Kiama Produce Market

The best part about living in the South Coast area of the Illawarra is that we're so close to all the best produce of the area. I set myself a challenge recently to make more of an effort to buy and grow my own organic produce, and I have to say I'm quite proud of myself!

Today we took the short drive down to Kiama (about 10 minutes from where we live!), this sleepy town is known for its beautiful beaches and is home to many people who enjoy the quiet close-knit community. It's got a wonderful spectrum of locals- ranging from retirees to young families, and lets not forget the surfers who can be seen paddling out on the crystal clear blue waters at any time of year.


The markets are over a dozen stalls neatly lined along the path running along the beach. They are predominantly food, with a couple of clothing stalls and even a massage stall thrown in just incase you need a rub down after all your hard work shopping-just don't forget the ice bricks so your food keeps chilled!

We stopped at nearly every stall, the first being an organic plant stall, with an array of seedlings and pots, all your average herbs like basil, parsley and thyme at the front, then when you get to the back you find some real treasures like horseradish, comfrey and all sorts of lovely herbs you wouldn't normally see at something like this- of course I stuck with the old faithfuls to get me going with my organic herb garden, starting with Thai Basil (my ABSOLUTE favourite herb!), I also made sure I grabbed a bag of their 'own blend' organic fertiliser that has too many ingredients to list here (and honestly I can't remember).



The next was the grocer! Fruit and vegetables coming out the wahzoo! I got so excited when I saw Australian Asparagus in the front, proudly displayed-and quite rightly! I'm ashamed to say I've never even seen Australian asparagus, up until now I thought you could only grow it if you lived in Peru! The best part was being able to taste it, when a plate was offered to me lightly seared with balsamic and olive oil- it was a real treat! No stringiness or anything, it was some of the best asparagus I've ever had!


Next stop was the smoked salt stall- only because I saw Smoked Garlic to the side! What a revelation!!! Seriously, why haven't I tried this at home? The stall was run by a funny French bloke who was happy to tell us all about this amazing product, how its made and how to use it. Matt loves anything smoked so I saw his eyes light up at the endless possibility of things to use this in!

http://www.smokeandspice.com.au/

By this time we'd worked up an appetite and the Hanger was beginning to show, so breakfast was a delicious pork bun each and 6 pork dumplings to share at Lanlan's Shanghai Dumplings. I've never had such a light and fluffy pork bun, and the filling was almost like a sweet pork ragu and the dumplings were handed over with the instruction to 'suck as you bite into them' because the lovely broth inside comes spilling out and will run all the way down your arm (and the front of your top!)

http://lanlansdumplings.com.au/

It didn't end there though, we also popped into the Organic honey stall and of course couldn't go past the pie shop- who had me at Duck Pie and then again at Rabbit Pie. They even sell duck fat, which I talked about in my Confit Duck post, and they sell it at a pretty reasonable price. But after our breakfast and quick coffee hit we decided to save those for lunch!


So after all that I came away with some pretty awesome fresh, organic produce, a full belly, lunch for later and some new herbs to plant tomorrow with some nice stinky fertiliser! All in all a pretty productive morning- no muss and no fuss! I'll definitely be going again at the end of next month :-) 

The Days Loot!


For any information on the markets and when they're on, go to;

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