(Originally appeared in Cincy Chic)
It’s about that time of year– we can all see the green grass starting to grow, daffodils are blooming, the days are getting longer. What does that mean? Spring is here, and with it comes the farmer’s market at Findlay Market. The thing is– there’s a lot more to Findlay than just the farmer’s market, all year ’round. Don’t forget about the amazing stuff they sell even when the farmers aren’t there.
First, the outside market: you can buy fresh fruits, vegetables, homemade bread and soap, and other fantastic products all through the year. The greatest part is the outside vegetable market, that sells all sorts of fruits and vegetables at fantastic prices.
Next, pop inside to the main hall, and check out the amazing spices, cheeses, meats, and ready-to-eat meals you can find inside. One of my favorites, Colonel DeRay’s Herbs ‘n’ Spice ‘n’ Everything Nice, has some of the most unique spice blends in the city, along with a lot of spices you can’t find anywhere else. Plus, his well-trained staff will tell you how to use them in your cooking.
Continue in, and you’ll see a line curling around the corner and smell sugar and butter– you’ve hit A Taste of Belgium, where one of my favorite vendors, Jean-Francois Flechet, makes his famous Liege-style waffles and both sweet and savory crepes. Try a waffle: either plain or topped with fruit– they’re the best I’ve had anywhere (including Europe!).
A little further in, and you’ll find another favorite stand of mine– Kroeger Meats. They have a very wide array of sausages and other pork products, including tasso ham, Creole- and German-style sausages, all styles of bacon, and occasional specialty meats like camel and ostrich.
A final, favorite stop is Madison’s, which features groceries and specialty items. This is the place to find all sorts of interesting, seasonal items– truffles, ramps, mushrooms, local chicken and rabbit, fresh herbs and fresh bread from Shadeau bakery. The day I went, they had fresh morels– hard to find outside of Findlay Market!
Check back on Cincy Chic (and wine me, dine me) for a photo tour of the Farmer’s Market!
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I was just there this weekend and it was such a fantastic Saturday, other than the mass amounts of crowds. Parking was terrible but all the farmers and indoor vendors were so kind! I bought duck (and chicken or turkey?) sausage from Kroeger and Sons that I am excited to try.
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I agree with the Belgium waffles. I have been to Belgium and I didn’t care for the Belgium waffles but the one’s at Findlay Market are fabulous. Sweet without being overly sweet and sticky.
I didn’t realize that the meats area sometimes has things like Camel. That is a putrid animal as far as eating the meat. Very unclean. It does show the diversity of the market there though which is cool.
Thanks for posting this.
Christina–
There is a difference between Belgian waffles (which are more what we eat for breakfast) and Liege waffles, which are from Belgium but more a pastry.
Also, how is camel “unclean” and “putrid”? Lots and lots of people eat camel with no ill effects — it can’t be any more unclean than American factory farming (which is pretty disgusting).
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When I was in Belgium, the waffles were heavy, too sweet for this incredibly sweet tooth and very sticky. Brussels just reminds me of Paris (beautiful and very big) and Brugge is one of my favorite places so far aside from Zurich. The “Belgium Waffles” as they called them, were like lumps of heavy syrupy dough. The “Belgium” waffles offered by A Taste of Belgium at Findlay Market are light and pastry like with just the right amount of sweet. A preference of taste is all. No big deal.
As far as Camel is concerned, while it is an amazing animal, able to withstand the desert with little to no water, the Bible claims it unclean. Honestly, I have never even thought of eating a Camel and should not have written that it is putrid without more evidence than a statement from the Bible. I have been studying food in more depth than simply culinary for a few weeks now and have read in a book called the Makers Diet more about foods and how they are related in the Bible. I love Lobster and Shrimp and had read before that your not supposed to eat them. But, why? It’s because they are scavengers and apparently do not excrete waste properly and then we ingest it.
What do you think about all of this? Thanks.
Well, as far as the Belgian waffle thing, it seems to be a matter of semantics: Belgian vs. Liege. They’re not nearly as good in Brussels or Paris as they are here (and far better than the famous ones from New York)– and that’s sort of counter intuitive.
