V’s love affair with Farmers’ Markets is beyond ordinary.
Back in New York she visits the Union Square Farmers’ Market at least twice a week. She knows what the lambs had for their last supper and what the chickens ate the week before they laid the eggs she brings home. She knows exactly what is in season, can spot a rare find from a block away and is on a first name basis with all the regular vendors. Sage, our 18 month old has picked up her love for markets and adores sipping and chomping on wheatgrass and raw greens.
When we travel it is no different: We once spent a long weekend in Paris visiting 6 or 7 Farmers’ Markets: the local one in the neighborhood, the organic one across town, the bio-organic in a different district, etc.
At a time when with a click of a button Freshdirect and Wholefoods deliver to your door step this lost art of Farmers’ Marketing may seem archaic, time consuming and inefficient. But, as I have learned: slow is the fast way. The delicacy of an apricot just perfectly in season, or perfect orange egg yolks is unreplicable. The love which carries the food from farmer to our table stays within the energetics of the food we eat. And the hunt for tasty, sustainable food makes for a great way to explore the city and immerse oneself with the locals.
As our #travelingcircus hit the road on the #legerworldtour V came prepared. We have been visiting various Farmers’ Markets throughout Rome this week and we enjoyed the fruit of her picking and labor.
There is the local market in our neighborhood of Prati. It used to be outdoors, but is now indoors and large. We have shopped here almost every time we’ve been to Rome in the past 7 years, but this time V seemed to start off a bit confused, you could see it in her eyes….
But she was quickly back in her element and the resulting lunch was basic and oh so delicious:
The beautiful market by Circus Maximus we visited on Saturday. This one is mine and Sage’s favorite thus far:
Campo di Fiori which is the most touristy (and overpriced) of them all. This one is only to be visited very early on a weekday morning:
We attempted to find an Organic Market by a communist enclave in Testaccio…but it seems to have left town for the summer:
We did however find the local produce store where in Italy, as in the USA, immigrants work hard 7 days a week:
and when there is no market in sight, there is always a fruit bearing tree, like this plum tree we discovered just walking through the neighborhood:
Yum!!!