|
|
The year-round Halifax Farmers Market, North America’s granddaddy of the local food scene, bridges past and present with a typically Maritime sense of cheeky. The location is the historic Alexander Keith’s Brewery Building and wandering minstrels add a touch of atmosphere to the cornucopia.
Chef Craig Flinn attends regularly. “It’s where I get a chance to talk with the farmers,” says Flinn, who, with his own family orchard, brings a sense of camaraderie to the exchange. He makes a beeline for Ted Hutten of
Hutten Family Farm for “awesome stuff” such as Asian greens, tender spinach and root vegetables.
That Dutchman’s Farm supplies the much-lauded Dragon’s Breath blue cheese, plus Flinn’s personal favourite, smoked gouda. Glen Richards Mussels of Indian Point take a top rating while organic vegetable grower Norbert Kungl brings “beautiful French filet beans, celery root and leaf lettuce.”
Open year-around, Saturday, 7 a.m. – 1 p.m.; opening time in winter is 8 a.m. (
1496 Lower Water St.; 902-492-4043; halifaxfarmersmarket.com)
Montréal
Carl Roder, Aix Cuisine du terroir
(
514-904-1201; aixcuisine.com)
FRESH PICK Atwater Market
Atwater, with its vibrant collection of gourmet goods and earthy producers, is one of the two top farmers markets in this gastronomic capital. (Jean Talon is the other.)
Chef Carl Roder says he has little time for shopping around at markets, but finds amid the wealth of bakers, butchers and florists “a lot of fine cheeses and fine meats” here.
In particular, the robust selection of Quebec cheeses from any of Atwater’s three cheese shops,
La Fromagerie Atwater,
La Fromagerie du 2e and
Le Paradis du Fromage, makes shopping easy. Roder singles out Le Chevre Noir (a cheddar-style goat cheese), Fou du Roi (a raw-milk, organic cow’s milk cheese) and the famous Riopelle, which Roder simply calls “beautiful.”
Open year-round, Monday to Wednesday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., Thursday 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. – 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. (
138 Atwater Ave.; 514-937-7754; marchespublics-mtl.com)
Page: 1 2 3
|
