“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini
bread and pumpkin pie” -Jim
Davis
You've got to love a farmers’ market.
It’s a
community built around food; a place to buy fresh produce from local farmers, a
place to find artisan cheeses and extraordinary breads. Most importantly they can be a place for friends
to meet and neighbors to forge new relationships.
But hey, I've got a trivia question for you.
Do you know where the very
first farmer’s market was in the state of California?
Go ahead and take a
guess. But you might be surprised at the answer.
Give up?
San Francisco.
Yup, San Francisco was
where the State’s very first farmers’ market was founded on August 12, 1943. The
Alemany Farmers’ Market was established as a wartime measure to provide an
outlet for local farmers’ crops. This along a larger effort nationwide to
reduce the pressure on the public food supply by starting victory gardens on
public and private lands.
In fact, San
Francisco’s Golden Gate Park alone held over 800 such food gardens during the
era.
But let’s jump back to
2013. My wife and I recently visited the Alemany Farmers’ Market. What a cool place with it’s’ range of foods
and produce. One of my favorite things is to meet the people and personalities
on any of our travel adventures. At the Alemany you’ll find no larger
personality than Ralph Alves. Ralph is part of the team at Panorama Wholesale
Bakery that brings quality breads to your table. Ralph is like the unofficial
mayor of the market. He seems to know
everybody and if he doesn’t know you, give him a chance. He will. With his warm smile and generous
attitude, Ralph captures the heart of what makes the Alemany Farmers’ Market
grand. But let’s get to the bread. 
We had a Blue Cheese
Walnut Sourdough Boule. “Boule” is
French for “ball” which describes the shape of the bread loaf. What incredible
bread. Baked in stone hearth ovens, the blue cheese was subtle which
complimented the flavor without dominating. The crust (my favorite) was hearty
and the crumb was flavorful. I’m anxious to try their other loaves.
Their cinnamon twists
were good, too. Really good. We had more
than one. Won’t say how many. But in two words; they were decadent and
delicious.
For lunch we ate at
the “El Huarache” booth. Que rico! We shared their
signature dish, the “Huarache”. It's an oval shaped tortilla filled with beans
and lightly fried. Topped with sour cream, cheese, cilantro, onions and salsa
this dish was buried under potatoes and chorizo.
How do you say ‘yum’
in Spanish?
They also serve a
Mexican coffee which is flavored with cinnamon and peloncillo, which is a
Mexican brown sugar. Add a little cream and you will know coffee like you have
never known it before.
San Francisco is a
city with a million stories to tell. The
Alemany Farmers’ Market is just one of them.
The Alemany Farmers’
Market is open every Saturday. Dusk to
dawn they say, though I’ll just take them at their word. They are located at 100 Alemany
Boulevard.
And here’s a truly un-San
Franciscan treat; there’s ample free parking.
Now go explore.
