I really am a morning person... once I’m out of bed.
My downfall is the snooze button, allowing me to stay under the covers telling myself “just five more minutes” about five times. However, my father does not have a snooze button. At 8:30 AM, about an hour before my alarm clock song and dance was to begin, my dad came in my room and said, “Do you wanna go get breakfast, or do you wanna sleep more?” The foodie in me outweighed the sleeping beauty.
We found ourselves driving through the city looking for the Baltimore Farmers Market and Bazaar under the JFX at the corner of Holliday & Saratoga streets. I had never been and my father had only driven past several times, so neither of us really knew what we would find for breakfast or where. Upon entering the market, however, all I could smell were good things. The sudden smells of fresh vegetables and spices, sizzling meat, roasting coffee and fresh flowers mingled through the hot, humid air with violin and saxophone music that almost made one dizzy. We followed our noses to the source of a spicy, breakfasty smell to a tent from Ethel & Ramone’s, which surprised me. Ethel & Ramone’s is an upscale restaurant in Mount Washington serving up Maryland/Creole fusion cuisine for lunch and dinner; I definitely was not expecting this establishment to be serving inexpensive breakfast in a tent on a hot summer morning. I remembered reading something a few weeks ago, though, saying to try an Ethel & Ramone’s breakfast sandwich as one of #365 things to try in Baltimore on Groupon.com. I ordered two and stood back to watch breakfast magic happen. The chef started by frying diced onions in clarified butter, then adding beaten eggs, Andouille sausage, peppers and spices. The omelet was placed on two toasted pieces of focaccia bread and smothered in hot sauce. Needless to say, it was amazing, fresh, cheap ($7 for an 8 inch gourmet breakfast sandwich??) and accessible, as it is available every Sunday morning at the Farmers Market. Unfortunately, i did not get a picture of this beautiful sandwich. It smelled so delicious that I scarfed it before I thought about my camera in my back pocket.
Walking around eating our sandwiches, my dad and I caroused dozens of stands selling local fruits, vegetables and flowers, homemade jams and desserts, home-grown spices, specialty meats, incredible foods and even hand crafted lamb’s wool blankets (sold at the same stand as was selling lamb, slightly depressing). It was a cultural display of sustainability, creativity, hard work, delicious food and art. The display was so diverse, I was not surprised to find a few places listen on my blog selling their wares, including Dangerously Delicious Pies and Zeke’s Coffee. I skipped out on buying pie, since they were almost sold out but I did grab some coffee from Zeke’s.
At $1.50 for a small cup of gourmet coffee, I was more than willing to grab some to walk back to my car with. I decided on the Charm City roast, which they explained was a mix of a few different types of beans that represented the diversity of Baltimore. It was smooth and obviously high-quality, and I really did enjoy it, but since I rely on Diet Coke for my primary source of caffeine I am probably not the best person to ask about coffee. Regardless of my coffee ignorance, I was impressed by the local coffee shop for having a few custom blends of coffee inspired by and named after different neighborhoods and landmarks in Baltimore, such as Little Italy and the Shot Tower. The coffee was cheap, delicious and culturally relevant which was, I believe, the reason for the insanely long line at the tent.
The Farmers Market has been a surprising oasis of color and culture in the center of the city for 34 years, set up in a parking lot right across from the Bourbon Street Nightclub under route 83; not someplace you’d expect such an incredible and diverse array of culture, trucks full of local produce and giant glittering hula hoops laid out for public use on a Sunday Morning. But, like most things I have experienced in this blog, all one has to do is a little exploring in order to find something so delicious and unexpected. I grilled the delicious local peppers i bought for $3/large basket and had local, sweet cantelope for dessert today and I will definitely be back next Sunday with some canvas bags and a larger appetite.
References:
http://www.zekescoffee.com/
They should sell shots of rikaloff at the shot tower, since rikaloff is made in Baltimore
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