Eat Drink Blog 2012: Adelaide Central Markets

A couple of weeks ago, 80 lucky food bloggers from all over Australia descended upon Adelaide to attend Eat Drink Blog 2012 ,a conference designed to bring us together for a weekend of networking and learning cool things - like taking a better photo, food styling, important legal information, SEO and something else I am forgetting...oh yeah, trying some of the best produce that this country has to offer.  There was wine too (oh, you betcha), but that is for another time and another blog post. 

Clockwise from Left: Toasted banana bread with marmalade and Marscapone from Zuma Cafe' Imagine the taste of those organic, free range eggs, lovely peonies that I wanted to bury my face in, funky chairs at Zuma Cafe.

Within minutes of dumping my bags at my hotel, I was bolting toward the heart of Adelaide. I was going a-marketing at Adelaide Central Market!

From the moment I walked through the entrance to the moment I shot out the other end (bags heaving with things I found that I wanted but did not necessarily need) my senses were in overdrive. Imagine the show bag pavilion at the Sydney Royal Easter Show with its aisles of overpriced, manky crap hanging from stalls, with crying children and fraught parents tearing their hair out...

Erase that image because this place is nothing like that. 

Rows and rows of wild asparagus. Watermelon that I wanted to carry out under my arm like a football. 

Now imagine (if you have not already been) a great hall with aisles and aisles of colourful fresh produce, freshly baked bread, the smell of roasting coffee, beautiful cheeses and international cuisine alongside locally made small goods – this place is a happy place even if you are not a food blogger.

A bagel rack - I want one of these in my home. Cheese tasting at The Smelly Cheese Shop.

Award winning "Black Pig" Jamon - this was to die for. Check out their awards!

If I lived in Adelaide, I would probably buy my fresh food here every day. The meat and produce are mostly locally sourced and if the sign doesn't tell you whether something is organic, local, free-range or raised on beer and classical music, then the proud and friendly operators and producers are more than happy to tell you. The market is also located smack-bang in the middle of the CBD and because it is open Tuesday through to Saturday - you could skip over there on your lunch break if you wanted to. 

The first thing I consumed at the markets: A skim cap at Big Table.

Owner and Butcher Tony O'Connell showing us his wares and if I remember correctly, he is showing us how their meat is smoked. 

If I lived in Adelaide, I would feel contented with the prices here. Sure, some of the items are “special, sometimes” purchases, but mostly, the fresh food is reasonable. I did a lot of “special, sometimes” purchasing that day. If I lived in Adelaide, I would be very proud to have this place in my home city and I know that people who do live there are very proud of it indeed. 

I had never see these mushrooms fresh before. 

Now for some thank-you’s.

Big claps and backslaps go to the sponsors of Eat Drink Blog 2012, especially the South Australian Tourism Commission. My mind has officially been blown. You South Australians really know your stuff, so much so that I plan to come back again early next year.

I reserve very loud wolf whistles and falling rose petals to the entire AdelaideCentral Market. Your energy and enthusiasm was infectious and the fact that you opened the marketplace up on a Sunday to give us all a stellar lunch - well, I felt a little like a rock star.

Finally, a stadium sized Mexican wave goes to the organisers of Eat Drink Blog 2012. You guys made this weekend possible and most importantly memorable. You made me fall in love with blogging all over again and I felt so lucky to be there. 

Who can resist taking a photo of a big bunch of fresh radishes? Also, spring garlic- a love of mine.