[Safran]

Here in Ottawa, we have the regular grocers but also places like Farm Boy and Produce Depot,the Byward and Parkdale Markets. On Thursdays and Sundays there is the Lansdowne Farmers' Market and on Saturdays, the Main Street Market which both carry local produce only. Where do you shop?

[Marlene]

For me, it depends on the time of year and what sort of access I have. In the summer, at farmer's markets near the cottage, or at highway stands along the way. In the winter, because I can't get to the St. Lawrence market very often, I tend to prefer my produce from Whole Foods. I loved our Bruno's, but sadly they went away. Rarely, I will buy produce from our local Sobey's.

[Dana]

Sadly, for a city this size, there is no reliable Farmer's Market here in Beaumont. The airport allots space for a small one in the summer, however it's only open on Saturdays, and everything is pretty much gone by 8am. Since I don't get home from work until 12:30 to 1:00 am and it's at least a 30 minute drive down there, the chances of me getting there are slim to none. I usually shop at one of 2 local grocery stores, both of which buy produce from local farmers. The quality and freshness is good at both stores. One is just around the corner, however the other has a much wider variety. Just depends on what I need. Or what else I have to do that day.

[Corgi Man]

Here in NYC, everything is available year round - and year round everything is usually a good deal more expensive than any other city I've been in. You do have to know where to go and what you're looking for. The farmers' markets here are not cheap - as Dana, Jayhawk and Marlene can attest from our ICE class - but you can buy some fairly exotic stuff. I'm fortunate to have a reliable butcher within 5 blocks, an okay fish market within 3, an international market for those African, Mediterranean, Indian, etc items. And there is an extremely over-priced super market on the ground floor of my apartment building. If you're willing to subway, bus or taxi around the city, you can get anything - imported - in any season.

[Safran]

Hum, Sobey's...yes, when one must...

[Safran]

Dana, on 03 September 2009 - 10:09 AM, said:

Sadly, for a city this size, there is no reliable Farmer's Market here in Beaumont. The airport allots space for a small one in the summer, however it's only open on Saturdays, and everything is pretty much gone by 8am. Since I don't get home from work until 12:30 to 1:00 am and it's at least a 30 minute drive down there, the chances of me getting there are slim to none. I usually shop at one of 2 local grocery stores, both of which buy produce from local farmers. The quality and freshness is good at both stores. One is just around the corner, however the other has a much wider variety. Just depends on what I need. Or what else I have to do that day.

But Dana, at least your lgs carry some local stuff, which is more than I can say about some grocers here in Ottawa.

[Safran]

Corgi Man, on 03 September 2009 - 10:43 AM, said:

Here in NYC, everything is available year round - and year round everything is usually a good deal more expensive than any other city I've been in. You do have to know where to go and what you're looking for. The farmers' markets here are not cheap - as Dana, Jayhawk and Marlene can attest from our ICE class - but you can buy some fairly exotic stuff. I'm fortunate to have a reliable butcher within 5 blocks, an okay fish market within 3, an international market for those African, Mediterranean, Indian, etc items. And there is an extremely over-priced super market on the ground floor of my apartment building. If you're willing to subway, bus or taxi around the city, you can get anything - imported - in any season.

"Anything", "anytime" "any season" I get. Here too, in Ottawa, it is the same. But the local, seasonal, I gather, has become exotic. Isn't that amazing??

[James]

Safran, on 03 September 2009 - 05:38 PM, said:

Hum, Sobey's...yes, when one must...

I'll buy fish at Sobey's as their east coast connections are good.I go to farmers markets and roadside stands in the summer, but in the winter it is Highland Farms or Costco for citrus, roots, and greenhouse produce from Essex County, plus canned, dried or frozen goods with something to offer on the nutrition label.

[Corgi Man]

I placed an order tonight at Heritage Berkshire. A small fortune for me, but it will probably last through June. Believe it or not, it's cheaper to buy the Berkshire pork this way than to buy it from the gourmet purveyors who sell it here in NYC! And you might as well buy a good deal because the shipping is the same for about a 20 lb range in the order.

