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Market
Report
Union Square, New York, NY
Wednesday, September 27, 2006 |
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The Market:
Union Square Greenmarket
E. 17th Street and Broadway
New York, NY
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(212) 788-7476
Marketgoer:
Mark Thompson
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I've been coming to
New York regularly for nearly a year, and I've been to half a
dozen greenmarkets. But I had never been to the biggest of the
city's markets on its busiest day, Wednesday at the
market in Union Square. So today, Union Square was a mandatory
stop for me, even though it was going to be a hectic day. It
started in Andover, Mass., and ended in Princeton, N.J., with
a stopover in between at a courthouse in the Bronx. |
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I am a
reporter and columnist for JudicialReports.com,
which is what is bringing me to New York these days. On this
trip, since I had a rental car, I figured that along the way
from Andover to Princeton via the Bronx, I could squeeze in a
stop at Union Square, where I could load up on produce before
heading through the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey. |
Not having driven in New York City in decades, I couldn't be sure it
was doable. It was. I made it to Union Square by about 2 p.m., and
miraculously, found a metered parking spot on the street two blocks
away.
| In the market,
which stretched down two sides of the outer perimeter of the
square, there were about two dozen large farm stands selling fruits and vegetables, and there were another
couple dozen vendors of flowers, potted plants, baked items,
cheese, meat, fish and other locally produced foods.
It
met my criteria for a great farmers market, ranking with the
best in California, my main stomping ground for the last
couple of decades. |
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There were many varieties of all of the
standard seasonal crops plus a number of unusual items. The
items that were new to me included wild arugula and some
odd-looking purple majesty potatoes.
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What I Bought:
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(Something)
Rose, Carola and Purple Majesty Potatoes
The
carola, in the middle, is the "potato lover's
potato," according to the sign on the table where I
found these. As for the name of the rose-colored potato, I
can't clearly read the notes I jotted down in the market and
can't make out the word that comes before "rose." Can any readers help out?
Price: $1/lb.
| I had never seen wild arugula
before. The leaves are smaller, frillier, quite
tender and mild -- in short, excellent arugula.
I'm going to use it in an fabulous salad,
dressed with this apple
vinaigrette and sprinkled with lightly
toasted walnuts and feta cheese.
Price: $2/bunch for arugula
$2/lb. for onions.
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Wild arugula
(above
and below)
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Onions
(from top): Tropea red torpedo; and yellow, red and white
cipollini onions |
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"hairy" edamame soybeans (left) green beans
The soybeans are heirlooms called "hairy," according to
a sign on the table. They are
edamame soybeans, meant to be boiled in the pods in salted water for five or 10
minutes, and peeled and eaten by hand.
Price: $2/half pint for
soybeans.
South
New Jersey beefsteak-type tomatoes (on each end),
speckled roman and Costoluto
Genovese (left to right, in middle)
The costoluto is a stuffing
tomato. The Jersey tomatoes, judging from the signage on the
table where I found these, are the best tomatoes in this neck of
the woods.
Price: $2/lb. for Jersey
tomatoes
$3/lb. for Italian heirlooms
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Carnival and
Butternut winter squash
Price: $.75/lb.
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ornamental squash
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