That delicious smell in the air at the indoor New Albany Farmers Market could be any number of things – baked goods, produce, jam, flowers, greenery or candles, to name a few of the items on hand each month.
Or it could be a tasty dish whipped up by a guest chef – and if you stop by the chef’s table, you’ll be welcome to sample it. At the November market, Chef Alfonso Contrisciani, owner and master chef at Plate, served up a chowder featuring duck sausage, along with kale, potatoes and baby ginger procured from vendors at the market.
“I had a lot of fun,” says Contrisciani, who decided what to make after he arrived at the market. “I know what’s in season and I brought some herbs, some oil, basic supplies, pots and pans.”
Farmers Market organizers made the decision to bring in a variety of guest chefs this year to augment the offerings and demonstrate how to use them in cooking.
“Eating fresh and local has health, economic and environmental benefits everyone can enjoy,” says Market Coordinator Kristina Jenny, MS, RDN, LD. “Having professionals available to discuss these ideas adds to the goal of the Farmers Market and Healthy New Albany: to bring health-related programs into our community.”
The list of guest chefs includes Jason Baehr, executive chef at the Courtyard Columbus West, who cooked a roasted butternut squash soup with candied apples at the October market. Baehr, too, took his inspiration from ingredients on hand.
“The produce that was available was obviously fresh and delicious. I didn’t want to do too much with it to change its composition,” Baehr says. “It was one of the coldest days of the month that day, so I decided a warm soup would be something that people would enjoy.”
Baehr says he enjoyed talking to market attendees and helping them with their shopping.
Columbus Culinary Institute student Eileen Pewitt cooked at the December market. In the coming months, market organizers will tap one of their vendors for a demonstration. Daineal Donovan of GoldenLife Dog Food is a chef for humans as well as for their furry friends. In addition to owning the fresh dog food business, Donovan is a certified culinary executive chef and a culinary arts teacher at Bradford School.
“It makes the market a little more upscale because there aren’t any (other) indoor farmers markets that I know of that do demonstrations right now,” Donovan says.
Donovan, who specializes in desserts and pastries and has a lot of experience doing cooking demonstrations, anticipates that he may make crepes with orange liqueur at a future market.
“Doing demonstrations is really exciting because you can represent to people different flavors and different tastes and educate people on how to use flavors. There are so many new developments in the culinary world right now that people are not even aware of.”
This is the second year for the winter incarnation of the New Albany Farmers Market, and turnout has been consistently increasing, thanks to the variety of products available. The market touts more than 30 merchants selling fresh food and artisan products. Markets are held the second Saturday of the month. Upcoming markets are scheduled for Jan. 11, Feb. 8 and March 8. The summer market held in Market Square opens in June.
Contrisciani, one of only 67 Certified Master Chefs in the U.S., was impressed with the spread at the November event.
“The products I saw were just unbelievable. There was gorgeous produce,” he says. “It was a learning experience for me and I had a blast over there.”
Lisa Aurand is editor of Healthy New Albany Magazine. Feedback welcome at laurand@cityscenemediagroup.com.
