At the Noosa farmers Market held each Sunday, stallholders come to set up in the predawn. Due to a combination of drowsiness and lots to do, brief greetings are exchanged and everybody pretty much keeps to themselves.
But last Sunday a gigantic rainbow arched through the dawn sky. Its spectrum had such clarity; the inside sky illuminating the tips of the gum trees. Silently we stopped setting up and gathered in twos and threes to witness this moment of beauty. We gazed in quiet amazement and then slowly drifted back to our tasks.
Nathan and Steve chat about produce.
The Noosa Farmers Markets are held every Sunday morning. Noosa is a fav holiday destination and playground of the rich and famous from Melb and Syd. Behind the coastal strip there is seriously good soil with seriously good producers.
The quality of the produce is astounding. Steve and Tina's biodynamic organic freshly picked vegies are a revelation; Nathan and Jackie of Chocolate Provisions produce salsas and cakes with passion according to their beliefs in sustainability and low food miles. Nearby is the multi award winning Spanner Crabs Noosa. All are selling produce of the highest quality direct to market goers.
Having worked farmers markets for while now I'm aware that there are only a handful where producers sell directly. Many so-called farmers markets resemble open air supermarkets with cheap low quality produce from the Rocklea markets sold on by stallholders who use fork lifts and cheap labour.
More on markets in another post.
How many Mozzarella di Bufala makers does it take to change a light bulb? Three.... because that's all there is in Australia. And they were all in the same room at the Noosa Food and Wine Festival last weekend. Andrew from Shaw River, Vito from Vanella and yours truly. It was an unprecedented opportunity to be able to discuss Buffalo milk and the chalenges of working with it.
Olive oil from Alexina, sourdough breads by Casey, Maleny Milk dairy products and my buffalo mozzarella were made into delicious dishes by chef Nathan Hoeksema of Chochlate provisions. Nathan made a bruschetta featuring Alexina's just crushed olive oil and my bufala on some of Casey's ciabatta. This was followed by his own homous and desert was frozen Wamuran lady finger banana on a stick dipped in organic chochlate.
