I've always believed that the journey into the soul of a city takes you through its food markets. Greengrocers hawking their wares at the top of their voices, the diminutive Vietnamese lady selling you pok choy, the scrumptious meats, delectable cheeses and the smell of warm bread and freshly roasted coffee...the cacophony that ensues as a stall-holder cries out to drum up business and is challenged by his competitor across the aisle, the early-morning hiss and sluice of hoses on concrete floors, the clanging as trolleys are unloaded and later, the energy of buyer-seller banter. You get the picture.
To me, Central Market in Adelaide is truly a slice of heaven, simply because I love the sheer abundance of choices. If you don't like big white onions, buy the small purple ones. Don't like veggies? Buy meat. It is also a great place to people watch and the perfect place to be a shutterbug; there's always interesting activity to shoot. Be forewarned though - Central Market is only open on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. My host, Mark Gleeson, asks me if I would like to try out the Greek yoghurt with real fruit topping. There awaits a patient group of willing customers. The stall is doing instant salads and there are a couple of dozen dressings to choose from. Pick a colour that turns you on. This market has plenty to choose from for the ready-to-eat fans.
For the main course, head towards the range of stalls with the mouthwatering displays of pastas, pizzas, savoury tarts and more. "We do the cooking so people don't have to worry about it. They just come here, pick it out and we box it up for them," says Laura, a stall owner. Gleeson adds, "It's really wholesome cooking, not your fast food takeaway."
You can complete your market dinner with fruits and cheeses. From the Barossa Valley to France, the choice of cheeses is exhaustive. Gleeson aptly names one new set of stalls 'the wall of cheese'. "Every day there are people coming along and saying we didn't know you existed in the market. They discover us, even though we've been here almost 20 years," he says.
Older European immigrants love the market's regional fare, including the drinkable tangy yoghurt called kefir. A traditional cultured milk drink that probably made its way into Eastern Europe from the Middle East, says the stall owner. He is going by the name and also the number of Turkish and Lebanese shoppers who seek it out.
Next we look in on Helena and family. She's the babushka of the Russian Piroshki stall, next to Zedz's Cafe, where we join other like-minded shoppers seeking out the 'fish of the day'. One former hotel chef consults another behind the refrigerator-counter laden with fresh seafood. Atlantic salmon is the day's special and while the stall's chefs plot its accompaniment, an unscripted gathering - a party of cooks - comes together at an adjacent table.