A Day of Discoveries at the Ventura Farmers' Market

Today I had one of those organic days, the kind that just flows. It started at the Ventura Farmers' Market Downtown and before I knew it, I was learning and encountering and my life was filled with wonder. Here are a few of my discoveries.

Heirloom tomatoes in particular are at their peak -- it's been a damp, long, wet season getting here but we are now bursting with purple, green, yellow, orange and red wonders. Some of them look like they are from another planet, maybe they are the hidden alien life form!








This past Wednesday, I got to sample brown turkey, strawberry, white and black mission figs at the Midtown Farmers' Market at the mall but today a lovely gentleman turned me on to Adriatic figs. They were stiff competition for my current favorite, the strawberry figs and he's the only vendor I've found in the area.



As we're again in a shoulder season, the Asian stand at the market has long beans in both purple and green and pea shoots for a brief period. They also had okra finally & lovely bitter melons.


Tiny Thai eggplants made an appearance, they are delicious in curries. Here's a recipe that uses both long beans and Thai eggplant.


And angled luffa gourds showed up looking like pod people! If allowed to mature on the vine, they turn into the scratchy luffas you use in the tub but can be eaten when picked immature and green. You can stir fry it into sauces or soup, here for example is an angled luffa and clam soup recipe. Their juice is also reported to be a natural cure for jaundice!


Part of what I learned today is that prunes are not just dried plums, they are very specific type of plum that's a more oval shape. I bought two kinds to try, some are better for cooking, others for eating fresh. Though not fashionable, I love the taste of plums, can't wait to taste them!




Another coup is that Spring Hill from Petaluma is back at both Ventura Farmers' Markets! They have organic fresh cheeses and butter and lots of samples to taste. Their cheese curds are divine, they also have a spicy one called Firehouse that has a soft beginning note and a spicy finish and a garlic variety and an organic sage cheddar that I crave. I no longer have to have my sister go to the Ojai Farmers' Market to get my fresh cheese curds which I use in almost everything I cook. Whew.

As usual, Peacock Farms had amazing displays, especially with their round purple eggplants...


All varieties of potatoes were there:


Bi-colored sweet corn was also featured for a small window of time, perfect for grilling or roasting.


Asparagus spears were lined up like sentinels, guarding the artichokes...


And this has been the best season for white nectarines. Ever. You simply must sample them before they are gone!!


Tuberose is making its brief appearance. My honey bought me some and my whole house is perfumed with their heady aroma.
They are from the agave family and traditionaly used to make leis and for Indian wedding ceremonies -- I could imagine someone planning a wedding around their blooming season. An elder gentleman saw us carrying our bouquet, inquired where we found it and literally sprinted across the market to grab some. I wonder if they were for him or another?

Amarula: there's a new liqueur in town...

The man at the Liquor Store on the corner of Kalorama & Main St. is a salesman in the most real meaning of the word. He watches what you buy and expands that to help you know more about what you might want.

I cannot visit him without either walking out with more bottles than I ever intended to buy or, he talks me into buying something other than what I thought I wanted. My scorpionic nature always questions on the way home if I was taken or cajoled into something other than I want but then I research the deal he touted, "if everyone else is not selling this for twice the amount, I will buy your next bottle for free," or the rarity of the supply, "This is selling out almost as fast as I buy it, you have to try it!" as was the case for this particular product today. When I research whatever fantastical statement he made, low-and-behold, this slick salesman is always right! And I always love what he suggests.

That day I was buying milk, Grand Marnier and Haagen Dazs. He eyed my selections. "You like sweet liqueurs?" "Ehhh, Not particularly", I dismissively replied. "Ah." he said. He rang up my purchases then as he was putting them in the bag said, "It's just that I see what you are buying and there is something I think you would like. It sells out quickly, will you taste it?" Naturally, I gave in.

Amarula is a cream-based liqueur made from marula fruit of the "elephant tree", that grows only in Africa. The liqueur is made in South Africa. Not only where the fruit grows limited to that continent, it only grows from uncultivated trees and has to be harvested from the wild plains. It's full of vitamin C (important as I know everyone concerns themselves with the nutrients in their booze), and the nuts inside the fruit are used for medicinal purposes.

The shopkeeper spoke Arabic to a man in the back who rapidly appeared with a shot glass. They pulled down a bottle and gave me a taste. "It's good," I said, much like Bailey's. "Ahhh," he said. "But Bailey's is whiskey and cream and other ingredients and this is only the fruit of the marusa and cream".

I would love to do a side-by-side tasting of them but I can say this was delicious, potent and creamy. I'd be beautiful used in desserts, coffee or ice cream -- particularly warming on a foggy, overcast day.

La Gloria Market -- A whole other world right in the heart of Oxnard

We are not that far removed from a time when folks grew their food in their backyards and hunted or fished for the rest of what they put on the table. In my household we held great reverence for animals that were sacrificed to feed us. We always said grace and more often than not thanked the hunters, the animal and God for our bounty. In the south, where I was raised, we try to utilize as much of an animal as we can and eat parts of them many have never sampled but as some have said to me when speaking of poorer cultures, particularly a while back, "You used what you had."

As I sat with my girlfriend at La Gloria, we started to discuss out backgrounds and I learned that a Mexican household and one from the deep deep South are very similar in some ways. My friend recounted memories of being a child and helping clean intestines with a hose thoroughly before they were cooked down in a pot outside. I told her tales of hanging sausages to cure on a clothesline and how my mother begged me to try brains and eggs, her favorite childhood breakfast. I also can still smell fresh blood being carried on a cold wind as my brothers cleaned and plucked game.

