Shout out to our fans!

Sharing the OGM love with Simone Bye

What is is that you love about Orange Grove Markets?

This really made me think as I am an avid market shopper, and now I am trying to pin down why I prefer Orange Grove to others.  

It really that it ticks all the boxes for me. I prefer to buy organic/pesticide & chemical free/free range produce, and this market has a fabulous array of stalls, a lot of quality producers and a lot of choice.

Some of the other markets I have been to may only have one organic fruit & vegetable stand, Orange Grove has heaps and same goes for other produce as well.

So in essence, it's the range and quality of produce that keeps me coming back most weekends to do the bulk of my weekly shopping.  (I just with that the nut and coconut stalls from Marrickville Markets would come here too, then I really could get it all in one place!)

I also love the fact that the non-food stalls are mostly ethical, sustainable, crafty non-commercial products, and that often the maker as the person running the stall!

Do you have a particular favourite trader?

Difficult question!  

I love the lettuce mix and mushrooms at the Darlings Mills stall.  My husband and I eat an enormous amount of salad and sometimes the stallholder comments on how much lettuce I buy!  It is beautiful fresh produce & keeps easily in the fridge for a week.  They have a beautiful Asian greens mix which is lovely in winter salads.

I can't not go to the markets and not get some flowers from one of the fabulous flower stalls, and their prices are great too.  I am loving the decorative kale & the hyacinths at the moment.

From the Free Range Butcher I absolutely love their gluten/grain free & preservative free sausages and normally get four packets at a time!  At the moment smoked ham-hocks are a favourite for my slow cooked soup.

You must loving cooking!  What is your latest favourite recipe using produce bought from our markets?

I cook all the time and most of the produce I use is bought from OG, but I rarely follow a recipe.  I don't eat grains/legumes or processed foods, so most of what I do cook are soups, stews and good old meat with 3 (or 4 or 5!) veg, mainly with organic ingredients and lots of herbs & spices.

A recent meal was pastured pork loin cutlets with rosemary sea salt, roasted Jerusalem artichokes, roast fennel, sauteed baby potato, spring onions & baby squash.

Do many of your friends come to Orange Grove Markets?

I'm trying to get more and more to come, but they don't seem to want to join me for the 8am start!  I've learned from experience that if you don't get there early, some of my favourite foods are sold out!

I do buy a tray of eggs and pastured bacon for my cousin as well.

If you could sum up in 5 words about why more people should come to Orange Grove Markets, what would they be?

Something fresh, fabulous and delicious for everyone!

***********************

We would like to thank Simone for sharing some time and photos with us and being a HUGE supporter of our markets!  

5 Questions with.......Nick Angelucci

How long have you been at Orange Grove Markets?

Back in 2007 originally next to the Mick the Fishman (R.I.P.)

We know that you have your everfaithful weeklies, but what is the record number of arrosticinni sales to one person?

We had a regular who one day turned up with a slab (if you're unfamiliar with Aussie lingo, best find a true-blue and discover exactly what a "slab" is) and ordered 50 skewers!  It took a good steady hour, as I cook 10 at a time so they were nice and hot when I gave them to him.  Luckily he gave me a can for the good service and I gave him the cooking skewers as he wanted them!

Where do you source your charcoal & is it done by eco-friendly methods?

We really push our suppliers to give us local:  Gidgee (South West Queensland), Mallee (Victoria) and Redgum (NSW).  All are fallen dead trees and there are no additives so it is completely natural and when done (bbq'ing) it makes for great soil conditioner!

What was your life before the world of BBQ and Orange Grove Markets and why the switch?

I was a marketing dude for a multi-national corporate company. I saw years ago that nobody was doing grilled Italian skewers, which is part of my ethnic origin and decided to become Australia's first Arrosticinni street-vendor!

One thing led to another and I gave up my full-time job 3 years ago to focus on building my idea for what BBQ cuisine should be for Aussies - viva la rivoluzione!  

What is the singularly most bizarre query or order you have had?

We get angry children coming back for more! 

What happened is this: parent buys a single skewer for their child and off they go with skewer in hand.  Minutes later, this child started demanding another, as they were literally about to leave the market.

Parent returns, buys one more and then off they go only to return (with angry child in tow) to buy another.  

For this particular parent it was a 6 time return.  He simply didn't think his child could eat so much bbq'd meat!  Unfortunately, the dad didn't try one of the skewer's which explains why he simply didn't understand why his kid was so "hungry" (or angry!).

(nb: this isn't the angry parent!  this is a Saturday regular!)

********************

Lesson learned would be that in order to avoid the angry child syndrome, try one of Nick's skewers and trust us....they are seriously seriously SERIOUSLY scrummy!