Farmer’s Markets are an amazing piece of a city’s culture and soul. They are a gathering place, based around the freshest of foods, where a cross section of the populous comes together to support local agriculture and merchants. They can be clean and clinical or funky and fun but either way, I love them all. I mentioned in the last post that Kitty and I had tried to find the Tacoma Market and that it had been canceled due to the impending windstorms. Just because we couldn’t check out the Tacoma Market doesn’t mean there has been a lack of market adventures…

I heard about the Olympia Farmer’s Market around town so I looked it up on the internet and found they were open on Thursday-Sunday until Xmas Eve. So the first Thursday that I had free, I called up Kitty and Michael and asked if they would like to hit the market with me. They agreed so I met them at their house, which is close to the market. Kitty and I loaded into my car and Michael, since he needed to be back before us, took his bike and off we went to The Olympia Farmer’s Market.

This one is a small market right on the waterfront. We started out with some breakfast. Michael had mentioned that he was going to hit the Mexican food shop for a breakfast burrito and that sounded dandy to me. I ordered the burrito and a few minutes later I was straining my back carrying this massive, big as a Thermos bottle burrito back to the table. This thing was HUGE, stuffed with eggs, chorizo, rice, potatoes, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, beans and a delicious red sauce. We sat at one of the picnic tables in front of the stage while we listened to the melodious tones of Quatro. This was a band consisting of piano, drums, upright bass and sax and the average age of the players had to be 70. I am sure they cats had kicked out the jams in the Truman administration and their jazzy renditions mixed well with the cool air and the hot sauce on my burrito. It is a rare instance when I can’t ‘clean my plate’ but I left about a third of this monster-rito on the plate.

The Olympia Farmer’s Market was a delight. The produce, mostly locally grown and organic, looked wonderful and I seriously lamented my lack of a kitchen. I did pick up some apples for the room and I had to snag some of the perfect chanterelles. I do have an electric skillet in my room so I do have some minor cooking capabilities. I also snagged several pears, four different varieties of locally grown pears to box up and send back to the Missus at home. After she got done working her culinary magic on the, they are now sitting in jars on my counter back home in the form of pear honey, which is not actually ‘honey’ but a thick, sweet syrup made from the pears and spices.

There was all manner of vegetable, from beets and broccoli to these weird, Italian cauliflower that looked like something straight out of The Day Of The Triffids.

Fresh seafood, a nice meat market, a sausage store were all well stocked and reasonably priced.

There are a couple of bakery stalls, a spice shop, a metal worker and some interesting artwork all over the place. I think this is supposed to be a turkey but I couldn’t help notice the eerie resemblance to the airplane eating, atomic mutant bird from the classic B movie, The Giant Claw…

Science fiction movie references aside, The Olympia Farmer’s Market is a glorious place and I have been back a couple more times since the original journey.

Then, there is the Mother of Markets, Seattle’s Pikes Place Market. This place is a wonder. It has been in continuous operation for 100 years. Back in the 60’s, some developers and city council folks and even the mayor wanted to knock it down and replace it with apartments and an arena and other such signs of a city’s so called progress and the locals banded together and blocked the drive and got the place deemed a historic site. We are all better for their actions.

This place is amazing. Six levels of shops, restaurants, buskers, merchants and the freshest and most amazing produce you can imagine. This is the view from the back of the place showing the six levels.

The original Starbucks Coffee shop is here in Pike’s Place. There is a Sur le Table store that I always make a visit to whenever I am there. All manner of tiny shops and food stalls are neatly tucked away in various buildings and there is always an air of organized chaos.

One of the stops I made this year was Beecher Cheese. These folks make an incredible array of cheeses on site and they also have a small sandwich shop where I had the most amazing grilled cheese sandwich of my life. It was made on a sourdough bread with their flagship cheddar and their jack cheese with tomato and fresh basil and then grilled in a pannini press. I sat and munched on this wonderful sandwich while sitting in front of the plate window that separated me from the gentleman on the other side who was going about his business of making the cheese.

There is stall after stall of some of the freshest fruit and vegetables I have ever seen. Once more, I cursed my lack of kitchen facilities. Oh, the things I could have done with this stuff. The fresh fish shops were stocked with every manner of sea creature you can imagine. From salmon and halibut from the nearby waters to geoduck and crabs, it was a dazzling display. You can also check out, in person, the shop that you see on every travel and cooking show on TV. You know the one where they throw the fish around the room. This place is fun but I just can’t imagine that the poor fish is worth eating once it has been tossed back and forth that way.

Now personally, I love Brussell Sprouts but apparently, someone doesn’t share my affection for them.

You can spend an entire day at the Pikes Place Market and still not visit every shop. I didn’t have time for that because I wanted to make a run to Uwajimaya.

Uwajimaya is not a farmer’s market per se, but it is a huge Asian Market and is a must visit spot whenever I am in Seattle. A combination grocery store, meat market and department store, these folks carry everything Asian. You can get all your Hello Kitty needs, a sake set, dishes, cookware, 20 varieties of rice and even more types of teas. The noodle selection is dazzling and they make sushi and japanese desserts on site.

This visit, I decided to grab some food I could make in my hotel room. Since I have a mini-fridge, a microwave and an electric skillet, I knew I could easily prepare a small meal. I found a large piece of sashimi grade tuna, all fresh, firm and cherry red. I also found a precooked bowl of sprouted brown rice that was microwaveable. I rounded this out with a container of seaweed salad and my meal was complete. I took it back to the room and splashed the tuna with soy sauce and coated the outside with cracked black pepper. I seared this quickly in my skillet, taking care to not set off the smoke alarm in the room. Once the tuna was well seared on the outside, I let it rest for a few minutes while I heated the rice. I put the rice on my plate, thinly sliced the tuna and spread that over the rice and drizzled it with a mix of soy sauce and wasabi. The seaweed salad was opened and some green tea made in the room’s coffee pot. It was absolutely delicious…

The Seattle area is goldmine for good food and food products. If you ever have the good fortune to visit this part of the country, check out these markets. You will in no way regret it!