Dec
07
11:16 am
JJ Gonson
Having trouble finding local ingredients for your upcoming holiday feast? Today on the Somerville Local First blog JJ Gonson, Gourmet Chef Extraordinaire of Cuisine en Locale and co-founder of Cambridge Community Kitchen, gives us the inside scoop on where to buy the best fresh local food items:
When the farmers markets begin to close all around us it means that finding local food will go from a bit of work to a downright chore. Happily, as awareness is growing about the value of eating food produced close to home, so the demand is making availability easier. There is no simple solution to the winter food acquisition dilemma, but I think it is in the finding that the best experiences are had. Here is a round up of places I like to go when I am on the hunt:
Let’s start with markets; places that are there, and don’t move about, or have irregular hours:
Sherman Market 22 Union Sq in Somerville
The market arm of the excellent Sherman Cafe, this is our “local market” where everything is sourced from local producers. Winter items of particular interest here are root veggies, maple sugar, oats, whole wheat bread flour, and a full selection of dairy goods and delicious local kimchee from Lion’s Share Foods
Formaggio Kitchen 244 Huron Ave in Cambridge
Formaggio is a luxury market, rather than a local-centric one, but still an excellent place to gather local cheeses, crackers, beer, honey and some produce, just ask if it is local, they will be happy to tell you. I could not live without cheese. Some of my current faves are Bayley Hazen Blue, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar and Ascutney. We call Ascutney the Brangilina of the cheese world. It’s a sort of aged gouda/cheddar marriage- absolutely gorgeous!
Savenor’s Market 92 Kirkland St in Cambridge and 160 Charles St in Boston
Always the “best on the block” for the highest quality (aka most delicious) meats, a recent understanding of the benefits of local meat has made them even more dilligent about sourcing and carrying a dependable supply of excellent meats and eggs from the area. Try the Double J Farm beef!
The Harvest Cooperative Market 581 Mass Ave in Central Sq, Cambridge
This is an open Coop, so anyone can shop there. I wouldn’t suggest you go there for meat, but they do have an excellent bulk department, and they carry many local grocery items such as Teddy’s Peanut Butter (as local as peanut butter can get- if you cannot live without PB, and my hubby cannot, this is the locavore’s acquiescence),
Market Basket 400 Somerville Ave, and all over MA and NH.
Yes, you read that right, Market Basket. There isn’t a huge number of items I will buy at this Tewksbury MA business, but they do have the big name local stuff at a good price, so I go here to stock up on Kate’s Butter, Cabot Cheese and Stoneyfield Farms Milk, plus they have a lot of the organic cleaning stuff I like to use. I don’t go often, and never after 10am, for fear of being mowed down by a tiny woman dressed entirely in black driving a shopping cart like it is the Grand Prix.
Other ways I get stuff I can’t get at those markets:
For meat, mostly, I buy direct from my friends at Stillman at the Turkey Farm. For the next couple of weeks they are going to be at the Holiday Market at Downtown Crossing every day. EVERY DAY! Wow, that is almost easy! You can send an email ([email protected]) or call them ahead if you want them to bring you anything special. They are very accommodating about that. In addition, I organize something called a Meat Meet with Kate on a regular basis. There isn’t much to it. The truck shows up and you dig through the coolers, or you can order ahead of time by posting a comment below the blog posting about the upcoming Meet. It’s a little rustic, but it’s been working for us for a few years now, so you know what they say about things that ain’t broke. The next Meat Meets are on the 18th of December- the first is from 2:30-3:30 at Harvard Law School, in the Pound Parking Lot, the second is from 4:30-5:30 in the parking lot behind Quest Diagnostics in Central Sq, at about 47 Bishop Allen Drive. Keep track of upcoming Meat Meets by signing up for the Stillman email list, or checking my blog.
There still is no real year round farmers market in the Somerville/Cambridge area. Not, to be honest, in the whole greater Boston area, even! But there is a lot of movement in the direction of creating one, and no one has done more to get there than Shape Up Somerville, who will be holding a winter farmers market every Saturday from 10-2pm, at the Somerville Armory, from January 8- March 26 2011
Once a week there is a new service called Farmers To You coming from Vermont, and bringing down stunning and very well priced products, direct from those farms. I cannot emphasize how much like this company- they are solid people on a mission, and you can find them in a number of places which is growing regularly as demand increases. The Misty Knoll chickens are deeeelicious, and I’ve never seen them at a better price- nice!
Enterprise Farm Share CSA
Finally, if you are interested in a winter CSA (Community Supported Agriculture share- a predetermined selection of food you buy into in advance and get a share of weekly/bi-weekly) you can still get in on the action with the Red Fire Farms and Enterprise Farms food programs, both available through Metro Pedal Power in Somerville. Red Fire are bringing the storage foods they grew- lots of gorgeous roots and cabbages. Enterprise are consolidating foods from where they are in the Pioneer Valley, as well as something referred to as the “East Coast Food Shed”, which means that they bring foods from as far South as FL, like amazingly delicious, candy sweet, small grove, organic pink grapefruits. You can talk to the fine folks of Metro Pedal Power about what is on offer, and they can arrange to deliver it to you, by bicycle, if pick up is inconvenient.
Yes, the opportunities are out there, and with some planning and some running about, it really is still possible to eat local. Thanks for making the effort- the farmers really appreciate it!
Happy Holidays, and I hope to see you out there in the mix, hopefully over a cup of local eggnog,
xo JJ and Cuisine en Locale (locavore personal chefs, cooking and blogging about it at www.cuisineenlocale.com)