Just a quickie post on a veggie I've never seen before: baby fennel. It's just what it sounds like. I'm not a fennel fan (nor anything fennel/anise/licorice flavored) so I won't be having any of it, but well, it's available at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market. The crazy Saturday rush crowd may have already swooped in and grabbed all that we got in during the week (3 lbs), but we might get some more on Tuesday.
They're not even 1.5" wide at the base. The stalks are a solid 18" long with those familiar Apiaceae family leaves (think dill, carrots and parsnip).
Last Monday I attended this really awesome event at Reading Terminal Market put on by my employer Fair Food. It was the gathering of dozens of local farmers, dairies, bakeries and value-added producers showing off their wares to hundreds of buyers in the Philly area. It's called Local Grower Local Buyer and this was the 7th wonderful gathering. Bob over at Robert's Market Report got his writeup up promptly. Well, better late than never. Above is Sue Miller of Birch Run Hills Farm which makes some of my favorite cheeses in the land. Her recently reformulated foil-wrapped Birch Run Blue is my current favorite cheese out there. We actually just melted some for an overly decadent sauce for dinner last night. She had samples of her Blue, Alpine and some new fromage blanc samples – one with tarragon, one with honey and salt; the honey and salt was sublime and it's currently unavailable.
Local chocolatier John&Kiras piled up their colorful square boxes filled with little treats for all to peer into.
Market Cafe's canele are among the best single or two-bite items in the entire city. What is a canele? It's this delicious pastry with a just-slightly crispy exterior with a decadent, custardy soft interior. I've had a couple of Market Cafe's canele and they're worth every penny. Check out Gaetano's post on the LGLB event.
Wanna know who also loves the Market Cafe canele? Jose Garces. That's him in the blurry shot above about to shake hands with the garlic man Tom Coulton of Coulton Organics. But more on the Iron Chef in a bit.
Daisy Flour built a mini walled fort showing off their many many varieties of flour. I have some serious baking friends and many of them swear by this stuff. It's expensive, but the lightness of their pastry dough and the high gluten content of their bread flour are the real deal.
Here are the samples at the Birch Run Hills stand. I wanted to eat one sample and just keep going down the line of mini spoons, but I had to keep clicking away.
Mark Skinner is one of my favorite farmers in the area. His 16 varieties of heritage chickens produce the coolest rainbow dozens of eggs you'll ever see. Brown, white, cream, maroonish-pink, speckled, blue-green. They're sooo cool. I always love chatting with him at markets and when he delivers to the farmstand. He was doing double (or was it triple) duty sampling some other stuff including the Apple Tree Goat Farm chevre he's cutting up with that mini cleaver above.
And here's Coulton. He's a character. He's got lots of cool hats, most with feathers in them. Come summer, he'll be bringing dozens of varieties of garlic to market along with his other heirloom varietals of everything under the sun. Here, he's jabbing at the air while holding a Jerusalem artichoke which surround his land – once you plant those, you'll never have to do so again, they're crazy growers.
Keeping in line with local characters with great products, Ryan, the elder brother of the duo behind the best ice cream in the city, Franklin Fountain, was there. They're always coming up with cool new things every year in their Old City shoppe. I hope he went home inspired.
With all this delicious food all around, there had to be something to drink, right? Philadelphia Brewing Company came through with samples of their full lineup of brews.
So let's get back to the newly minted Iron Chef Garces. We knew his head buyer, Adam DeLosso, was gonna be there, but Garces himself showing up was extra cool. Garces is committed to bringing the farm to table in his yet to be named spot, under construction eatery at the Cira Centre. He took a full tour of every single vendor there and stayed well over an hour. Above, he's sampling and taking a look at Shellbark Hollow Farm's chevre (which is delicious!). The sharp chevre is the famous "Obama cheese" people have been requesting all over town since not-yet-President Obama picked up a helping at DiBruno Bros during a campaign stop.
Trickling Springs Creamery brought out all kinds of [pasteurized] milk to the event. I've had their buttermilk, whole and chocolate varieties and they're all incredibly rich. Most likely thicker than any kind of pasteurized milk you've had before. Closer to raw milk than store bought ultra-pasteurized milk. If you're scared of raw milk (there's no reason to be scared!), but want a creamier product, search out TSC milk at Whole Foods and Fresh Grocer in Philly. Fair Food might carry some of their stuff down the line.
