Food Markets
I decided to talk about something quite practical this week—food markets. My favourite is the one down at Waitangi Park (next to Te Papa) on a Sunday morning, 7am–12.30pm. Fresh food markets are a great way to cut down on your grocery bill and get seasonal produce when it is at its best. Many items can be around 1/3 of the price that they are in a supermarket, and there are often odd bits and pieces that you might not get in the supermarket (like choi sum—a leafy green).
Try to go to the market as early as you can—this way you will get the best stuff when it is the freshest. It only costs around $20 to get a week’s worth of veggies for a flat of about four or five people. The other cool thing about food markets is the random stalls—bakers, pot plants, meat, fish, preserves, jams etc.
My absolute favourite at the Waitangi Park Market is the herb stall. It’s run by this guy who sells bunches of mint, coriander, chives, and basil and also stalks of lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves. You can also buy little pottles of fresh spice paste that smell amazing for $1 (lemon grass, coriander and garlic spice paste is good for a green curry) along with fresh chillis. Make sure you look around the market before purchasing; the stalls at the front often sell things for a lot more than those at the back, which get fewer customers. And don’t be afraid to ask the purveyors of market goods any questions you might have—they know their products. There are other market stalls around Wellington, check them out at www.feelinggreat.co.nz under the events tab.
