At the Market

cooking melbourne

Discovering Melbourne's Artisan Foods and Produce

Portarlington Mussels

There has been a recent retail seafood trend to sell shellfish, such as mussels and clams, already cooked and packaged in plastic bags. I’m sure the extra shelf life of this packaged seafood is hugely convenient for retailers and exporters but for customers who enjoy cooking their own shellfish it is a real disappointment. I…

Black Sapote

Yes, chocolate pudding does apparently grow on trees in the form of a weird fruit called black sapote. The black sapote is a relative of the persimmon and like its cousin is ready to eat when completely soft and pudding-like. The colour is intensely dark chocolate but the flavour is much more subtle with only…

Big Red Cabbage Ball

Shopping at farmers markets under the COVID-19 restrictions means I’m pointing at vegetables I want from some distance. Conscious of the lengthening queue behind me I recently nodded approval to a whole head of red cabbage not realizing until I stashed it in the backpack that is was the size of a large medicine ball….

The World Of Oysters

In France it is illegal to sell an oyster which has not been opened to order. Think about that for a minute and what it could possibly mean. The oyster is a living thing, clinging to rocks in its secure rock-like shell as the ocean tides surge and retreat. Once collected from its natural home…

White Strawberries

You might be tempted to think that white strawberries are a modern monstrosity but they are in fact a hybrid variety created from a natural white strawberry indigenous to Chile. Why all the excitement about a white version of strawberry? Attributes of the white strawberry include an amazing perfume, a small berry size with a…