Here's Ryan trying out some of the colorful, filled chocolate from John&Kira's.
Nicole from Quince and Garces listening attentively.
And yes, there were many PA Dutch vendors there. Here are two of them talking to Coulton. See that feather in his cap? I told you this guy has lots of feather'd caps.
Here's Garces talking to Chris of Common Market Philadelphia, a wholesale consolidator, marketer and distributor of food produced in the Philadelphia region. While Garces has made it clear he wants to pursue local sourcing, the pure volume of his eateries poses logistical problems. People from various local foods organizations are brainstorming to remedy that situation.
Ever wonder how eggs are graded? Coulton brought along an old school egg grader and a big fat goose egg.
And for a parting shot, here's a closeup shot of the brick of Shellbark sharp chevre Pete created. This pesto-tomato-chevre brick is as delicious as it is gorgeous. It's almost a shame to break the brick for serving, but then again, it would be a waste to have it for art's sake so it was eagerly eaten by all those who passed by.
I missed last year's event, but I'd be stupid to miss it next year. I've never heard of an event like this before and I'm not sure an event like this, at this scale, is done in other cities. I'd love to hear about it happening in NYC, DC, Chicago, Boston, LA, SF, Seattle, Portland and elsewhere, but I have no idea. Anybody know? If not, it should be done. If there are people in areas outside of the Philly area who want to do this, get on it. Gather up everyone on a night restaurants aren't too busy in your area, in Philly it's Monday when many eateries are closed, in a nice big space like Philly's RTM (another thing I haven't seen elsewhere is a RTM-esque spot) and have at it. Stand back and marvel as local buyers meet local producers. Good things will happen, I gua-ran-tee it.
A slideshow of the images above and more up on flickr. Click on the slideshow below to see them full screen.
Above is a photo of real, unfossilized, non-dinosaur eggs in 2009 (yeah, I didn't get around to posting until the next round of eggs came in this year). They come from the emu, a huge, flightless bird native to Australia. But these eggs came from a Boody Emu Ranch in Sewell, NJ – about 30 minutes south of Philly. The eggs can be found at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market. Now, in that photo, there's no true sense of scale to the photo. Sure there's the words 'eat me' inscribed on the shell of the particularly chalkboard-green one like it's some kind of Easter time Valentine heart or something, but there's no 3" piece of yellow chalk next to it. Well, they're about 9" from tip to tip, a foot in circumference and they're heavier than they look roughly 1lbs – 1.6lbs apiece.
Here's a shot of me from last year taken by my friend Thad. You can get a sense of scale from this shot. From a distance, and close up, they look like giant avocados. The color will range from a lighter chalkboard-green to an almost black green. The texture will vary from smooth to deeply pebbled. Apparently, each emu lays a particular looking egg so the farmers can identify which eggs were laid by which bird, pretty cool! These emu eggs are roughly equivalent to 8 – 10 regular chicken eggs, so, you're looking at brunch for 4 with one egg.
But this egg will taste a little different than your average farm fresh egg with their bright orange yolks. Emus have a different diet so they're going to have a different taste and look. The emu egg isn't as rich as the other eggs at the Farmstand from Meadow Run, Natural Meadows (my favorite are the rainbow dozens), Lancaster Farm Fresh… The yolk to white ratio is crazy – the yolks are HUGE! The ratio is closer to 50-50 instead of roughly 1/4 – 1/3 yolk to 3/4 – 2/3 white. The whites of the emu eggs are thicker as they have less water content – this will make for fluffier eggs.
And there you go, an emu egg cracked into one of those large soup mugs with my hand and a quarter for scale. That sucker is GIGANTIC. The yolk is roughly the size of a donut. What in the world does one do with such a large egg? You can make a serious frittata or omelets. Make a custard or some quiche. Bake a cake. Messy is terrified of the gigantic eggs and refuses to go near them.
A closeup shot so you can see the texture of the eggs.
A gigantic emu egg can be yours for $10 at Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal Market. They're going for $30 at Whole Foods in NYC according to Serious Eats NY. Get them before spring settles in (can you remember ground without snow on it?!) as they'll stop laying and that'll be it for emu eggs until next March. If you want one for Easter, don't worry, grab one now. The shells are so thick that they'll last for months on your counter unrefrigerated and a good 6 months in your fridge. What makes eggs go rotten are actually hairline cracks in the shells. Thicker shells mean hairline cracks don't let air into the inside of the egg so no rotting! And if you're feeling especially adventurous, you can blow out the inside of the egg and save the egg for art like these people.
