The market population of stallholders is pretty stable at this monthly gathering. But today, the attraction is on stage again as we are meeting the legendary Stephanie Alexander, the godmother of Australian cuisine, launching a new revised and augmented edition of her most famous book "The Cook's Companion" which allegedly graces the shelves of 600,000 kitchens. SMH ran out of copies to sign before 9.30 am when I got there for the second "apparition" on stage of "Sainte Stephanie of the Kitchen"! I have been a regular at her Richmond Hill Café & Larder in Melbourne and my friend Janine S. works occasionally for her Kitchen Garden Foundation, now active in almost 800 schools around Australia, but I had never met her in person. Well this is no longer the case as of last Saturday!

I have not visited this market for a while and having dropped my daughter at Bills in Surry Hills, it was an opportunity to zoom by before heading back home. It was still quiet as it was before 10.00am, but most of the usual suspects were there with the notable addition of my friends from Commissary Kitchen
and that will be the start of the French Corner!

This market has been running for a while but escaped my scrutiny as it runs every Thursday. Luckily,
I have a couple of clients in the area and I recently got a chance to time my visits to them to coincide with the market...
It is quite a small market, but with a well heeled clientele - Double Bay is often referred to as Double Pay... - and the market is consequently quite "upmarket". A few familiar faces and a few new ones as well made the trip interesting and worthwhile. Here are a few photos to tell their stories.

With about 5000 apartments having been built or in construction over the last ten years, and mostly occupied by young people, Waterloo and the food heaven of nearby Danks Street, made famous by Jared Ingersoll at Danks Street Depot and Fratelli Fresh who paved the way for many more, it was inevitable that another avatar of the "Organic Food Markets" empire would pop up here... Technically, it is not in the fancy bit of Danks Street but across the road towards the Eastern Distributor but conveniently located on a pedestrian strip lined up with Cafés and other food outlets. It is definitely an up and coming place and it will eventually attract more people than this second edition on a rainy day!
There is a good mix of stalls and one we know: Jean-Marc, aka Mr Saucisson, aka La Bastide was there "en force"! 

Saturday's market in Kings Cross and Sunday's market in Marrickville are both organised by the same people behind the Orange Grove Market in Rozelle, my local you could say...
Hence the reason why I have never wandered and visited these markets was simply that I was not aware of their existence! They are quite different and again different from the Orange Grove market, as the one in Marrickville, although full of interesting people and stalls (more on this later...) it is in a location which, in my opinion, is poorly maintained and there is feeling of dirt which doesn't go well with the "clean" organic food being on display. The Kings Cross one is near the famous fountain and under beautiful trees. It is a small market though with maybe 35 stalls, and to close to 100 in Rozelle.

Christian Estébe has named his business after his grandfather's name who had a great influence on his upbringing in Cantal, a region where cheese has been made for a couple of millennia, even mentioned by Pline The Elder as the most appreciated by the Emperor in Rome! A long tradition indeed. Christian specialises in AOC/AOP and "Fermier" cheeses which he imports directly from France, like Ocello and Australia on a Plate. He is catering for the high end of the market. If you are not familiar with those terms, then I might give you a little hint: AOC, you might be familiar with as it also applies to wine and means "Appelation d'Origine Controllée", a very strict accreditation procedure which is linked to the "terroir" where the product comes from; AOP is its European equivalent and means "Appelation d'Origine Protégée", again linked to the provenance of the product. "Fermier" on the other hand protects the way a product is manufactured: the milk needs to come from one farm, be processed on that same farm that same day or until midday the next and usually not thermally treated for the making of unpasteurised cheeses sold in France. The export market however imposes pasteurisation for cheeses aged less than 90 days, like Camembert, Brie and similar cheeses. Gruyères in all appellation - Comté, Beaufort, Emmenthal, and Roqueforts can be sold unpasteurised as they are aged for more than 90 days. As a result, Christian imports a very limited range of 25 cheeses that he sells at three markets in Sydney: Double Bay on Thursday, Kings Cross on Saturday and Marrickville on Sunday, and online everyday! He also sells charcuterie in the form of saucissons (made in Oz) and duck foie gras . Christian is expecting a new shipment in 10 days time, so look out for new and exciting cheeses!
Christian is a very dedicated and passionate young man and I encourage you to pay him a visit and sample his beautifully crafted products. You can visit his website here: www.laplanchette.com.au