A Bounty of Fresh Foods
Peter Machamer and Barbara Diven Machamer
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Art Inzinga, a chef-instructor at Pennsylvania Culinary Institute had a transforming experience a few summers back. He recalls tossing fresh green beans, a vegetable he didn't care for, into some boiling water immediately after picking them from the garden. “The beans were actually popping," he says. "I don’t even like green beans, but they were incredible.” And not just beans, he says, but any kind of fresh vegetable, from beets and zucchini to broccoli and kohlrabi, can be flash boiled, or quickly sautéed or grilled with tantalizing results. Inzinga’s moral is simple: “The less you do to these fresh products the better they are. The more you cook, the more you screw it up.”
When it comes to fresh produce, Pittsburgh is tops, ranking number one in a study of farmers markets and community gardens per capita by SustainLane.com, an online resource for urban sustainability. Which is why Sierra Magazine just named Pittsburgh “Most Unlikely Foodie Haven” in the country. "Farmers markets," they say, "are the pride of Pittsburgh."
Deep into the summer, we're at peak season for grazing through the range of fresh produce available. Farmers markets all over the City of Pittsburgh and surrounding areas offer a bonanza of locally grown produce. Buy what you like, the selection is vast and wonderful, but cook it as soon as you can. The farther away the vegetables are from the field, the more their sugars turn to starches, and they lose their exceptional and fleeting sweetness.
Speak to me of sprouts
Chris Wahlberg, a soft-spoken farmer, takes freshness one step further, promoting raw foods. As owner of the Mung Dynasty operation, he specializes in growing and selling sprouts of all kinds.—more kinds of sprouts than any other member of the International Sprout Society, in fact—and none of them need cooking. They just crunch and delight to the bite, au naturel. There are a huge diversity of sprouts, from beans to peas to onions to sunflower to clover, and all are superbly flavorful and nutritious, each in different ways. Wahlberg, who thinks of himself as a “sprout whisperer” says, “each sprout has its own story”.
If you ‘re not a sprout eater, you should become one. You don’t need to grow your own as Mung Dynasty sells their products at farmer’s markets in Oakland, Market Square (Downtown), and Mt. Lebanon as well as is retail store and sprout-growing facility in the old Duquesne Brewery on the Southside at 2230 Mary St., open from 7a.m. to noon, Monday through Saturday. If, however, you get the urge to grow your own and need help, Wahlberg's your man. “I’m anxious to show off what I have learned in 30 years in the business," he says.
Sprouts aren’t the only yield of the season that taste divine in the raw. The list is long from lettuces and herbs to fruits and, of course, summer’s luscious celestial body, the tomato.
The grill of it all
Farmers markets aren't just for produce of course. Butler County's Four Seasons Farms, owned and operated by James Kennedy and his family (John and Val), produce some of the best meats in town. Officially they are part of the Farmers Market Cooperative of East Liberty. Farm-fresh meats, which are corn and grain-fed, and steroid and anti-biotic free, include poultry, beef, pork, and lamb. This is what meat is supposed to be like. Prices are easily competitive with supermarkets, yet the products are so much tastier.
In our house, we buy our meat at Kennedy’s year round, but being late risers, the selection dwindles by the time we arrive, so we order in advance to get the best of both worlds. They butcher on Thursday mornings, so if you want extra thick steaks, 2-inch pork chops, or special items such as a whole filet of beef, it’s best to call early in the week or even place your order the week before. They will cut as you direct. It’s great having a real butcher.
Another source of fresh goodies that comes to you completely work free, awaits you when dining at some choice local restaurants. Bona Terra, Café Zao, the Big Burrito group and Le Pommier Bistro all have a range of fresh, seasonal delights on their menu. Many of their selections come from Penn’s Corner Farm Alliance, a group Pittsburgh is fortunate to count its own. .
More and more, you can also buy fresh foods from local producers at your local grocery store. And a very good selection is featured at Whole Foods Market in East Liberty. This hip, organic market will put together a feast from these fresh products that arrive through their doors daily. Another option that loyal customers swear by is the East End Food Co-op and Cafe .
The price to pay
Be advised that local, fresh food is not always cheap. Prices of the season can be determined by the weather, which in turn affects quality and supply. Earlier this season, tomatoes at the Oakland Farmer’s Market were fetching one dollar a piece. Now we love tomatoes as much as the next couple, but sometimes it’s best to wait until the peak of the harvest season gets reflected in lower prices. Now of course is the perfect time to buy them and the cost, far more reasonable, reflects the bounty.
Some local restaurateurs balance fluctuating market prices of fresh produce when planning menus. Josephine La Russa-Impola at Lawrenceville's River Moon Café uses organic and local whenever possible. But one has to be sensible, she suggests, "where that means affordable, not elitist food”.
That's easier in Pittsburgh than any other city in the country with our status as number one in farmers markets and community gardens. So buy local, eat fresh and enjoy. Happy hunting, Epicureans!
Peter Machamer and Barbara Diven Machamer have both written for Pop City; this is their first joint effort.
Photos:
East Liberty Farmer's Market
Fresh corn
Chris Wahlberg in growing room
John Kennedy at meat counter
Mt. Lebanon Farmer's Market
All photographs copyright © Jonathan Greene
except Mt. Lebanon Market ©Tracy Certo