So we've been open for a week and change and now it was time for the official Grand Opening Ceremony of Fair Food Farmstand complete with a homemade, local "ribbon" made by the RTM staff. Above is Fair Food Executive Director Ann Karlen cutting the ribbon with the largest pair of scissors I've ever seen in my life. Behind her are some of the farmers who make what we do possible and to the right of the photo are some of the staff and volunteers who keep things running smoothly.
Fellow lover of food and blogger Bob estimated the crowd to be about 200 people and given that he's a former reporter, I'll take him on his word. There were tons of people packed into the mid-12th St side entryway extending up a few stalls and stretching into the aisle by Carmen's and Olympic Gyro (whose stool I climbed up on to take this shot).
General Manager of RTM, Paul Steinke, got up and said a few words about the market and the ever-growing relationship with Fair Food. Everyone's come a long way in the last 6 years or so. A representative from the Department of Agriculture made the trip from DC to say a few words. They've been integral in promoting local food throughout the US recently. I'll save my political commentary on the Cabinet appointee for another time. Karen Randal, Director of Business Attraction, from the Mayor's Office also spoke about the local food scene.
Keynote speaker for the day was Marion Nestle, author and professor on all things food. She was in town for a conference and came by to commend the Market and Fair Food for their accomplishments. She lauded the crowd for coming out to celebrate the grand opening of a local food institution in such grand numbers and saw before her eyes the future of food in the United States. Above is the always dapper Steinke speaking with Nestle after the ceremony.
It was cool to see tons of media at the event. Here's a KYW reporter talking to my co-worker Genevieve about identifying good corn while Ann is being interviewed by Fox29 or ABC6 right behind her.
And here's a lady who was integral in the founding of Fair Foods: Judy Wicks. Steinke and Randal recognized her from the podium earlier and thanked her for her work at White Dog and beyond. Her impact on sustainable business is nationwide and it's pretty cool to have her in Philly.
Staffers new and old were at the opening to see how far the project has come. Speaking to Naestle to the right is former manager of the Farmstand Emily Teel and to the left is current manager Sarah Cain. I was thinking about getting a big old group shot, but there was so much going on with people actually working on top of networking, I thought it would hurt the vibe.
And here's new Farmstand GM Seth Kalkstein, formerly of DiBruno Brothers, catching up with Steinke during the opening madness. Seth will be bringing a little more big business savvy to the Farmstand in the coming months and years.
Here's KYW's reporter speaking with Sue Miller of Birchrun Hills Farm who makes an amazing blue cheese and a Highland Alpine which she has in her hand. And there's the representative from the USDA peeking into the frame behind her.
It was awesome to see a ton of regular customers come out for the grand opening. The Farmstand wouldn't exist without people committed to buying quality, local products. If you haven't stopped by yet, come on down. We'll be open 7 days a week starting this Monday. Bigger photos in this flickr set.
Also there was uwishunu. Bob's put up his post on the event as well.
Now I know in my last post about what is one of the best deals in Reading Terminal Market, I lamented on the $8 sandwiches that are all over the place. But the $8 sandwich pictured above is what I will crown simply as The Best of the Best. The Italian style (not BBQ) pulled pork sandwich with sharp provolone and two heaping tablespoons of horseradish from DiNic's is so full of flavor you'll be wondering how you ate lunch prior to your first bite of this sandwich.
Slow cooked every day and cut/pulled to order. Served on your typical soft bun which nicely soaks up the salty juices. It's all so tender and juicy you'll be wishing you could be hungry enough to eat it for lunch every day, but it's just too much sandwich to eat every day. Believe me, working at RTM 4 days a week, I'd love to have one of these every day, but it just can't be done. You've really gotta be hungry to eat one of these. Or you could split one with a friend if you don't want to commit to the full monty. Many order this sandwich with broccoli rabe, but I say pass on the greens – but that's just me and to each their own.
I've been meaning to try most of the other offerings, but like a moth to a flame, I order up the pulled pork time and time again. I've had the roast pork sandwich with provolone and broccoli raabe, (and for a limited time, hot peppers!) which is delicious, but it's going up against this monster pulled pork at the same stand and it just doesn't stand a chance.