In Louisiana and Mexico, tripe, tongue, head and skin are all eaten on a regular basis. We are coming back to simpler times in some regards across the country and many, including myself, are growing a good deal of their own food and eating eggs laid by their own chickens. For most, we're not at the place yet where we step outside and ring a chicken's neck, scald and pluck it to put it in the pot but we are certainly more aware of where our food is coming from and I believe more appreciative of the sacrifice involved.

Why not consider trying dishes you haven't? Some of them might just become new favorites. Before you know it you might find yourself ordering the pig's feet or cow's tongue from the local butcher... (note: I didn't eat the tongue at La Gloria but it's such a tender, melty meat, if you haven't tried it, you might should!


La Gloria Market
430 S. Oxnard Blvd.
Oxnard
486-8735
$1.00-$7.95

La Gloria Market -- A whole other world right in the heart of Oxnard

Driving through Oxnard one night, the warm light coming from a place I’d never seen beckoned from the roadside. There was something so appealing about La Gloria Market, even from the roadside, I knew I had to eat there.

I contacted a dear friend who is very knowledgeable about Mexican food to dine with me and guide me through any hidden mysteries. She told me La Gloria Market reminds her of being in Mexico, and I couldn’t wait.

We headed to downtown Oxnard one bright sunny afternoon to visit the eclectic market on the corner of Fourth Street and Oxnard Boulevard.

Outside were several benches where generations of men sat together. The large market has two sides. On the left is a supermarket (supermercado) that sells everything from fresh fruit to dried shrimp powder and cow hooves or cookies to cell phones. On the right is a bustling food area.

There is a counter that serves hot foods, a bakery (panaderia) full of cakes, sweet breads, turnovers and cookies in the back corner, and a fresh juice and milkshake bar. When you first walk into the food area, wafts of the aroma of cooking tortillas fill your nose; and to the left, there is a never-ending line for the most popular counter, where scoops of natural fruit ice creams are piled high into Styrofoam cups.

My senses were heightened immediately with so much to see, smell, hear, touch and taste! The lofted, open-beamed cathedral ceilings lent an old-world charm. Each counter had signs, mostly written in Spanish; but, thankfully, the vendors had lots of patience, and most were bilingual.

There were small, carved offerings of vegetables and fruit art on every counter, like a lemon blowfish made with toothpicks and a sharpie pen. There were flags, piñatas and sherbet-colored metal chairs on the concrete floors.

Lemon Blowfish
Mexican pop music piped through speakers to create a happy buzz. A courtyard between the two markets offers outdoor seating next to a beautiful shrine to the Virgin Mary. It’s a bright, fun, engaging environment that transported me back to time I spent in Mexico years ago.

There are more dining options than I can list that vary from the familiar (carne asada tacos, chicken (pollo) burritos, chile rellenos and taquitos) to dishes that aren’t as readily available like tripe (stomach), buche (cheek), head, tongue and pork skin. At times, I felt as if I was in Mexico ordering from a street vendor, but at others, I was back in Louisiana in another culture that celebrates and eats almost all parts of the animal. In honor of our similar though geographically different histories and what bounty we had before us, my friend and I decided to try a bit of offal along with other more standard dishes.

We ordered three tacos, the carne asada, cabeza (roasted cow’s head) and tripa, (tripe/stomach). We also tried a couple of pork ribs; the fish, rice and veggie special; and a chicharrón pupusa, a maize tortilla stuffed with fried pork rind and cheese.

At the counter, there were large glass jugs of fresh juice — papaya, pineapple and watermelon. The first fresh watermelon juice (sandia) I ever had was in Tijuana. It introduced me to a whole other world with its sweet, sludgy, refreshing and hydrating qualities. It remains my favorite drink, and I like it just as they served it — no ice, lightly chilled, no frills. It’s perfection.

I first sampled the tacos, starting with the carne asada – like dipping a toe in the water before jumping in. The tacos were all served on small double tortillas, sprinkled with raw onion and cilantro leaves and accompanied by a spicy, tomato-based dipping sauce and salsas.

The lightly chewy, small cubes of carne asada steak were straightforward, with a touch of crunchy charred edges. The cabeza taco was just the opposite — tender and delicate slowly stewed meat that melted in our mouths; and the tripe, my friend’s favorite, was cut into small bits, fried, salty and tasty or, in her words, “chewy, lightly crunchy bits of deliciousness.”

The pork ribs were a sloppy mess of seasoned meat that fell off the bone. The pinto beans we chose, frijoles de la olla, were slow-cooked in a clay pot. They were tender, lightly seasoned and slurpy bean perfection.

The pork skin-stuffed pupusa was accompanied by a devilishly red-hued, spicy pickled cabbage slaw (curtido) that had blasts of chili powder and oregano in it. The pupusa itself was crunchy-edged maize dough, with a melted, meaty texture and a distinct fried corn and pork flavor. It was by far my friend’s other favorite dish.

The fish special featured sautéed tilapia, white rice with corn and carrots and fresh broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and it came with tortillas. This dish felt fresh and healthy, and acted to balance the other, heavier options we’d eaten.

It’s hard to fathom leaving La Gloria without sampling something sweet. We tried the coconut flake-edged jellyroll, and a divine piece of moist chocolate mousse- and strawberry-filled vanilla cake. We also tasted some of the ice creams and sherbets. The fruit flavors made with water were true to the exact flavor of the watermelon, cantaloupe or strawberry and the creamy flavors made with milk, like the coconut (not too sweet and made with lots of real coconut flakes) or the smooth, icy chocolate, with bits of deep dark chocolate bits hidden inside were out of this world.

You could travel across the border for an authentic experience or hop the train right across from La Gloria Market and head to L.A.’s famous Olvera Street for the Mexican Market, but why not first explore what’s right in your backyard?

La Gloria Market offers an economical bevy of sensations right in the heart of downtown Oxnard.