West Seattle Farmer's Market

Americans abroad make a big deal of visiting the markets in European towns - they seem exotic to us, with their open-air stalls of fresh produce, artisanal products, and actual growers staffing them. After visiting dozens of farmer's markets in the States, I still sometimes feel like a traveller to the modern Old World. In Seattle this weekend, I experienced that sensation again.

The West Seattle Farmer's market may the most upscale one I have shopped to date, in any city. Geographically it is unassuming, filling a not-so-large parking lot. But the offerings - oh my! Perhaps not having a kitchen I planned to cook in made me overlook the gorgeous produce (except the fiddlehead ferns and the wild mushrooms). Or perhaps I am just not accustomed to seeing Mangalista pork, fresh pasta, jams from unheard of berries, artisanal cheeses, free range eggs from ducks as well as chickens, and so much more all in one small space. Not to mention the fresh organic breads, the fresh pastries, and the asparagus and goat cheese strata. It was like wandering the aisles of the best gourmet store ever.

Would I shop this market every weekend, as I do the one in my own neighborhood? Actually, no. My tastes run more to the pedestrian. I go to stock up on as much produce in as great a variety as I think I can creatively use without wasting any. And sometimes I'll add in a jar of local honey, or a pastry, or a small container of that amazing artichoke parmesan dip that mercifully bears no nutrition label. If I had so much bounty available in the meats and dairy and hand-crafted condiments, eventually I would splurge. It must be a testament to the food culture of West Seattle that so many recherchez goods can be sold week after week to the same core group from this neighborhood.