Mercato Italiano (Italian Market)

Got the shopping list, dropped my son and next-door neighbours’ kids at school and heading like every Saturday morning to the farmer’s shop, north towards the hills. A plain, middle-aged woman with mud on her shoes will attend me in a 20 sq. meter barn transformed into a grocer’s shop.

“Buongiorno signora come sta?”, she asks.  “I have put aside a dozen of eggs for you as I know on the weekend you bake a lot of cakes”.  So very true. And I learned that from winter to early spring, hens don’t lay as many eggs so often it takes her 2-3 days to collect a dozen fresh eggs for me.

Now, it’s the end of May and I hope to find some first vegetables of spring, that have woken up after a long bitter winter and will bring joy and many wonderful recipes to my table.

Arriving in the farmer’s shop I found so many beautiful fruits and vegetables:

 

Strawberries (Fragole) – These are my favorite fruits!  Strawberries in the market in mid April are from Spain. I would never buy them, even though I’m really tempted. I’ve waited all year for the strawberries grown from my trusted farmer –  fresh, red and above all not grown in greenhouses!

 

Tomatoes (Pomodori) – Most of the harvest fields are found in the south-east of Sicily where the climate is more suitable but are also grown in smaller quantities in the north of Italy. I love red “ciliegino” or cherry tomatoes – One branch can reach 25 small, sweet, juicy tomatoes!

 

 

Artichokes (Carciofi) –  This purple coloured variation is  called Violetto di Toscana. Artichokes can be boiled, sautéed or stewed. I like them boiled and just eat the soft part of the leaf after dipping it in olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. I could never present this as a dish for my husband after a day’s work so I do not cook them often in that way. At mum’s house though I remember we could eat  3 whole artichokes each for dinner and nothing else.

 

 

 

Leeks (Porro)- Similar to onions, I cook with a lot of leeks.  I read once that cultivation goes back to 3000 years ago which I find fascinating. My friend Marisa often invites me to her house and makes the most delicious leek and potato soup.

 

 

 

Fennel (Finocchio)-  The harvest is from September to May and the ones grown in Chioggia (near Venice)  have a round shape. There are mainly two types of fennel, the round big shaped known as “male” which are used in salads and the ones named “woman” which have a thinner shape are best boiled. I only eat my fennel uncooked; boiled fennel reminds me of when I visited my  “nonno Bruno” in hospice.

 

 

 

 

Peperoni (Peppers) – Eaten raw or chopped in salads, I love them grilled when we have a BBQ with friends. If I have time in summer I try to put away some marinated peppers to use over the next few months in sandwiches or salads or with my favorite beef hash.

 

 

 

 

Cauliflower (Cavolfiori) – definitely not my favorite vegetable and since I live in a flat they really do make your home smell awful after cooking them. A girlfriend of mine told me that all I have to do is add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water but next time I’ll try it roasted.  In the market this morning I found this tardive type usually available from March to May.

 

 

 

Zucchini, both green and yellow are a real treat in the kitchen. Not many farmers grow the yellow variety as the plant is very thorny and this makes collecting very laborious. I recall only one season finding the yellow type.

 

 

 

Fiori di Zucca (the yellow flower of the zucchini)  can be fried to make an original dish, very popular in Italy. You need to carefully collect fresh and washed zucchini blossoms.  Fill them with different ingredients like mozzarella and ham or small pieces of anchovy. Some people like to stuff them with ricotta. After the flowers are dipped in the flour, eggs, mineral water, and salt, and they are fried in hot oil and until golden.

 

So tell me – what fruits and vegetables grow where your live?