At the Market

cooking melbourne

Discovering Melbourne's Artisan Foods and Produce

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…

Winter Transformations – Potato, Pumpkin & Spinach

Potatoes, pumpkin and spinach are winter market staples. Each can be used to good effect independently but I’ve brought them together in one delicious dish: sautéed potato gnocchi with roast pumpkin and spinach. Potato gnocchi are easy to make and sautéing the cooked gnocchi in olive oil with a little knob of butter for taste…

Andean Sunrise Potatoes

Andean Sunrise are a new variety of potato great for roasting and mashing and with exceptional buttery flavour. These yellow fleshed potatoes have a high carotene level. Often spruiked as an heirloom variety, Andean Sunrise or Sunside was actually selectively cross bred from a different potato family called Phureja, originally from the Andean valleys of…