market

Strolling through Madrid’s food culture

Strolling through Madrid’s food culture

Posted on by Pat and David
A quick scan of guidebooks and the web usually reveals the most famous and trendy eating places in any city. But it's much harder to get a handle on how people shop and eat every day. Providing such a peek at daily life was just what Lauren Aloise had in mind when she introduced her tour of the Huertas neighborhood that Pat described in her new book 100 Places in Spain Every Woman Should Go from Travelers' Tales Press (travelerstales.com/100-places-spain-every-woman-go/). An American married to a Spaniard, Aloise launched Devour Madrid Food Tours (madridfoodtour.com) in 2012. The tour of the Huertas neighborhood is one of several options led by Aloise and her small band of guides, all of whom are devoted foodies. Located just off Puerta...Read More

Peameal bacon shows the salty side of Hogtown

Posted on by Pat and David
“The peameal bacon sandwich is Toronto's most unique food,” says Robert Biancolin, who runs Carousel Bakery at the St. Lawrence Market with his brother Maurice. “It's like what the Philly cheesesteak is to Philadelphia.” The Biancolin brothers' bakery is one of the busiest spots in the bustling market. Most customers wait patiently in line to place their orders and then walk away with peameal bacon sandwiches wrapped in shiny silver foil. Those with big appetites might also order one of Carousel's melt-in-your mouth butter tarts, another Toronto specialty. Robert and Maurice have been serving peameal bacon sandwiches in the market for 40 years. During a lull in business, Robert (at right) enthusiastically relates some of the history of Toronto's signature style of back bacon. He...Read More

Toronto fills its larder at St. Lawrence Market

Posted on by Pat and David
Toronto is like the grandmother who always wants to feed you. In fact, banners hanging from Old Town light poles actually exhort visitors to bring their appetites. After a whirlwind visit to Canada's biggest city just before Canadian Thanksgiving, we have to conclude that Toronto is a good place to “come on an empty stomach.” Torontonians have cultivated a sophisticated contemporary gastronomic scene that draws on foodways from all over Europe and Asia. Great little ethnic restaurants dot the streets of the neighborhoods. At the same time, many of the best restaurants feature market-driven contemporary cuisine that showcases the best products from Canadian farms and orchards. Historic market continues to thrive Toronto has had a permanent central food market since 1830—four years before the town...Read More

Sweet tastes at Waikiki farmers’ market

Posted on by Pat
As on the mainland, farmers' markets are thriving in Honolulu as more and more people embrace fresh, local foods. The best market for visitors—who don't have to gather all the ingredients for dinner—may be in the pretty atrium at the Hyatt Regency in Waikiki (2424 Kalakaua Avenue). It's held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. and has a nice array of exotic fruits, such as the spiny red and slightly acidic rambutan or the sweeter lychee. There are also plenty of options for a quick snack, such as bowls of diced mixed fruit or coconut juice straight from the shell. The market is also a great place to pick up food gifts for the folks back home. You'll find local coffee and...Read More

San Antón: Madrid’s best market makeover

Posted on by Pat and David
Madrid has been renovating and updating its historic fresh food markets in recent years, starting with the transformation of Mercado San Miguel next to Plaza Mayor into a jewel box full of tapas bars and high-end deli food. But we're even more impressed with Mercado San Antón in Chueca. The market is a symbol of how that neighborhood—once the part of town where you went to buy sex or drugs—has become one of the hippest and most gentrified parts of the central old city. FYI, about the nastiest stuff you'll find on Chueca streets these days are some shoes with 15-centimeter spike heels in the shops on calle Augusto Figueroa. The Mercado San Antón isn't exactly a temple of food like La Boqueria in Barcelona...Read More

In Lexington, Kentucky, no one eats alone

Posted on by Pat and David
Plutarch would have loved central Kentucky. In his first-century A.D. treatise on food in Moralia, he astutely observed, “We do not sit at the table only to eat, but to eat together.” In Bluegrass Country, mealtime is just a phase in the ongoing party that begins with drinks and appetizers and is followed up with after-dinner drinks, snacks, and definitely lots of conversation. We spent a week in Lexington and the surrounding countryside at the end of June, and never did we taste alone. Food and drink in this corner of America are the currency of social exchange. If a Lexingtonian has anything to say about it, no visitor ever goes hungry. Or lonely. The Lexington area is justly famed for thoroughbred horses and fine...Read More

What to buy in a Dublin grocery store

Posted on by Pat and David
Whenever we visit Dublin, we make sure to enjoy lots of incredible butter and cream since we can't bring any home. (U.S. Customs frowns on such dairy products.) Fortunately there are lots of other good Irish foodstuffs that we can pack in the suitcase. For cheeses, we make our purchases at Sheridans Cheesemongers (see earlier post), but here are some of the things that caught our eye in a neighborhood Dunnes grocery store: Irish soda farls Pat's mother still remembers her own mother, who hailed from Northern Ireland, making soda bread farls in a round pan on the top of the stove. First she would shape the dough into a circle and then cut it crosswise into four pieces, the so-called farls. This style of...Read More

What to Eat at the Airport: More LAX

Posted on by Pat
Operating at the corner of Third and Fairfax since 1934, the Original Farmers Market is a Los Angeles landmark that celebrates great California fruits and vegetables as well as good cooking from around the world. Now a little piece of this city treasure has been transplanted to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Opened in June, Farmers Market at Terminal 5 includes such market stalwarts as Bennett's Ice Cream (look for the chocolate-covered frozen banana), Magee's House of Nuts (perfect for munching on the plane), and the Dog Bakery (in case you need a treat for Fido waiting at home). Two spots are stand-outs for a satisfying meal before a flight. At Monsieur Marcel Pain Vin et Fromage (www.mrmarcel.com), you can select some great cheese and...Read More

One tapa with the entire taste of Spain

Posted on by Pat and David
While all the tourists are milling around the Mezquita and the Alcázar in Córdoba, the Córdobans are getting together over tapas at the first gastronomic market in southern Spain. Mercado Victoria (www.mercadovictoria.com) was installed in May 2013 in a feria pavilion in the Jardines de Victoria, just northwest of the Judería's Puerta de Almodóvar. The 30 food stalls cover all the bases of a conventional fresh food market—fish, meat, produce, baked goods, and beverages—but most also offer food for immediate consumption on the premises. There’s also a kitchen workshop for classes and demonstrations. By early evening, the entire glassed-in pavilion is jammed with people eating and drinking, making it one of the most lively tapas scenes in town. But we were especially amused to spot...Read More