12 jowl steaks (after doing that apple cider braise I have to do them again and then again soon after that!)
1 Eight-bone Loin Rack Roast
Pork Osso Bucco (4 pieces)
6 Short Rib Racks
4 10-12oz Bone in Pork Chops
1 lb Japanese Style Sausage.

I didn't buy any pork belly this time. I may again, but our opinion at the moment is that we prefer the taste of the local butcher's pork belly for curing bacon and the ratio of meat to fat is higher. Yes, pork belly can have too much fat - hard to believe.

This post has been edited by Corgi Man: 05 March 2010 - 11:59 PM

[James]

Berkshire seems to be better with cuts in need of extra marbling, and you chose well. I have been getting good pork bellies, with lots of lean strips, from an Asian market with a good turnover, and the price is very good.
What seasonings go into the Japanese sausage?

[Corgi Man]

James, on 06 March 2010 - 01:45 PM, said:

Berkshire seems to be better with cuts in need of extra marbling, and you chose well. I have been getting good pork bellies, with lots of lean strips, from an Asian market with a good turnover, and the price is very good.
What seasonings go into the Japanese sausage?

I don't know, James. But I'm looking forward to trying the sausages. Some web-accounts say they're spicy but not particularly hot. We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if there were things like ginger, garlic and other spices that show up in Asian pork dishes.

[Corgi Man]

The Berkshire Pork order came today.

Pork jowls.

Rib Roast.

Ribs!

Pork osso bucco.

Berkshire pork chops.

Berkshire pork Japanese style sausages.

James, I still don't know what the ingredients are for the Japanese sausages since the whole label was in Japanese.

And why are they in Japanese if the sausages are supposed to come from Iowa!?!?

This post has been edited by Corgi Man: 17 March 2010 - 08:06 PM

[Matthew Kayahara]

Skip, my katakana reading abilities are atrocious (and my kanji reading abilities are all but non-existent) but the hiragana portion of that packaging says they're "arabiki" sausages. Not that that helps a whole lot; I've never heard of them!

[Corgi Man]

Matthew Kayahara, on 18 March 2010 - 08:48 AM, said:

Skip, my katakana reading abilities are atrocious (and my kanji reading abilities are all but non-existent) but the hiragana portion of that packaging says they're "arabiki" sausages. Not that that helps a whole lot; I've never heard of them!

I just googled "arabiki." Lots of positive assessments of the sausage, but no recipes to find out ingredients for James (or me or anyone else here!).

[Corgi Man]

Today my shipment of tri-tip roasts came in at my butcher/s. If I want tri-tips I have to order a wholesale size bag of them. Despite Keller's AD HOC, they are not yet a popular cut. So it comes to six roasts to a bag, between 3.25 to 3.75 apiece. This all averages to about $4.00 a pound. That's cheap for a cut that when prepared in Keller's method gets WOW's when I serve it.

Six tri-tip roasts.

Vacuum packed for freezing till I can use them.

[Corgi Man]

Interesting article in the NY Times today on greenhouse tomatoes in Ontario, Canada and the North East United States. So this is why I can get decent (not great!) tomatoes year round.

[Corgi Man]

Well, whatayaknow? My market had some of the Backyard Farms Tomatoes talked about in the article linked in the above post. I had to try them. They are outrageously expensive. $5 for 10 oz of Cocktail Tomatoes (2" diameter).

Unfortunately they are terrific. They had that right of the vine smell that only fresh picked tomatoes have. Since I won't very often have the opportunity to buy those vine ripened freshly picked tomatoes like James, Marlene and a few others here raise for reaping in the 2nd half of summer, these will have to do. And they will do very nicely.

[James]

Corgi Man, on 01 April 2010 - 01:24 PM, said:

Well, whatayaknow? My market had some of the Backyard Farms Tomatoes talked about in the article linked in the above post. I had to try them. They are outrageously expensive. $5 for 10 oz of Cocktail Tomatoes (2" diameter).

Unfortunately they are terrific. They had that right of the vine smell that only fresh picked tomatoes have. Since I won't very often have the opportunity to buy those vine ripened freshly picked tomatoes like James, Marlene and a few others here raise for reaping in the 2nd half of summer, these will have to do. And they will do very nicely.

Those look good. You can tell a lot by the seed color and gelatinous surround. Most supermarket tomatoes will have undeveloped green seeds.