Monday, April 5, 2010

An Afternoon at the Calgary Farmers' Market

What a nice way to spend an afternoon. Tasting food samples, talking with enthusiastic vendors and browsing through stalls filled with interesting craft items. I like the idea of supporting local farmers, producers and artists and what better way to do that than visiting a farmers’ market.

The Calgary Farmers’ Market has the most diverse range of ethnic specialties I’ve seen at a market. Greek, Indian, Cuban, Ukrainian, Mexican, Italian, Chinese just to name a few. I walked away with a variety of dishes from around the world.

I was also surprised at the lineup in front of Simple Simon Pies. Customers were waiting 2 people deep and about 10 across just to place orders for Simple Simon’s meat and fruit pies. After tasting a sample I could see why. Another highlight was the kettle corn from the Sugar Creek Kettle Corn Co. The light, fluffy popcorn with subtle hints of sweet and salty made it the best kettle corn I’ve ever tasted.

The market is also filled with passionate and knowledgeable vendors. I was so impressed with the Old Country Sausage Shop’s commitment to keep fillers, binders and MSG out of their products that I purchased some of their Moroccan sausage. After talking with the folks at Patsy Clark Farms I decided to be adventurous and try Ostrich burgers.

In addition to food products, the market also offers a selection of craft items like painted glassware, jewelry and art.

By the time I left the market my bags were filled with goodies. The only thing I would have done differently is leaving time at the end of the afternoon to stop for a beer at the nearby Wild Rose Brewery.

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