Let's go to the MARKET! April-May
and should I get a 'granny cart'?
In a world where change is often disconcerting, the changing market fruits, vegetables, and plants are a reassuring cycle and pure joy. Its constant flow of in season, peak season, then out of season, brings excitement and sometimes surprise to every market trip.
I go weekly for fruits, veggies, bulk olives, goat ricotta, free range chicken, fish, meat, plants, cheeses, and farm-fresh butter. I cannot pretend to be one of those savant chefs that never goes with a written list. It all depends how organized and awake I am on Saturday morning. But always without fail, I exceed what I planned to buy and on the way home end up either:
1) splitting my shoulder from the scapula with the weight of my bags,
2) calling my son to have him meet me to help me carry stuff, or
3) using my bike as a mechanical mule to load up the handlebars with bags (if I was clever enough to go by bike alone instead on foot with Coco, my dog!)
I often consider getting a carrello della spesa, or as I call it, a “granny cart” but then talk myself out of buying one because… would it really be easier to drag a heavy wheeled bag over cobblestones? Boh…
The vast majority of market fruits and veggies are from Italy and labelled by the region where they are grown (e.g. Sardinia, Basilicata, Campania). Italians rightfully take great pride in the high quality of Italian produced foods and typically prefer to buy Italian produce, meats, cheeses, and wines. If foods arrive from outside Italy (most typically Spain), they are labelled by country.
April market change-over:
New arrivals : loquats
In full season: strawberries, artichokes from Sardinia, fava beans, peas in the pod, asparagus
End of season: globe artichokes from Rome/Campania, agretti, kiwi
Some tasty seasonal spring recipes for you to try:
Most foods are available only at certain times of the year. But some foods are available all year round due to greenhouses. I don’t have much knowledge of greenhouse growing in Italy, but am starting to research. If you do, please share in the comments!
Always at the market:
greenhouse crops: zucchini, basil, some kinds of greens
cold storage crops with varying freshness depending on time of year: apples
I’d love to hear what your local markets and supermarket are like. Do you know where your produce comes from? Is it labelled by origin? Let me know by tapping the comment button below.Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, please share and spread the market joy!
x Lolly
Lolly Martyn
instagram.com/lollydipastabuona
I suspect the “granny cart” is a right-of-passage issue — all I can say is life is better in the other side!
I live in LA and bought myself a stylish (Crate & Barre) cart 14 years ago for my weekly farmer’s market visit. They weren’t popular but I needed it. And yes, I felt like a dork the first time I used it. I had memories of being mortally embarrassed by my grandmother in Brooklyn who shuffled one down the street with hers. But the cart changed my life. Saved my back + hands, I was able to buy the cool heavy stuff I’d long avoided and made the whole experience more efficient. I quickly got over being self-conscious. I began to feel sorry for those juggling all the bags.
Funny enough, I recently noticed that there are soooo many carts now at the market. Maybe I’m a trend-setter??
Ultimately, I think women should be more kind to themselves. She who shops should be supported by a great shopping cart! Lean into your inner granny! ‘Cause older women are wiser and cooler, indeed.
I am happy with my one large shopper with a map of the NY subway that I bought at the Strand a lifetime ago. But. I don’t do the big weekly shop with the heavy stuff. Now that we live in Venice I delegated that chore to my retired husband. He bought (ok, I did all of the research & sent him to the shop with specific instructions 😉) a very fancy Andersen brand carrello. We called it the Cadillac. It has a freezer bag & very sturdy & smooth wheels. He loves it. He is thinking about getting a slightly less fancy & lighter version for smaller & closer market runs.