If you want to feel happy, just head to the Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building. You will be surrounded by beautiful fresh produce and heavenly scents. It’s not a frenetic-I-need-to-procure-now kind of market, but rather a take-your-time-to-touch-smell-and-taste kind of market. Lots of tasting!
Let’s just start with tomatoes, because Ellen and I LOVE tomatoes. When I took French in high school (not sure why I did that in West Texas, but nevertheless I did) I wrote a little story about a character named Thomas Tomate. I think he would have loved to have known all of these interesting tomates amies (tomato friends).
Above: Colors in the market … colors for a kitchen collection? Hmmmm.
Below: More colors in the market … colors for a baby girl collection? Hmmmm.
We ended our fun morning at the Market with THE BEST sandwich that I have ever eaten: a porchetta sandwich at the Roli Roti stand. We wondered why the line was forming at 10 a.m. for lunch. And then we knew!
The first indication that this was to be a great sandwich was when I watched the master carver use my sandwich bread to sop up the fatty pork juices from the carving of the previous sandwich. This was an excellent start! Then, after he put the tender white pork on the bread, he chopped up the crispy outer fat of the pork and placed it on top, then he slathered the rich caramelized onion reduction across the top and added some light airy greens and a sprinkle of sea salt. And, all the while, our friendly chef smiled and chatted and seemed to get to know every person ordering. Maybe it was because we had been standing in line for an hour, or maybe it was because we were on vacation and footloose and fancy-free … but that porchetta sandwich was an amazing work of culinary art! It was pure heaven.
(I wish I could show you a pretty picture of the final masterpiece, but we accidentally ate it before we could take a picture of it. Next time.)