But a warning: the lines will be very long at peak lunch time which is roughly 11.30a – 1.30p. I usually take a late lunch around 2p so I can either grab a seat on one of the stools at the counter, but sometimes, I like to take it away and sit in a corner of the market and chow down. Tommy, Joey and the rest of the gang keep everything moving quickly, but they're happy to shoot the shit. Just be aware they've got 20 hungry people waiting in line for most of the day.
But another warning: the pulled pork is the first thing they run out of every day so you kinda have to roll the dice and go late or suck it up and wait in line. There's a trick to beat the line, but I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to share that secret. I'd have to kill you before you could blog, facebook update, tweet, yelp or text any of your friends about it. Sorry.
And one final note: they don't accept plastic so have your cash or RTM gift certificate at the ready.
The old location of Fair Food Farmstand in Reading Terminal closed down on Saturday. It was a bittersweet moment for the gang who worked that day as the spot we've had for the last 2+ years has served us well and sometimes annoyed us to the verge of tears.
Genevieve and I closed up one last time and hit the lights on the end of an era. There were lots of regulars coming in sad to hear we'd be closed for a few days, but eagerly awaiting the new space along the 12th St windows offering up over twice the square footage.
Sunday rolled around and I got to sleep in since we were closed. Off to the market I went at 10.30a when we started taking the place apart. Baskets had to be culled, the produce ark was taken apart for reuse (Joe the Contractor is reusing a ton of stuff from the old farmstand and elsewhere in the new build). In the shot above is Farmstand Manager Sarah Cain cleaning the ark and you can see the piles and piles of baskets we went through.
We had to put up some apple crate barriers as people kept on coming over to ask for eggs or milk or ask where the food was. Does this scene look like there's a place open for business in it? Oh silly customers
Here's our Product Manager Emily Gunther looking tiny and forlorn in the produce ark-less space.
The awesome RTM crew made short work of the stuff we couldn't reuse for the new farmstand. Cue forklift! They used their brains before using their muscle, John Sebastian said.
So that was then and this is what is to come. Here's a shot of the new space taken on Friday.
Another shot from Saturday. The new space has twice the refrigerator space, twice the freezer space and tons more room for a larger variety of produce, meats and dairy.
Here's a shot from Sunday of the in-progress new space. Longtime staffer Colleen cleaned more wicker baskets than she cares to ever see again in her life. See that paint job on the wood? That's homemade milk paint made with week old raw milk which would've been poured down the drain.
We'll be re-opening Wednesday at 8am so come on by to the 12th St location. Please excuse all the kinks we'll undoubtedly be working out; it'll all be new to us. We're in the old Rick's Steaks spot one stall down from The Rib Stand. Here's a diagram to help you out.
Since I work at Reading Terminal Market 4 days a week, there can't be many people who eat in RTM as much as I do or at as many vendors as I do. Sure I have my favorites, but I constantly try new things. I'm starting a new section here called RTM Lunch where I'll be chronicling my eats. First up is an oldie, but goodie. The boneless rib combo from Rib Stand.
For $7.79, you get a heaping of rib meat on top of a nice soft bun with provolone and your choice of 2 sides. I always opt for the potato wedges and mac and cheese. Sure they have a couple other options (green beans and 'slaw), but you'd be crazy to get them over these. You also get a drink; I'm not much of a soda drinker, but I do like ginger ale. Finally, there's your choice of hot sauce: mild or hot. I get the hot because that's just how I always roll. It's not very hot at all, more like a spicy BBQ sauce than hot sauce.
The meat is nice and tender without any chewy gristle to be found. I'd love the provolone to be sharp, but hey, we're talking PA Dutch here and they've never been too big on the use of spice so I'll take it as is. They sure do know how to cook up a hearty dish though and this certainly is one of them. You won't find any ketchup for your fries here either. Just use whatever hot sauce you don't pour into your sandwich as a dipping sauce. Mix some in with the mac and cheese while you're at it.
I've been meaning to try their baby back ribs ($8.79/lbs) at some point, but this sandwich is just so good. I'll have to do it for the sake of content for the blog I guess. The things I do for the good of the internets… Their other combo meal is the 3 spare rib + 2 sides for the same price as the boneless rib sandwich above.
This is one of the absolute best deals you'll find in RTM as other places a single sandwich or serving of whatever will run you close to $8. But it's only open when the PA Dutch are in which is Wednesday through Saturday. Around special holidays, like Thanksgiving and July 4th, they're often there on Tuesdays as well, but that's not a blanket statement.
Rib Stand
