Takayama Morning Market

Two morning markets are held in Takayama daily, the Jinya-mae and the Miyagawa market held along the Miyagawa River in the old part of town. They started in the Edo period and sell everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to pickles, fish, flowers and crafts.

You can sample most of the food too, which made the walk around very enjoyable indeed. The table above was covered with Japanese pickles, which is something I sorely miss. Why can't we get good, fresh, msg-free and artificial colouring-free pickles in this town? Well we can...I just have to learn to make them!

These beautiful silver saltwater fish come from the smelt family. They are usually grilled and filled with fish roe, commonly known as shishamo. You eat them whole from tip to tail (and yes, that means the head also!). Mmmm...good.

I think this is dried cuttlefish, athough it could very well be another form of cephalopod. I'm not too sure what they do with it, but we did see them shredded and seasoned to eat as a type of beer snack.

Some unusually shaped gourds...

...and some regularly shaped gourds.

And these? I have no idea. If anyone does, please feel free to tell me in the comments.

Dried magnolia leaves (hoba) are popular in the region, both for making the local hoba miso (below) and for cooking miso on a hibachi brazier (see breakfast at Sosuke).

The magnolia leaf acts to permeate the dark red miso with a leafy fragrance, especially when cooked on the brazier.

Small purply black nasu (eggplants). Did you know that eggplants contain nicotine? And eating 20 pounds of them equates to smoking one cigarette? Well...now you do.

Super fresh daikon for 100 yen (equivalent $1AU) each. Look how perky their tops are. They must have been pulled out of the garden fresh that morning.

Three types of dried corn. I'm not too sure if these were for decoration or eating.

Fresh red chillis strung up with leaves (or is it stalk or fronds?) of rice.

Perfect little cherry tomatoes still on the stalk.

Cute cape gooseberries doing their best interpretation of a cherry tomato.

Fresh edamame (soy beans) at $2AU a bag. I could seriously eat a truckload of these things.

Fuji apples of varying quality and weights (and prices). What an excellent selection! And they are so much darker and sweeter than the insipid Fuji varieties we get here.

Now I must admit I wouldn't have recognised this if I hadn't been a fan of Iron Chef. These are the famed matsutake mushrooms, which are kind of like the truffle of Japan. The wild specimens had been picked locally from the pine groves and were $50AU a tray. The seller was very excited and impressed when I pointed at them and timidly enquired "Matsutake?". Arigato Iron Chef.

Queen Victoria Market

Cnr Elizabeth and Victoria Streets
Phone 03 9320 5822

I'm not going to write too much about the Queen Victoria Market (you can read a rather good article here). This is more just a photo montage and some random thoughts, which came about after doing the Foodie Tour recently. EG and I had a great time, and even though we are local and regular shoppers at the market, we still found out some interesting things. The tours depart on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 10am (for two hours), and costs $28. You'll learn a little history, find out who sells and specialises in a particular item, sample extensively from the dairy/deli hall, get a free coffee and a free shopping bag.

The fish/meat hall is a rather interesting spot. Outside of trading hours the corridor is actually used as a boning/preparation area, and they literally chill the whole building down like a big refrigerator. You'll notice out the front of each shop an overhead rail system, which is how they transport the carcusses from outside. The butchers then literally butcher in the aisles.

Some beautiful coral trout, vibrant and extremely fearsome looking, available for $27.50 a kilo.

The fishmongers putting on a show for us with a big-arse octopus.

Beautiful atlantic salmon fillets, which we ended up buying for dinner that night. We marinated them in a light sake/soy/mirin/ginger mix and pan seared before whacking in the oven for finishing. I made a quick reduction of sake, light soy and sugar, which I used to dress the salmon and steamed broccolini. Served with steamed rice, it was food for the mind, body and soul. Mmm. It was gooood.

Freshly shucked coffin bay oysters, still with their briney juices intact.

An assortment of crabs - some blue swimmers on the top, a couple of spanners to the right, and a big Darwin muddie to the bottom left.

The meat section is always abuzz, this gent hanging up large chunks on beef on hooks.

This is the offal and pet food section. Should one worry that they are stored together? Today I learnt what a pluck was/is. Apparently it is the lungs, heart, diaphragm, wind pipe and other pieces as removed as one item from the chest cavity of a slaughtered animal (eww). It is used for haggis and other delights, such as for the offal soup traditionally eaten at Greek Easter.

