Unless you live on Prana, that universal sea of energy that is said to infuse and vitalise all matter, then you eat food and drink fluids; I'd say living on Prana alone may end up with you good and dead pretty quickly. So, I guess that, like Faith and I, most of you eat and drink like normal people right?
It doesn't matter if one is vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, flexitarian, a raw-food eater, macrobiotic, carnivore or even cannibal (don't be this last one) I'd take a guess that most people would prefer to eat fresh produce, sourced responsibly, non-genetically modified and of a good quality. I can't speak for y'all, but certainly for Faith and myself, that's how we would prefer to eat and so we shop extensively at produce markets rather than supermarkets.
It is one such market I wish to showcase today and below you'll see some photos from our visit last night.
Adelaide Central Market
As the name suggests this produce market is centrally located in the central business district of Adelaide, just behind the courts district. For over one hundred and fifty years The Markets, as the locals call it, has been providing a huge range of fresh food including fruits and vegetables, seafood, meat, smallgoods and poultry plus a vast array of cheeses, coffee and cakes just to name a few things. It's dotted with cafe's and eateries and boasting foods from all over the world and hosts some nine million people every year.
If you're looking for a culturally diverse range of food, amazing quality and an enjoyable atmosphere to shop in this is it!
The Central Markets are situated between Grote and Gouger Streets in a vibrant part of the city, is an easy walk from most of the inner city's hotels and is easily accessible by public transport. We drove and grabbed a park in one of the many parking buildings around the area and for the three hours we were there it cost only ten dollars.
On arrival we decided to have dinner at Sushi Train because who doesn't like trains and Sushi? If you don't know what this is I'll explain...It's a restaurant where the sushi is put on little covered plates and moves around the place on a conveyor-belt thing which comes right by the tables and booths. One just takes a plate and eats then the workers tally the plates and you pay. A simple concept that works well.
From there we hit the market itself wandering about soaking in the sights, smells and sounds of this nifty little spot.
The market is very culturally diverse with many nationalities represented; I would say back in 1856 when it first began this would not have been the case, but considering the diverse cultural population Australia has we're fortunate to have a lot of choice in this country.
We could have eaten dinner inside the markets and would have had a lot to choose from as you can see just from the few I show above. Some of Adelaide's most popular eateries are within the markets including Lucia's, Adelaide's first pizza and spaghetti bar established in 1957! Trust me...Do it. I mean it. Get ye there good folk of hive!
There's other places to eat though and even some of the produce stalls will prepare their produce for you to walk around and eat, such as the seafood operators, but you're welcome to buy pretty much anything and munch on it as you wander about.
Speaking of seafood the choices are amazing and pretty much all local. Thanks to the Chinese not wanting to import our crayfish it's fairly well priced. You can see in that image above, $89.99/ kilogram for cooked crayfish. Not too bad. There's all manner of seafood and meat though, much of it locally sourced and organic which is awesome.
Above you can see one of the smallgoods shops and a try it if you dare mettwurst they make; The infamous bum burner; I've tried it and it is...HOT! Very tasty though so worth the aftermath.
The cool thing about the Central Market is that the stall holders are so passionate; Not just business owners and foodies, but cooks also. They're happy to talk about preparation of their products, what will go well with the cut of meat or the wine you're buying. It's all very happy and comforting to shop here, like one big culturally-diverse family.
It pays to be organised though, when you're shopping and browsing I mean, as it gets quite busy, not that you'd tell from my photos. Nine million people come through here per year meaning some 24,600 people per day on average.
As I said above, pretty much everything is represented with a focus on local produce and Australian produce. Above you can see Kangaroo Island produce featured, the image with Faith in it. That doesn't mean some of the products aren't imported as some are, but a strong focus is put on local which helps our economy.
I'm sorry my photos are all in collage format here but there were just too many to string them out one by one. I think you get the idea though; It's a diverse place to shop.
As one wanders the streets of the market, which is fully under cover so is open year round, there seems to be a new surprise around every turn and most of the vendors are more than happy to let you try their produce before you buy. In fact one could probably get quite full and not buy a thing; But trust me, you'll buy stuff, so bring your wallet or purse and plenty of money.
Here above you can see the flower stall, one of the several book stalls selling second hand books, one of the streets and some vendors. In the top right that vendor specialises in artisan products and has a focus on the best of British which is all locally made; It's like travelling without leaving home at the Central Market.
Here's a cool little donut place...I may have spent a little too long here. They make sugared donuts all using Bundaberg sugar from Queensland but with some very cool things. I'll list some for you:
- Fresh raspberries, cacao, coconut milk, Himalayan salt
- Fresh oranges, cinnamon
- Granny Smith, Red Delicious & Pink Lady apples, nutmeg
- Ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, coconut milk
- Fresh strawberries, vanilla bean
I think I've made my point. Again I say, get yourself here because you have to try these! You can see the prices in the image starting at $3.50 for one, $18 for six and so on.
It doesn't matter what you want as far as fresh produce goes, you'll find it here. Sure, there's things that are not represented of course, it would be a big marketplace that had literally everything, but in the main if you cannot find what you're looking for, or a substitute, then you're being too fussy.
Everything here is top quality with no big supermarket chain rubbish in sight! It's fresh, diverse and reasonably priced. Add to that the event-like feel shopping here has and you're on a winner. If you eat in a restaurant in Adelaide it is highly likely the produce came from The Markets, but don't just do that, visit yourself!
Faith and I had date night there last night. I had to make amends for some foolish nutbagery I'd perpetrated the day before which you can read about here if you're keen. We had a nice time at dinner, wandering the markets talking with vendors and trying things out; Yeah, we ate some stuff and drank some coffee too. No visit to The Markets is complete for me without a vanilla custard filled almond croissant.
I can't recommend this place enough if you happen to be in Adelaide; It's simply an enjoyable and a culturally diverse destination to visit for a day of just a few hours. A person doesn't have to live on Prana alone when in Adelaide, and nor could they...That's where this place comes into play!
Oh before I go...If you decide to go there give me a holler, I'll tag along and eat with you!
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Be well
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