A thing I did today
Went for an early lunch down at the Brisbane markets. The Brisbane markets are held every Wednesday, and are primarily all about food. Strawberries are in season at the moment, and I had to buy a punnet of the sweetest strawberries I think I've ever tasted in my life. I've always maintained that Britain does the best strawberries, and they certainly grow the largest, but I don't think I've ever tasted any so sweet. But then I don't think I've ever eaten any that were grown up the road and picked the day before.
The strawberries were next to a honey stall, complete with a display of actual bees on their actual honeycomb. I don't really eat or use honey or honeycomb much, but that stall makes me want to buy kilos of the stuff. Then we have the macadamia nut stall, and the macaroon stall, the funny-coloured lil tomatoes stall (mixed bag for a fiver bought), two chocolate stalls, Australian olive oil (small bottle of truffle oil, can't wait to try it), home-made ginger beer, hand-mixed middle-eastern spices (three for a tenner, can't go wrong) and the little tiny baby herbs stall (garlic chives, thyme, and sage bought for me to kill). Garlic biltong, Italian-style sausages, and fresh veal and bunny ravioli all also made it into our shopping bags.
The bread stalls looked delicious, but we only really eat bread on the weekends. We haven't used our breadmaker since we moved to Brisbane however, so we made a resolution to change that this weekend. There's also lots of mixed fruit and vege fresh food stalls. These guys primarily buy from Rocklea then re-sell to us city folk, so I'm not sure how different the produce is to what you see in the supermarkets. Doesn't look heaps different, I have to say. It's the small stalls of the funny little things I love though. There's an obligatory why's-the-line-so-long stall, selling dim sums. At Hammersmith's farmers' market, this was a falafel stall. I tried one once, never understood why the queue for that falafel was so much longer than any other food stall, and I suspect the dim sum food is the same.
We passed paellas being freshly made on humoungous round hot plates to buy German bratwurst for lunch. Smoked cheese for me, Swiss veal for Will, which we ate in the nearby park in the sun.
Come summer the oppressive heat will probably keep us in our offices eating salad for lunch, but I'm loving this winter lifestyle.
The strawberries were next to a honey stall, complete with a display of actual bees on their actual honeycomb. I don't really eat or use honey or honeycomb much, but that stall makes me want to buy kilos of the stuff. Then we have the macadamia nut stall, and the macaroon stall, the funny-coloured lil tomatoes stall (mixed bag for a fiver bought), two chocolate stalls, Australian olive oil (small bottle of truffle oil, can't wait to try it), home-made ginger beer, hand-mixed middle-eastern spices (three for a tenner, can't go wrong) and the little tiny baby herbs stall (garlic chives, thyme, and sage bought for me to kill). Garlic biltong, Italian-style sausages, and fresh veal and bunny ravioli all also made it into our shopping bags.
The bread stalls looked delicious, but we only really eat bread on the weekends. We haven't used our breadmaker since we moved to Brisbane however, so we made a resolution to change that this weekend. There's also lots of mixed fruit and vege fresh food stalls. These guys primarily buy from Rocklea then re-sell to us city folk, so I'm not sure how different the produce is to what you see in the supermarkets. Doesn't look heaps different, I have to say. It's the small stalls of the funny little things I love though. There's an obligatory why's-the-line-so-long stall, selling dim sums. At Hammersmith's farmers' market, this was a falafel stall. I tried one once, never understood why the queue for that falafel was so much longer than any other food stall, and I suspect the dim sum food is the same.
We passed paellas being freshly made on humoungous round hot plates to buy German bratwurst for lunch. Smoked cheese for me, Swiss veal for Will, which we ate in the nearby park in the sun.
Come summer the oppressive heat will probably keep us in our offices eating salad for lunch, but I'm loving this winter lifestyle.