Free nibbles are just one reason the aisles are crowded at Edmonton's wonderful Farmers Market, held every Saturday, year round, in the Old Strathcona neighbourhood.
It combines the comfort of an old-time market with contemporary touches sought by discerning foodies and shoppers concerned about what they put on their plates and where it comes from.
The produce, for example, isn't grown thousands of kilometres away, then trucked to a huge, central food terminal before being moved to Edmonton. It's grown nearby. Market rules state that vendors must grow or make whatever they offer and be present when it's being sold.
So those pickled beets I tried first came from Holden Colony Greenhouses, a Hutterite operation about 90 km east of Edmonton. The dips and spreads were made at The Happy Camel, the flavoured honey at Very Berry Honey, the mundoo at Korean Food Market, all in Edmonton.
In the next aisle were Dip-Sea Chicks (seafood spreads), Marina's Cuisine (salads such as a carrot with cheese and walnuts), and The Pasta Guy, with an enticing array of seasonings and sauces.
But I had another stop, the two-block-long Downtown Farmers' Market on 104th St., open Saturdays from Victoria Day weekend through Thanksgiving.
That's where Gail Hall, owner of Seasoned Solutions, shops before she and her cooking class students prepare a meal. (Visit seasonedsolutions.ca.)
Our lunch featured tenderloin of bison from Tom Cliff's Pemmican Hill stall. Cliff told us his 250 head are grass fed, making them leaner "and better for you'' than even Alberta's vaunted beef.
Half-inch-thick medallions were brushed with minced garlic, thyme and olive oil, sprinkled with pepper and seared over medium-high heat in a heavy saute pan (about 20 seconds per side for medium-rare). Hall transferred the meat to an ovenproof plate, which she covered and placed in a 350-degree oven.
Next she added white wine to the saute pan, deglazed the juice and bits, and sauteed diced shallots a minute or two until they softened. Goat's cheese was added and heated, and the sauce was served over the bison. It was easily as tender as a tenderloin of Alberta beef I'd had earlier.
Another chef who buys locally is Blair Lebsack at Madison's Grill in the Union Bank Inn (unionbankinn.com). A "forager'' he provided the forest mushrooms that went into the soup that started out supper there, along with potato gnocchi and parmesan cheese. Alberta's many greenhouses and abundant winter sunshine mean heirloom zebra tomatoes -- featured in Blair's salad with Camembert cheese and balsamic fig jam -- can be had year round.
Other downtown eateries getting good reviews include Il Portico and Normand's. I've eaten twice at Packrat Louie's (don't let the name put you off) in Old Strathcona. Edmonton writer Gilbert Bouchard, who knows the restaurant scene, also likes these three in the same neighbourhood: Flavours (goulash), Daddio's (Creole/Cajun cuisine) and Continental Treat (schnitzel).
Several events that focus on cuisine are held in Edmonton. Visit festivalcity.ca for details.
Accommodations: Rates at the Union Bank Inn, where I stayed, include a la carte breakfast, parking and daily wine and cheese.
Day trip: You can view bison on the hoof at Elk Island National Park, a 40-minute drive east of Edmonton. No sooner had we turned onto Elk Island Parkway than we were stopped by clusters of plains bison wandering beside and on the road. I counted more than three dozen. Guide Karen Evenden, owner of Urban Insight (urbaninsight.ca), said this was more than she'd seen in three years of park visits.
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