Recipes From The Nashville Farmers' Market
Produce, honey, meats, olive oils and seasonings abound in these summer recipes from the Nashville Farmers' Market.
Farmers Markets: The New Alfresco Dining
Along With Canvas Bags for Produce and Flowers, Bring Your Appetite
Being an architect and intrigued by “space,” I set out last Saturday, curious about what role farmers markets play as social space and was more than happy to notice how they have become a new option for dining out. They consist of a community of vendors and a community of patrons – much like how a successful restaurant is a community of staff and a community of customers. One couple, relatively new to Nashville, was blown away by how friendly everyone was and how many long conversations they had with multiple vendors – making the market less of a quick stop and shop and more of an engaging weekly experience.
With smoke billowing from the grill, without pausing from turning his pollo, Alebrije owner, Chef Edgar Victoria, told me the story of how he started in business two weeks after the pandemic shut restaurants down. With $1200 in the bank and rent due in two weeks, he realized he couldn’t just sit home and wait out the pandemic. Luckily for us, with his back against the wall, he took a risk that has led to greatness. In addition to regular pop-ups at Bastion, he recently started setting up at farmers markets. “People were isolated, not being with friends. This gave them their one safe place to hang out,” he says. I got to have his food two weeks in a row. Last week I tried the freshly grilled pollo. Today, I went with black beans with chorizo. The couple before me was offered a great looking warm salsa to put on a different item. You can bet I asked if she’d spoon some on my frijoles. Whoa, that was great sauce!
Turning to leave, I remembered that my wife Janice wanted some bacon for her seasonal favorite, BLT sandwiches. That’s when I noticed the Smokin’ Oaks tent in the far corner. I was most pleased as I got closer and saw the fine print on their sign: ‘Organic Farms…Traceability Guaranteed’. The burly fellow manning the stand startled me a bit as he said, “Everyone calls me Little John,” and mentioned that most of their business is from the eleven farmers markets they do each week. Unfortunately for my weight loss goals, Little John mentioned they just added a food truck next to their booth, at which I promptly scurried in line in to order sausage and biscuits. Little John said they are incredible. Guess what they ran out of? So, instead of sausage, I had biscuits and gravy (for the first time ever). It was worth the wait (and the carbs). In my research today, three different vendors ran out of the item I was waiting in line for, but man, those biscuits and gravy were good.
All of this was surely enough for my article, but felt it was important to expand my horizons (and waistline), venturing to 3 more farmer’s markets within the next five days. I thought the markets would all be pretty similar and was more than pleased to discover how different they are.
Andy Grogan, Farmin’ in the Hall’s Market Manager in Crieve Hall is proud that their market is uber local, placing an emphasis on neighborhood vendors, ranging from two little girls who make popcorn to the neighborhood family who sells pickles. There was some debate between the pickle children about which is the best. I have to agree it’s a tie: both the sour dill and sweet pickles are worth the trip.
Since Farmin’ in the Hall is neighborhood sized, I wasn’t sure how many new choices I would find. Boy, was I surprised! You can bet on finding me at Zulema’s Tamales. I asked the apparent owner, Kurt, to recommend his favorite, and he sheepishly admitted he preferred the vegan one. Without hesitating I tried one hot out of the warmer- one of the best tamales I ever had (and I love tamales). A few minutes later, I returned to order 6 vegan, 3 rojo, and 3 pollo verde; a dozen treats for my freezer. I also confirmed that they don’t use lard in any of their tamales and, instead, create a binder out of the specific ingredients in each tamal. After a big “muchas gracias” to Zeluma’s, I headed off to my car in a proper food coma. A successful outing in many ways!
At 12 South, a week later, I was further surprised by some real treasures:
Will Johnson has found a passion making fresh pasta to bring to the some of the farmers markets. Lovingly, he named it Catapano after his noni. Today, he’s featuring macarons as a way to not let the unused egg whites go to waste. I must say that was a brilliant (and tasty) solution.
I loved seeing my friends, Caroline and Tony Galzin, hawking their freshly made bagels, which quickly sold out. Putting their temporarily dormant coal fired ovens to use, they landed on another innovative example of how a restaurant found additional ways to make it through the last 18 months. It was also great to hear that Nicky’s Coal Fired is holding its own, coming out of the pandemic. They shared that a couple of customers weren’t thrilled with the new format at their restaurant, to which I replied with a great T-Shirt slogan (can I say this?) “F.ck the Format, it’s about the Food!”
Yellow & Lavender kicks it out of the park with vegan pastries, both savory and sweet. The savory were already sold out both times I visited. I had this from a reliable source - “The croissants are just as good as if fresh out of a Paris oven.” They were quite pleased upon hearing this.
Erik & Maria Burstiner, purveyors from Prevail BakeHouse out of Santa Fe (Tennessee, not New Mexico and pronounced Santa Fee, in case you wondered), have some delightful fresh baked loafs to try. Santa Fe -- who knew?
Photo 1: croissants from Yellow and Lavender
Photo 2: bread from Prevail BakeHouse
And finally, imagine my excitement to discover Beaverdam Creek Mill had 8 varieties of fresh ground grits on their shelves. (Sorry Janice, I bought 3 of them!) They’re located near Centerville, Tennessee, off Hwy 50. All the grits are organically sourced, and they grow their own corn for a small batch of Wapsie Valley Grits, only available when in season. I wasn’t disappointed when they gave me a bag of their stone ground cornmeal to try as well, along with their own recipe for Skillet Cornbread. If you have to ask, then bless your heart.
It was getting late, but I made my way to East to grab a delicious Pesto Roast Beef sandwich from the Smokin’ Oaks food truck. On the way out, I bought a flan cheesecake from Alibreje and Edgar tossed in a couple of conchas (traditional Mexican sweet bread rolls) for me to try. So much for my waistline!
In general, I recommend going to the farmers market hungry (unlike the supermarket). From tacos to tamales, from peaches to pastry, there’s plenty to eat. I will be back in line Saturday Morning at The Richland Park Farmer’s Market for Smokin’ Oaks’ sausage and biscuits. Maybe I’ll get some this time, if you don’t get the last one first.
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