off to market

Today instead of going to a farmers market we had booked ourselves in for a tour.  We have already done Victoria Market tour, that was fabulous and when we saw a tour for the Prahran Market we decided that this would be another great opportunity.

So we dashed across town to a very busy and great area Prahran.  That in itself was an adventure, the roads were closed, a car accident and lots of adventure with parking.  We managed to contact them and tell them we were late. I was hoping that this would help however the tour guide seemed to have her own ideas.

Anyhow after a few hiccups were were happy tasting at our first stop of all things today, Galati.  Lovely. no cream added (I personally didn't think that cream was added however what do I know).  I managed to get 2 little tastings (very vanilla, and when I told the lovely women serving that I really enjoyed vanilla, she handed me another one to try BEAUTIFUL)  I realised if this first tasting was anything to go by then they were going to be very very small.

Next was yoghurt, another interesting choice for a particularly cold and wet day.  Here we also had some creme brulee macaroon.  They were beautiful, so lovely and fresh and what a wonderful choice of flavours. We had very small tastings again and it was put back with some left over, I was feeling very hungry (it was lunchtime) and so decided that everyone could enjoy another go.  The yoghurt was plain and rich and lovely, again no cream and no added sugar.

Next we headed to 2 amazing stalls. One specialises in Potatoes (including the variety that was recently on a Heston Blume show) and the other stalls speciality was Mushrooms.

We were shown, lovely purple, purple congo and pink viking potatoes. These were not just the skins but the inside. We were advised by Michael (the stall holder) that we could make gnocchi with these varieties and would come up a beautiful colour.  We went back and purchased these and were inspired by Masterchef to make gnocchi and then when ricing the potatoes to cook the skins instead of just composting them Oh my goodness crispy skins were lovely (so pretty with all the colours).

We were given a taste of a yam, yes raw and yes lovely and crisp and like a sweet water chestnut very agreeable. This was the largest tasting so far.  Looking at all this lovely food and discussing it was making me very hungry.

We moved on to the mushroom stall, an amazing character who we talked to quite extensively. His knowledge of food like his potato counterpart was amazing. He had black truffles.  My Red Headed Hurricane had found a lovely recipe that he wanted to try that involved truffles.  At $4000kg I am not so sure that we will be trying this however well who knows!  They had the most amazing flavour that I have ever smelt, I was not thinking that I would like even the smell and yet it was beautiful. Rich, earthy and dark like red wine. They are in season now and only stay in season for about 6-8 weeks.
We went back and purchased some other lovely products from this stall as well.

We moved on taste of victoria stall.  In our travels and our farmers market adventures we knew of quite a few of these products. We did try a couple that we didn't know about and enjoyed them immensely. This stall changes according to season and products available.

Then on a chocolate stall that is waiting for a permanent spot.  The real hot chocolate taste was quite a new experience of learning. Hot chocolate is not that if it's made from a powder; it's only cocoa powder and therefore a cocoa drink.  This was made with melted chocolate and lovely!

We had a lovely tasting at the dried fruit stall.  Dates, apricot kernels, pistachio's and something else.  Still quite hungry but at least we are enjoying all sorts of tastings, 2 more tastings and that was it.  We tried some amazing gluten free bread.  Nothing stodgy and dense like I have had before this was light and wonderful.

The last tasting was baclava.  What a lovely way to end the market tour. Very different to the Queen Victoria Market tour.  We were given a lot more tastings, a lot more information especially at the stall and the produce and the history of the market as well.

It was very enjoyable. (Do not do this tour on an empty stomach or close to lunch!)