Why Not? Wooden Bakery

Husband and wife team Kamil and Rhonda Tannous bake traditional Lebanese pizza and parcels of spinach and cheese. Brunswick’s Balha’s Pastry delivers freshly made sweets and the shelves are packed with Middle Eastern groceries from rose water and pomegranate syrup to tahini and the fridge is stocked with kibbeh (football shaped patties of mince and pine nuts) and haloumi.

Sataylicious

Riselle and Brian Woodford opened shop at the Market siz months ago selling traditional Singapore satay made using a secret family recipe. You can order a take home pack readhy to cook and sauce (plain or spicy) chicken and beef skewers come in a range of marinades: Honey, soy and lemongrass, tandoori, and sweet chilli and basil. Gluten free options are available and all of the food is made on the premises.

What's in Season - Heading into Summer!

Berries

Victorian Strawberries
Fresh Victorian strawberries are now available and the quality and flavour are excellent.

Blueberries
Blueberries are starting to make an appearance. Choose fruit that is plump and not bruised or squashed.

Cherries
Local cherries are now available at the Market – sunny days, cool nights and short bursts of rain have combined to deliver Victoria's best cherry season in decades, bringing prices down for consumers this summer. Harvested over only 100 days from late October to January, the fragile fruit has been in low supply in recent years, with the 10-year drought followed by successive summers bringing hail, late frosts and flooding rains. But this year is shaping up to be a bumper crop, if orchards in the Yarra Valley and central and northeast Victoria continue to avoid extreme weather. Excellent cherries have been picked in Victoria's northeast, with harvests heading south from now until January.

New Season Summer Stonefruit

Excellent quality Summer stonefruit are now being harvested from Queensland and NSW and supply will continue to increase as the weather warms up. Stone fruit available are - Peaches white or yellow flesh, Nectarines white and yellow varieties and Apricots.

Mangoes

There are three varieties of new season Northern Territory mangoes available this month: Kensington Pride, R2e2 and Nam Dok Mai.

Mangoes are ovate to elongate in shape and typically weigh 250g to 900g, depending on the variety. The colour of the flesh varies from yellow to golden and is soft, juicy and sweet. Some varieties have fibrous flesh, while others are succulent, buttery and smooth. The best test of a mango is its aroma, which should be highly perfumed when ripe. Unripened mangoes will ripen at room temperature. Mangoes are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, a good source of dietary fibre and a useful source of vitamins B1, B6 and potassium.

Snowpeas

Queensland and Victorian fresh snow peas are in good supply this month. Snow peas are an excellent source of dietary fibre and a good source of protein, vitamin B, B2, B3, C and folic acid. Use snow peas in stir fries or raw or blanched in salads or as a side vegetable with dips.

Asparagus

New season Victorian Green, Purple and White Asparagus Spears are now being harvested. When selecting asparagus choose tender, straight, fresh spears with closed, compact tips; spears should snap easily at the stem end. Nutrition studies have shown that asparagus is a low calorie source of folate and potassium; its stalks are high in antioxidants and green asparagus in particular is a very good source of vitamin C.

Tomatoes

Very good quality tomatoes available this month, varieties include Field Gourmet, Flats, Gourmet Hydroponic, Red and Yellow Grape, Mini Roma, Red Cherry, Gourmet Roma and Hydroponic Truss. Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, a useful source of vitamin E and contain some vitamin A and dietary fibre.

Organics

Available from The Peanut Market - Produce hall (P11-13). Sam stocks a fabulous range of organic dried fruits, nuts, rices and flours from around the world. Try organic mulberries from Turkey for an instant burst of sweetness!

Available from G & T Taylor  (T3) – Gary stocks a wide range of seasonal organic Australian Produce. Australian garlic is in plentiful supply as is Fresh organic tumeric (Kamin). Pleasantly mild with no sharp bite but a very ‘loud’ colour. When added to food its carrot/orange actually imparts a bright yellow. Well-loved in Thai food, such as curries, soups, stir-fries, snacks and desserts.

Kipfler potatoes
Kipfler (or German finger potatoes) are a waxy potato finger shaped with creamy coloured flesh. They are great steamed and in potato salads and look great on a dish.

Dutch cream potatoes
Dutch creams are exceptionally creamy with rich yellow flesh and a waxy texture. Simply boil or mash with a little salt. Also ideal for baking or roasting, for a gratin, puree or soup.

Flowers

Peony Roses
Long renowned for their large, often perfumed flowers, peonies have been prized for centuries by flower lovers. Flowers have several rings of petals, depending on the variety, with some looking like large ruffled garden roses. Single forms have 5 or more petals, and the fluffy yellow flower centre is clearly visible, while all you can see in double forms are ruffled petals. Flower colour ranges from pure white to pink and peach to clear red and dark maroon. Yellow forms are very rare, and there are no blue varieties – yet. Some forms, particularly double pinks, have a beautiful fragrance.

Christmas Lillies
In plentiful supply at the Market, both Oriental and Asiatic Lillies are available. The Oriental lillies have large glossy leaves and flower petals are whte, orange, dark red and white. Asiatic lillies are shorter stemed with weveral brightly coloured flowers and are not strongly perfumed.

Delphinium
Delphiniums or Larkspur as they are commonly known have pale green hand shaped leaves from which appear 2m spire like stems completely covered with 3cm cup-shaped blooms. These blooms are mainly of blue and mauve colouring, from the palest baby-blue to darkest indigo, they are also available in shades of pink. Delphiniums are a wonderful vase flower due to their vivid colours and their structure and height.

Snapdragons
Snapdragons have upright stems and velvet-textured, tubular flowers; between 10 and 15 blooms appear on each flower spike, opening from the bottom up. The flowers have a distinctive shape as the petals have fused to form a kind of hood that overhangs a large lip that resembles a dragon’s mouth. They come in a rainbow of colours (almost every shade except for true blue), and some varieties are bicoloured. When preparing to put in a vase – pinch the bud off each stem as this is a preventative for stem bending.

Ranunculus
Ranunculus grow with long straight stems, have a long vase life and bloom in beautiful shades of bold colours and pastels. They are known in the floral industry as a flower arrangers dream. They appear in single and double forms and colours range from bicoloured varieties to gold, pink, red, salmon, sunset orange, white and yellow. The bowl or cup shaped flowers are attractive in a vase on their own or look great mixed with other blooms and foliage.