican cooking. We wish we could get some of these here.
Cheeses for tasting. These are goat cheeses.
Sugar, oh honey honey. She was our candy girl.
This lady is nuts for offering every passerby a taste of her home-grown and roasted nuts.
There’s cooked food at the farmer’s market, of course. We passed by this mobile chicken rotisserie (the huge rotating grill you see here is built into the side of a huge van!). Kenny Rogers wouldn’t have thought of that.
We couldn’t resist getting our hands on some food, of course. Like any Singaporean, we sought out the vendor with the longest queue and this was what we got: a Mexican platas (or plate) with organic free-range eggs, refried beans, guacamole and sour cream on tortillas and a dollop of chili on the side.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
ok i have an almost similar picture of the Chanterelle and Porcini mushrooms, also from the Ferry Building Market!