Biblical dietary laws were created in a time and a place that are very different from our own. I’m going to exclude Kashrut (Jewish dietary law, based on both scripture and tradition, and something I’m fairly familiar with in theory if not in practice) from this argument, but last I checked, most Christians do not adhere to dietary laws (outside of fasting, abstinence, and occasional avoidance of intoxicating or stimulating beverages (i.e. LDS)). That said, I am not religious, and this is not a religious blog, so I’d prefer not to exclude anyone of any culture by painting certain foods as “unclean”. I prefer culinary curiosity and food science to inform my decisions on what to eat.
If you’d like to debate Biblically-based food choices with me, you’re welcome to shoot me an email.
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Christina,
There is a huge difference between putrid and unclean – and the Bible considers many things, both dietary and non-dietary, “unclean.” The example you gave using shellfish is a good example. But the Bible also considers many other things ‘unclean,’ such as mixing flax and wool, or any combination of textiles or fibers.
The biggest qualifer to all of this, however, is that such restrictions were prescribed historically. The reason such things were deemed “unclean” were due to cultural practices that existed long before any scripture was written down. Therefore it is ontologically impossible to delineate what is considered unclean in the eyes of man or unclean in the eyes of god.
Also, the notion that scavengers are unclean is too ambiguous to be used to judge whether something is clean or unclean. How do shrimp and lobster not excrete waste properly? They have digestive systems that are able to remove waste based on their morphology.
Also, this is completely gross, but true. Fecalform bacteria are all around us. In fact, if you check your toothbrush in the bathroom for such things, you will find them on the head of the toothbrush. We ingest that everyday. So we don’t dispose of waste properly and end up ingesting it.
The big point to all of this seeming randomness is that dietary laws and restrictions are culturally dependent, and have been, even before the advent of Biblical philosophy. It is those cultural practices which are the source of such rules, not the word of God himself.
Let me know what you think!
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Oh, and I hope one day to go to Findlay. These pictures are fantastic! I think those bell peppers are the best looking bell peppers I have ever seen. I would love to stuff them with all kinds of good stuff. I also can’t believe morels can be had there! That is just so cool.
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Thank you so much for the back and forth posts. I would love to be able to learn more about this in a better place.
As far as Findlay Market is concerned, it is wonderful. Even more so considering the neighborhood that it is located in. Cincinnati is very diverse that way, which is one of the reasons I love it. You can find a lot of very interesting goods and foods there. Check out http://www.findlaymarket.org for a full list of vendors. One thing that I have enjoyed is Herb’s & Spice & Everything Nice. I would love to see a local dairy farmer there with some raw dairy products.
I have been a little disappointed by some of the vegetables lately though and you have to be very careful to check out each vendor before you buy. I have bought some red peppers at one vendor only to find much better one’s a few feet away and for a better price. The last time I went, some of the vegetables came from Mexico! While I realize that there is a season for certain items, I like to buy produce here to “lessen my carbon footprint” only to still have it come from Mexico? I can get Canadian one’s from Kroger! The last time I worked the flights to both countries, Canada was closer. I cannot however, get Morel’s at Kroger. Or, fresh baked Liege waffles.
It is definitely a must visit. Enjoy.
Camel? I have been going to Findlay every week for 20 years and have never seen Camel, Kroger boys has Camel? Not going near that Bible argument.
Thanks for the post Julie, when are we going to get you and BF down there as regulars? I am a self proclaimed Findlay Fanatic, our Saturday Findlay trip is my favorite time of the week, If we don’t show up vendors start calling to see if we are OK.
Findlay is not as good as some other cities markets but it is the best we have, support it PLEASE. Get to know and support your vendors, It survives despite the city and managements efforts to piss off every vendor and patron. Yes there have been some positive moves but a lot are lame. Don’t get me started on the over priced (18 Mil I believe) rehab a few years ago that STILL did not yield wider aisles.
