MARKET-ABILITY
Vendors know they need a hook
Farmers markets are great spots for buying fresh, local food. But they are also a source of inspiration. That’s because markets are not only in the business of selling cakes, condiments and kombucha, they are also hopping with creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and sheer do-it-yourself ingenuity.
Market vendor and improv artist Lee Paul Boyes of Leegion Eats is brimming with just that sort of market spirit. A self-described DIY addict, Boyes launches his new line of hot sauces at the 124 Grand Market, starting today.
“Markets are so much about who you are and what you can bring to it,” says Boyes, who is a member of the Rapid Fire Theatre ensemble, and will have his own solo show at this year’s Fringe Festival. “Anybody can make anything, but it’s about how you create your identity and your brand.”
Boyes, a devoted home cook, began a trial-and-error process to develop sauces about a year ago. He is confident about his recipes, and has given his sauces perky names that mirror their flavour style. The Carrie-Anne is made with cayenne, the Mitch has a jalapeno base, and Eula, well, she’s an orange habanero concoction.
“I enjoy the community aspect, and communicating with people,” says Boyes of his attraction to this business model. “We have so many people in so many fields, we don’t have to venture out to big chain stores. We can work together to bring these things to each other.”
With that in mind, here are things you need to know about Edmonton’s outdoor markets, and a few of the newest bakers, makers and producers who call these creative spaces home for a few hours each week.
124 GRAND MARKET
There’s big news for this market, now six years old. Proprietor Kirsta Franke is expanding the brand, taking a satellite of the existing location south to 102 Ave. and 124 St. There, it will run Sundays between June 3 and Aug. 26 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 124 Grand Market will still be in the original location at 124 St. and 108 Ave. on Thursday evenings from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“We don’t compete with the big boys — Strathcona and the City Market,” says Franke. “We’re like the pocket markets in New York, and we serve the community really well.”
The new Sunday market will have roughly 45 vendors (a few less than the 55, including four food trucks, that appear Thursdays). Watch for cheesemonger Ian Treuer of Winding Road Artisan Cheese, as well as Jonathan Bourgondier, a Belgian-born artisan who makes fresh pates. Two food trucks will be on-site, too, as well as a number of carts including Cookie Love’s ice cream sandwich cart, and a taco cart called Frieda and Antojitos Mexicanos.
At the mother campus, watch for a new baked-goods vendor called Persian Empire Pastry, which specializes in cardamom and pistachio-based treats. Agnes Kulinski is also coming to the Thursday evening market with Pierogerie Polish Foods. She boasts a delicious dumpling that is crafted with organic ingredients tucked in a special family recipe for dough that’s both soft and thin, but holds together beautifully when fried with butter and onions. Varieties include sauerkraut and mushroom, heritage pork, vegan and hot wings.
SOUTHWEST EDMONTON FARMERS’ MARKET
Now eight years old, the SWEFM launches Wednesday, May 16 and runs weekly until Oct. 3 at 2051 Leger Rd., by the Terwillegar Recreation Centre. This year, the market launches a new program to encourage youth entrepreneurs, including one business called Dipped.
This coffee beverage company, founded through Junior Achievement and featuring the collective spirit of nine teens 14 to 17, has developed a single-use bag that is tasty and portable, too.
“We’re in high school, and with all of our tests, and staying up and everything, coffee becomes really important,” says Dipped president Anita Petrovic, a Grade 12 student at Blessed Oscar Romero Catholic school in the city’s west end.
The group has been experimenting since January, and has come up with a formula that sees them scoop one tablespoon of fair trade, Columbian coffee into a tea bag and sew it shut. A box of 12 sells for $10. Dipped will be at the SWEFM May 30, plus two dates in June and two in August.
Also new to the SWEFM, says manager Christie Anderson, are two booths for craft beer — Red Deer’s Troubled Monk, and Egerton’s Ribstone Creek — that can be purchased for consumption at home. (Due to new government regulations, craft brews will be available at numerous Edmonton outdoor markets this year.)
CITY MARKET
The downtown outdoor market on 104 St., which opens Saturday, May 19, has more than 30 new vendors this year, several of whom make products that emphasize health and the environment. One such committed vendor is Camola Sustainable Food.
Owned by business partners and entomologists Silvia Ronzani and Claudio La Rocca, Camola makes a range of products with cricket flour, including savoury chips and a chocolatey sweet biscotti.
“We both have a background in environmental sciences, and everything we are doing comes from studying insects for years, and knowing about the environmental cost of food and human activities,” says La Rocca, who developed some of the products in collaboration with food scientists from NAIT.
Both partners are also Italian, and love food and eating.
“With our Italian background, we wanted to create something that would be not just a tasty snack, but also educate people about the environment,” says La Rocca.
FRENCH QUARTER MARKET
The Sunday market held outside at La Cite Francophone for the last few years will not be returning this summer. Rather, La Cite’s executive director Daniel Cournoyer, is including a market component in a new patio dining series at La Cite, which kicks off June 15 with a musical performance by Juno Awardwinner Daniel Belanger. The Friday night events end Sept. 7.
The market part of the Friday dining festivities, showcasing roughly 20 vendors, runs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., with a barbecue at 6 p.m. and music starting at 7 p.m. The food and music nights will alternate with outdoor movie nights at La Cite. The lower patio is licensed, so patrons can enjoy a beverage in the great outdoors.