Food is everywhere here in Yogyakarta. Rickety carts offering noodles and soups and fried this-and-that line virtually every street. Fruit stands overflow with piles of black-skinned mangoes, bunches of red bananas, scaly snake fruit and enormous purple grapes. Girls ride by on bicycles rigged up with wooden boxes that hold bottles of colored drinks to mix and sell on the spot. Yes, it's hot and grimy but the ingredients look fresh and everyone is eating with gusto. Westerners are so afraid of Third World street food, but meanwhile we are washing our own e coli-imbued beef with bleach. Take a look at these market photos and tell me you wouldn't want to sample the wares.

Read More...

On a Wednesday morning, if I am in Los Angeles, you will find me at the Santa Monica Farmers Market. The largest of the various Santa Monica markets, it is held downtown on Arizona Avenue and is one of my favorite spots in this world. Rain or shine (but preferably shine), the place is a swirling mass of produce, people and possibility. Open since 1981, it attracts some nine thousand shoppers every week! I love coming here with friends, or running into them. From this market I have been lucky enough to indulge in incredible artichokes, enormous chanterelles, the most astonishing array of citrus and avocados and dates, fantastic sprouts, heirloom carrots, fresh oysters...and on and on. Here I've discovered dried persimmons, purslane, Santa Barbara spot prawns, local black truffles and Rudolf Steiner health bread from the Röckenwagner bakery cart. It's truly an embarrassment of riches. Next time you're in LA, put it on your list of must-dos!
Read More...