Just an FYI, most of the produce at the year round stalls at Findlay comes from the same distributors, out of the same warehouse and is not local. The exceptions are the farm shed and some percentage of Madison’s. In the spring, summer and fall. Here is my Findlay strategy, every Saturday morning I go through the fridge, clean out, find out what we need to use up and what we need, then we talk recipes, make a list and go to Findlay. This is a big time saver. We hit the local farmers shed first, then or fave specialty vendors, then Madison’s, then the stalls to get what the farmers don’t have. More of the year round stalls are becoming aware of local and do supplement to some small degree, ask if they carry local, make them more aware. Another tip is go early for best selection, go late for discounted prices.
My mantra is… Vote with your dollars, eat local as much as possible, avoid chains, processed and fast food like the plague. Stay close to your food and away from your doctor, buy the best food you can find and afford, local is best, organic if possible. Read labels, if you can’t pronounce it, or don’t want to take the time to read it don’t eat it. Processed “foods” are poison. Immerse yourself in luxury, cook from scratch.
One thing I would like to suggest is bring a friend, make it a social thing, if everyone of us vowed to “convert” a friend and they vowed to do the same we will all eat better! Hope to see you at Findlay Saturday morning.
Thanks Vudutu for an awesome post. I really enjoy Findlay Market and would rather support them than a big chain. I did think that Findlay was local stuff and I guess I just never saw the Mexico sticker before so I was caught off guard. I didn’t realize that we could do anything to encourage the vendors to offer other products. So, great! I wish I was home this Saturday. It will have to wait until next weekend.
As far as the whole Bible thing, I didn’t even mean to open that up! LOL I did misuse the word putrid and wish I could take it back. I have more to say on my thoughts but this is not the place.
Thanks so much for your comments.
i love colonel deray’s! i just went to findlay market a couple weekends ago, and after buying a few salmon filets, i headed over to colonel deray’s for some spices. the woman (whose name i can’t recall) recommended some of their barrel smoked bourbon sea salt topped with maple powder for my salmon. i topped with some fresh cilantro (also purchased at the market) and it gave the salmon an amazing sweet/salty/smoked flavor that was simply fabulous!
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Hello Stef. I bought some of there lavender sugar and tried in a shortbread cookie recipe. Very aromatic and delicious. I liked the slightly exotic hint that the lavender added. The fact that you can dehydrated juices also is a fun additive for seafood. I also love how knowledgable they seem to be everytime I go! Thanks.
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had a crepe here today – ham, egg, cheese. Really looking forward to it but they cracked the raw egg and didn’t let it cook through. Ugh…very weird to take a bite and have raw egg seep out and run down your arm. My kids gave me their share…I guess I should’ve taken it back. Is that a normal way to prepare and ‘in egg’ crepe?
Personally, I cannot tolerate raw egg. Too slimy! Where did you get a crepe at Findlay Market? So sad that I was actually home and still didn’t make it. Anyone that can get there should go.
I was told that the open air shops under the walkway have the best local produce and even meat. I think I have seen who “they” were talking about. Has a fridge in a truck at the end by where you can park. Anyone ever shopped with this couple?
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Hi Chritina,
It was called “A Taste of Belgium” Should be called a ‘taste of slimy raw egg’
Too funny. That’s what sparked the ‘Belgium Waffle’ debate, which by the way are really very good. It’s a shame about the crepe. If you didn’t say anything, you should have. I like to see people succeed if they can.
Thanks for the reply and review!
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Brian, I’d check out Jean-Francois’ website, tastefrombelgium.com. I know he reads this blog and is very open to comments/suggestions/criticism, so that would be my suggestion. I imagine the egg was supposed to be sunny side up, not raw.
Christina, the farmer’s market area has the best nearly ANYTHING they sell– fruits, veg, meats, eggs– I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from any of them.
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Thanks Julie. I’ll definitely reach out and let him know. We had a great time there yesterday and it was fun bartering on the veggie produce prices. I had to go down and check out the new biergarten. Can’t wait to taste Burger once they have it on tap. Good to see the old beers and traditions coming back.