Pyrmont Growers Market – here we come!

Monday Morning Cooking Club food shops, cooks and presents on the SMH Growers' Market celebrity stage

Monday Morning Cooking Club celebrates Mother’s Day at The SMH Pyrmont Growers’ Market

I love to cook, I love to food shop for new and exciting ingredients, and I love to teach simple, achievable and delicious recipes. So for me, appearing at the the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) Growers’ Market was a match made in heaven.

Pyrmont Signage

 

And so it was, just after the crack of dawn on the first truly cold day of the year, the MMCC mobile pulled up (thanks for the lift Lisa) and we headed off to the Growers Market. Our start time was a civilised 7.00am, unlike all the wonderful farmers who arrive at the market to set up their stalls at 4.30am. And they managed to stay cheerful until the last customer left the grounds!

Now we MMCC girls love a good road trip together, even if it’s only a 15 minute drive. As we pulled into the car park the security guard said to us, “oh – you are the celebrity chefs” – well we had to pinch ourselves – we certainly don’t feel like celebrity chefs!

The SMH Growers Market, held on the first Saturday of each month, is the oldest farmers market in Sydney, with over 80 stalls. The lovely Venessa, who started work at 4.00am and looked as fresh as a daisy, met us pronto, then the helpful and efficient Georgie whipped us around the stalls to do our food shopping. What magnificent produce there was!

There were friendly and familiar faces around the market; stall holders who serenaded us in Italian and stall holders who could argue the toss of which variety of potato would work in a latke (even if he’d never heard of a latke).

 

We loved seeing our old friends Pepe Saya, of the sublime Pepe Saya butter, and Paul Allam (Bourke Street Bakery) who had come to whip up a bread and butter pud and tell market goers all about the Bread & Butter project, a social enterprise artisan bakery. 100% of their profits are reinvested into baker training and employment pathways for communities in need. 

Pyrmong Pepe Sayer
Jacqui, Merelyn, Pepe, Natanya, Lisa.
Pyrmont Bread and Butter
Merelyn, Paul and Natanya.

By this stage we had about 15 minutes to prep our two segments, but the MMCC girls work well under pressure, as long as we’ve had our picollo lattes! Apart from fresh produce the SMH Growers Market does a brisk trade in excellent coffees and breakfast fare. Guess who couldn’t wait to start drinking her coffee….just saying.

We were so thrilled that despite the cold, rain and icy wind a wonderful crowd turned up for our sessions.

Pyrmont crowd watching
Braving an icy wind to watch MMCC

 

Pyrmong Lisa Nat on stage
Lisa and Natanya teaching Kranskuchen

We love cramming in as much as we can, so in two sessions we taught shakshouka, mushroom and zucchini roll, beetroot and herb salad, potato latkes topped with Brilliant Foods smoked ocean trout and wasabi cream, and kranskuchen, with the freshest and most delicious produce possible from Leppington figs, Marginis mushrooms, Thirlmere eggs and Jelbonleigh Estate macadamias, Whisk and Pin dried berries and jam, among others.

 

Ardyn Bernoth, national editor of Good Food, kept the banter flowing with questions and quick passes of the microphone, while alongside us, Jacqui was single-handedly selling our books – the perfect Mother’s day present – in the Sydney Morning Herald stall.

Pyrmont jax selling books
Jacqui, our organisational supremo, selling books

By 11.00 am the market is done and dusted, so next month, set the alarm early and head over to Pyrmont for a truly delightful outdoor farmers market.

 

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Now for Something Sweet

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On Sunday, we will celebrate the festival of Purim.
Here’s the simple version of the story:
Some time around the 4th C BCE, Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia, was told by Mordechai, her cousin, that Haman, the King’s advisor, 
was planning to kill all the Jews. Esther rallied the King, thwarted the genocide and became a heroine.
We celebrate, wear fancy dress and eat hamantashen, a three cornered pastry that represents evil Haman’s three cornered hat.

In a nutshell,
THEY TRIED TO KILL US,
WE SURVIVED,
LET’S EAT!

This is a phrase that I always said lightly (and almost jokingly!) about the festivals of Pesach, Chanukah and Purim. The stories of those festivals were from times so so so long ago. 
We never imagined that in 2024 we would be fighting to survive all over again.  And it seems we’re not quite ready to eat.

We all need to keep standing up and fighting - for Israel and for the Jewish people.
Am Yisrael Chai. 

P.S. Since it is Purim, eating hamantashen is a must. If you want to make your own (these are a batch of mini hamantashen straight out of the oven) you can find recipes in MMCC books 1 and 4.

There’s also a link in my profile to our MMCC recipe.
And Chag Pesach Sameach.

#purim #amyisraelchai #hamantashen #hamastashen
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Today I turned 60.
Crazy, huh? (Yes I think so too!)

I’m grateful for so many things.
I’m grateful that I live in one of the most beautiful cities in one of the best countries in the world.
I’m especially grateful for my wonderful family and friends (and my dog Winston).

But it’s a really tough time to celebrate as it feels like the world is falling apart.
My country has changed. It feels like a divided nation with so many fuckers just full of so much hate.
And the ongoing hostage situation and war in Gaza is unfathomable and devastating.
I have managed to step away from the news/instagram for the day today to enjoy this HUGE😳milestone. I’ve done all the things I love to do (walk, eat, chat, drink, eat some more and start the day with a spicy bloody Mary) with almost all of the people I love the most. What more could I ask for?

Well, since you asked, I have 3 tiny wishes for my birthday, and unsurprisingly they are all related to Israel:
1/ I wish that each and every one of the hostages comes home now,
2/ I wish that Israel completely demilitarizes Hamas ASAP so the war can end, and
3/ I wish that the Palestinian people acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and just let Israel live in peace.
Not too much to ask?
Am Yisrael chai! 💙💙💙

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#amyisraelchai #istandwithisrael #turning60 #happybirthdaytome #bornin1964 #walkingupanappetite #sydneyfood #sydneyeats
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