Market Travels: Sorauren Farmers' Market

Christopher Dunn-Rankin
Jul 6, 2019
2 min read

For recipes, click on the links throughout this post!

Last week, I traveled to New York's Hudson Valley last week for my sister's wedding. Driving through the picturesque hills and quaint farms was quite the inspiration for farm-fresh eats, but – of course – a wedding weekend will keep a person busy!

We drove back to Illinois via Toronto, ON. What a delightful city! It's readily walkable, with a diverse population and a distinctive character. Auggie the dog (Yes, he has his own Instagram) was especially happy to find a café just for him!

As delightful as the whole trip was, I found myself missing my Saturday farmers' market trip. So imagine my delight at finding the Sorauren Farmers' Market just a short walk from our lodging in Toronto!

The vendors at this year-round market are incredibly diverse. A wide variety of prepared-food stalls provide snacks and meals for the market-goers, and the purveyors of produce readily sample out their offerings. One farmer, upon hearing I was visiting for the day, added a few carrots, gratis, to my bag with a cheery, "Welcome to Canada!"

While much of the vegetation at the market is similar to what I'd find at my local market, there were some surprises. Particularly fascinating is Forbes Wild Foods, a company that sources foraged foods from remote parts of Canada. I recognized the wild morel mushrooms, but had to glance at the labels to identify dried wintergreen and chaga (a medicinal tree-growing fungus). I purchased a jar of pickled milkweed pods (which I did not know were edible!), some cedar jelly, and (of course) a bottle of dark maple syrup.

The cedar jelly is made by steeping cedar leaves to create a tea, and then making the tea into a jelly with lemon juice and fruit pectin. Pickled milkweed pods were described as "like a pickle with a heart of marshmallow" by Seth, the stall manager, and instructed me to use them like caper berries.

Finding these "super-local" ingredients has since inspired me to consider foraging myself...

...but first, dinner! A salad of greens, snap peas, carrots, and edible flowers, topped with a vegan herb-ranch dressing that made great use of another unique market find: coconut milk kefir...