Ahh...just got to love this sign. And I must say, it is probably true!

The deli hall is where I start to get all excited. Built in 1927, I just love walking these hallowed halls, the smell of cheeses, salami, sausages, borek, olives, breads, cakes etc thick in the air, every shop an absolutely delight to the eye. Above is the pasta shop, with a wonderful and colourful display of its yummy home made wares.

This is our foodie guide Geraldine plating up some rather delectable pumpkin ravioli with a napoli and pesto sauce. Oh yeah...yum.

Dianne's is one of my favourites for dips (which are all home made). They also have great olives.

A typical range of the bread available. There are about three bread providores, who sell on behalf of many of the well known artisan bakers in Melbourne and surrounds.

Warrnambool butter from Curds and Whey, which you can buy in your desired weight. The salted butter is absolutely divine just spread on a fresh slice of bread.

This 20 year old bell of provolone cheese has obviously been hanging around for quite some time. I don't know if it is still edible, but if it is, I'd like to give it a crack as provolone is one of my all time favourites :-)

The fruit and veg section is huge, especially on week days when it extends into A and B sheds, which run the length of a city block. The store above had a lovely range of medditerrenean veg, such as tuscan cabbage and eggplants. You'll also be able to find many of your Asian favourites, though I still think Springvale or Footscray does this type of veg better.

Olives are in season at the moment and looking particularly perky.

And of course, you can't beat the tomatoes from Tomato City. The doncaster variety are especially sweet at the moment, and cheap too. This is where you'll find some of the better basilico at the market too.

And these were the absolutel finds of the day. Fresh field mushrooms, slippery jacks, king browns. I filled up a brown paper bag to take home and saute in some of that Warrnambool butter a few images back, with plump australian garlic, cracked black pepper, maldon salt and fresh thyme. I cooked up some ciabatta toasts and drizzled them with olive oil and rubbed them with a garlic clove. Then to eat - the buttery sauteed mushrooms on crunchy toasts. Ooooohh...it was such a treat!

Now if you didn't notice, check out the HUGE, and I mean HUGE mushroom in the backround. It was seriously four times the size of that ladies head! And it was all yours for $130, though I'm not really sure what you could do with such a mushroom. Steaks?!

Fritz Gelato

Stall 2, South Melbourne Market
Cnr Cecil and Coventry Streets, South Melbourne
Phone (03) 9681 3109

Fritz Gelato has been serving up ice-cream at the South Melbourne Market for just over 50 years. It has since opened three other stores in the surrounding inner east/south-east area, and is distancing itself from the plethora of other ice-creameries in Melbourne by making mostly organic ice-creams, using organic milk, sugar and fruits (..and some other ingredients too).

You can choose from a variety of fruity or naughty flavours such as blood orange, lemon cheesecake, passionfruit kick, bounty bar, honeycomb crunch, banoffe pie, chocolate licquorice, ol' jamaican, gingerbread men, peanut clusters, white choc & wasabi, rhubarb pie, plum pudding and the traditional very vanilla. And that seriously is just to name a few!

I couldn't resist trying a couple of their award winners - cinnamon and ginger, and caramalised fig and roasted almond. Uh huh...I hear you. You really hate me now, don't you? But how can one resist flavours such as these? Both ice creams were incredibly creamy and velvety, and provided the necessary "close eyes and savour the moment" moments. The cinnamon and ginger was especially awesome.

Also on offer - are you ready for it - made to order, straight out of the fryer, organic cinnamon donuts. I'll be the first to admit that they don't look pretty (...they're a little misshapen and squishy looking), but dang, how can one beat sweet fried hot yeasty yellowy donuts sprinkled with cinnamon sugar? I'd like to kid myself and think that because they're organic, they must be healthy. But I'm not delusional, and they are disgustingly unhealthy. And I won't be held accountable if you feel the urgent need to run down there and get yourself some ;-)

South Melbourne Market Dim Sims

Corner Cecil and Coventry Streets, South Melbourne
Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday: 8.00am - 4.00pm
Friday: 8.00am - 6.00pm

The South Melbourne Market is one of Australia's oldest, commencing operation in 1867. It is a very popular destination for Melbournians, offering a great range of fresh seafood, meat, fruits and vegetables. Stalls abound, selling everything from clothing and homewares, to foodstuffs and mobile phone accessories. One of the most famous stalls in this foodie hotspot is the one simply known as South Melbourne Market Dim Sims & Spring Rolls. Like the American Donut van in Victoria Market, the dimmie stall is a Melbourne institution, being in existence since 1949. As shown in the above picture, people travel from everywhere to queue for the stall's bill of fare.

