Sunday Market

OK. Technically this is not part of the Sunday market, other than that I saw it walking home. The picture reminds me of one of my absolutely favourite childhood books - tile,author, long forgotten - in which a postman, so as to deliver the mail during a local flood, removes the tires from his bike so he can cycle along the power lines.

I haven't succumbed yet, but it's a cute idea. Actually, I did see one at the market, with a tow-along cart, the roof of which was constructed from photo-voltaic cells. Quite neat.  I don't know if the electric bikes convert the spare rotational energy (as in going downhill) into electricity. They should. Anyway, one way or another, Sunday markets bring out the locally ingenious.

We've been patronising this market for about, maybe, eight years? Since it started. It limped along for an awfully long time; failed to survive a few winters and then finally, in I think the hands of its third lot of entrepreneurs, has really kicked into gear. Most summer days it's absolutely packed and even in winter there is a pretty fair turnout. This is the middle of the food section. I think Sunday markets say something about the demographic of the neighbourhood. They are a luxury product, despite their down-at-heel charm. For example, dumplings at the Chinese dumpling stall cost more than any Ashfield restaurant. The meat prices would make my local butcher blush. But that isn't really the point. Charm is what's on sale, and there is plenty of it. Plus, undeniably, there are things you get here that you just can't get anywhere else.

Take the cheese man for example. It's pretty hard to find good cheese in Sydney; the Greek deli has some, but the range is pretty narrow and they don't really understand blue. This guy, on the other hand, is a fanatic. And he has some fantastic cheeses, from Australia, Spain, Italy, France, South America. It probably is expensive ($70 a kilo is about his minimum charge) but I have no idea where to get cheese this good, and I don't need a car to get it. I just buy $10 worth, big lump or small, and enjoy it. My favourite cheese story is the morning/afternoon cheese; in each round the bottom half is morning milk; then a layer of ash; then the top is filled up with evening milk.  I hope it's true, but I really don't care that much if it isn't. It's a fantastic cheese, irrespective of the story, sort of a mild Tilsit.

Liz is the mushroom connoisseur. I have to admit that they look fantastic - in salads maybe it's possible to tell the difference. The way I cook, I'm not sure that I'm doing them justice.  The only thing I know about mushrooms is that shiitake contain natural glutamate - which is allegedly the "fifth flavour", very "in" at the moment. Tomatoes contain it too; that's why everything made with tomatoes tastes good. Shiitake have replaced salt in my cooking.

It kind of reinforces the boutique luxury product ambiance, though. Think authentic.

Once you move beyond the food section - Mexican, Chinese, organic, Nepalese, Turkish, Malaysian, Chinese, three bakers, the bratwurst man, Indian, scone/muffin/cake stalls, cheese times 2, meat twice, pickles, nuts and finally olives: this is the winter list - you get to the stuff section, clothes and junk. This is my section of the junk, although I'm trying not to buy books at the moment. The patch of grass you can see in the background illustrates that the weather today is not encouraging. If the sun were shining there would be no grass un-stalled.


I've left out the picture of the fruit and vegie stall (there are three) where we do the weekly food shop. I get to practise Chinese; really, simple repetition is the best practise plus you actually learn useful things like the names of food in Chinese, stuff that is in no text books, but is so fundamentally basic you can't imagine why not.