Buenas Tardes, Martes

Yellow Cauliflower and Romanesco

Shopping at the Tuesday farmers market in Monterey did not hold its usual charm for me today.  I almost didn't go, but the desire for fresh thai chili inspired me to skip my second nap of the day.  My finds were worth the effort:  fresh snap peas, oranges, strawberries, colored mini calla lillies, and a beauteous romanesco......but not a single thai chili to be had.  I enjoyed my usual small talk with my favorite vendors, and I continue to be amused when they speak to me in Spanish.  It started years ago, when they would greet me in Spanish and I would respond.  The great part is that as a local, they remember me. The only problem is that they remember me as the Spanish speaker I am not.  I'm part to blame for the charade, because I don't want to lose the familiarity.  I can usually stumble through the money part of the conversation.  Then I feel foolish and a fraud and wish my best friend were there to help me our of my conversation quandary.

I am astonished at the lack of etiquette I've experienced at the Tuesday market.  Why must people wander aimlessly, stopping to eat their sample strawberry in the middle of a stream of foot traffic?  At many of my favorite vendor's stands, people pick their produce and thrust their bags at the vendor without even greeting them.  I'm an educator and truly love children, but I don't love it when I am cut off by their parents pushing their double wide high tech strollers while the whole family shares a gyro.  What bothers me the most is the total lack of awareness of others that some people have.

I asked the vendor who sold me snap peas and oranges about the day and he shared my sentiment: "Not a good crowd.  People just here to look."

Bah, humbug.  Better luck on Friday.  In the meantime, tomorrow's menu includes a twist on Mom's Cream of Cauliflower Soup.  I wonder what she would say to see me substitute the giant chartreuse and purple monster pictured above?

Farm Fresh Produce

Highway 1, Moss Landing

Smells have a way of evoking memories, and there is something about walking into Farm Fresh Produce, the fruit stand located in Moss Landing on Highway 1, that evokes very early memories for me.  It is possibly the commingling of ripe fruit scents as they collect in the awnings of this fruit stand that never closes.

This sign makes me wonder if the produce stand and the San Jose market are connected.  Inside, I find local honey and cheap produce.  I know the asparagus, avocados, and pineapple I buy are not organic and likely seconds that were not selected for store retail, but I don't care.  I buy them all in a trance caused by this scent that has awakened something in the depths of my memory.

Dusty packages of dried fruits are stacked on shelves next to orchids plants and candy I remember wanting as a child.  There are sesame crisps made with honey that my mother used to give me.  As when I was a child, there are all sorts of things to discover. Today's discovery is a sort of citrus I have never seen before: Shasta tangerines.  They look warty and alien to me, but I buy one anyway, just to see what it tastes like.  I smile to myself as I pick the ugliest one.  As a child I used to pick the ugliest pumpkin on the patch, imagining that its feelings would be hurt to be overlooked by children wanting a perfect jack-o-lantern pumpkin.  I must have watched too many Charlie Brown specials.

Shasta tangerines

Its exterior looked tough and impenetrable, but it peeled surprisingly easily.  In contrast to the tough interior, the juicy segments were encased in tender membranes.  In this case, following my childish instincts led to a new discovery.

I have very few childhood memories, and I can't recall a specific day of being at the San Jose flea market.  I will probably never fully recall this memory or know anymore about it, since I have no sibling with whom I shared the experience.  I was probably there often.  All I know is that there is an ephemeral smell that hits me when I walk near this produce stand, and sensing it makes me feel happy.