For those who are not familiar with the dim sim, it is a Chinese-inspired meat dumpling style snack that is sold in fish and chip and takeaway shops everywhere in Australia. It was made popular by William Wing Young, the father of Melbourne celebrity chef, Elizabeth Chong. Mr Young used to peddle the meaty treats at football games to compete with the meat pie. These days they are usually made by Marathon foods, or otherwise they are home-made, like the ones in South Melbourne.

Dimmies can be steamed or fried, and both varieties are proudly offered at this venerable institution. Ordering is a little Soup Nazi-ish - be sure to know which type you want, how many, and in separate bags or all in the same bag. Pay your cash; dimmies are $1.20 each. You must keep the line moving! After getting your little brown bag of treasures, help yourself to soy sauce or fiery chilli sauce, but keep the line clear!

It ain't pretty and you'll be guaranteed to make a tremendous mess whilst eating, particularly if they're steamed and doused in soy and chilli sauce, like ours. Long time fans know to bring your own fork and napkins; otherwise you can avail yourself to washrooms that are just around the corner from the stall.

But my God, the taste! I hold in my hand a cricket-ball sized parcel of flavour, a combination of pork, mystery meat, cabbage and spices, all deliciously encased in perfectly steamed dumpling skin. The chilli sauce was a great accompaniment but go easy as it is so spicy it will make your lips tingle! If you are game, the stall sells bottles of this fiery condiment, as well as soy sauce. Also for sale are take-home frozen dim sims and spring rolls.

The original owner, Mr Ken Cheng, sadly passed away late 2006, but his legacy (and secret receipe) lives on through the Cheng family, who are keeping this institution well and truly alive.

Theos and Sons - Freshly Shucked Oysters

Theos and Sons Fresh Seafood
PRAHRAN MARKET
Commerical Road, Prahran
+613 9826 4288

Can life get any better than this? After reading about the freshly shucked oysters at Theos in Prahran Market, EG and I just had to go and experience it for ourselves.

For $12.00 you get a dozen oysters, freshly shucked for your convenience. That's a dollar each people! A restaurant would normally charge three times as much, and I'd doubt they'd be as fresh as these little beauties were. We decided to go for a taste tester - one of each of the four varieties on offer that day. With tray precariously balanced (so as not to lose the briny juices), we made our way to Rumbles Cafe to pick up a couple of glasses of bubbles, the perfect accompaniment to our meaty molluscs. A quick twenty paces to a table in the sunny courtyard to devour our saliferous booty, and we were as happy as two foodies in any food market can get.

From front to back was the small Tasmanian mud, Coffin Bay, St.Helens, and Sydney Rock. It was interesting to line them up and taste their subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences. The Sydney Rock for example was quite irony, as is the Coffin Bay (though more subtly), whilst the St.Helens and small Tassie Muddy are delicate and sweet. Hands down, St.Helen's was voted the best by EG and I. It offered the perfect taste-of-the-sea mouthful.

A Great Way To Start The Day

Ahh...don't you just love Sunday mornings?

I am so very much a morning person. I always have been and I always will be. Mind you, come 4am starts at work next week and that might very well change!

My usual routine on a Sunday is to get up early and find a place for breakfast. I must admit to being a bit of a breakfast hussy - I love to schlep around and experience the myriad of different places Melbourne has to offer. We just do breakfasts too well I think.

Anyway, this Sunday I jumped on a tram and headed over to the Queen Victoria Market for a wander.

Breakfast d'jour was a loaf of a deliciously fruity bread, filled with chunks of fig and apricot. I also purchased a wedge of fresh ricotta cheese, a cafe latte, and sat down outside with my newspaper. I don't think you can start a day better than that!

After a slow stroll through the market (can you believe figs are now $10 a kilo!), I met up with [M] and we headed down to Federation Square to partake in the Russian Pancake Festa.

Unfortunately one had to wait in line for over an hour for the pancakes, and I really couldn't summon the patience of Jove on such a sunny day. It wasn't long until we were lured in the general vicinity of the Russian beer tent. After sampling some of that brew (which I found tasted rather flat), we moved over to Transport and spent the rest of the afternoon lazily drinking chilled Asahi and munching on salty hot chips.