It just so happens that one day I was riding with Neva, taking Christina to driving school way out in Germantown. On the way out, we passed the Cordova International Farmers Market. I vaguely remembered reading an article in the Commercial Appeal when this market first opened. I convinced Neva and Christina that we needed to stop there on the way back home. Most people think of just a few things when they think of Memphis Culture; blues, rock & roll, and barbecue. All three of these are definitely core parts of Memphis culture. What many people don't realize (including native Memphians) is that Memphis and the surrounding suburbs have a very large and diverse immigrant community. In recent years, this has been reflected by the opening of an international farmers market on Winchester, followed by it's slightly larger sibling, the Cordova International Farmers Market (CIFM). I know I am a little late to the game of trumpeting about this place, but better late than never.
The CIFM is on Germantown Parkway, in the location that housed the old Seesel's supermarket. When you first walk in your jaw immediately drops. If only every supermarket could have a produce section the size of this one. Wow! Walking through all of these fruits and vegetables immediately becomes an adventure. You find your self surrounded by fruits and veggies you are very familiar with, as well as some you may have never heard of. Have you ever heard of a pomelo? I hadn't. They look like deep green grapefruit. Come to find out, pomelos are actually a much older form of citrus than grapefruit. In fact, grapefruit are a hybrid of pomelos and oranges.
What about chinese okra? Let me warn you, they look nothing like the okra we are used to here in the south. It turns out they aren't even remotely related. Chinese okra are diced, and used as a green vegetable filler in Chinese dishes. If allowed to grow to maturity, they become extremely fibrous and are used to make loofa scrubbers.
The entire produce department is like this. One amazing item after another. And the prices! You will be hard pressed to find better prices anywhere. On a funny note, after seeing "Made in China" for so many years on so many products purchased in the US, it was refreshing to see Chinese Eggplant: A product of the United States of America.
This market doesn't just end with the produce. It has a wonderful fresh fish and seafood department. One of the first things you see when approaching this department is rows of tanks, full of live catfish and tilapia. I did notice that some of the seafood seemed frozen. Is seafood still considered "fresh" if it is frozen at the sight of capture? Either way, it still looked wonderful, and there was definitely a fresh fish odor about this section, which is always a sign of good quality.
The meat section did not seem quite as large as some of your larger supermarkets, but it had a very wide variety of products. Chicken feet anyone? How about bull's um, unmentionables. While the beef selection was not as large as most supermarkets, it was certainly high quality, and at a fabulous price. The CIFM had some1"-1.5" beautiful ribeye steaks for $5.59/lb. That is only $1 more than I bought my chuck eye steaks (the poor man's ribeye) at Kroger.
Once you get past the meat section, you get to the rest of the market. At first, it resembles the rows of packaged goods we are accustomed to getting at a supermarket. However, if you are willing to be adventurous don't shun this part of the market. Each aisle contains food from a specific country, or area of the world. There is food from Japan, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean, Europe, India, and much more. It is fun walking up and down these aisles, seeing how different, yet the same, we are with other cultures. Our family has already fallen in love with Mexican Cokes and some flavored water drinks from Singapore.
Needless to say, I could not leave the CIFM empty-handed on my first trip. Upon stopping, I already had something on my mind to make. I had been wanting to make a ratatouille. The name sounds fancy, but it is a simple French vegetable stew/casserole. It is hard to say which it is because ratatouille is one of those dishes that is made in a variety of ways, and everyone swears that his/her recipe is the true version. Some people sauté ratatouille, some stew it in a pot, and others bake it. The version I chose was a baked version. Christina and I quickly walked through the produce section again and picked up some red and green peppers, yellow squash, zucchini squash, onion, garlic, Italian parsley and some of the most beautiful purple and white variegated eggplant. The recipe called for skinned, diced, and seeded tomatoes as well. That's what canned tomatoes are for!
I diced all of the vegetables, and minced the garlic and parsley. I then sautéed the eggplant, onion, and garlic until the eggplant was nice and tender (about 10 minutes). At the last minute, I added some of the parsley. I oiled my lasagne pan with olive oil, then spread the eggplant mixture across the bottom. I sprinkled that layer with salt and parmesan cheese. Then I layered the red and green onions, followed by another sprinkle of salt and parmesan, as well as more Italian parsley. The next layer was the yellow squash and zucchini, followed by...I think you know. The final layer was the canned diced tomatoes, followed by the salt, cheese, and parsley. By the time I was done, I couldn't add another layer of anything in that dish. I baked it at 350 for one hour, and ended up with this.
It is certainly colorful. I paired this ratatouille with some nice marinated pork loin chops for a healthy, but VERY tasty supper.
It looks even tastier once you've taken a spoon and mixed all the vegetables together. I love how it retained the bright colors. I wasn't sure how the ratatouille would be taken, since Joseph is not a fan of half the vegetables in the ingredient list. Suffice it to say there was only enough left for Neva and I to take a small amount in our lunches the next day. I would call that a hit.
Christina and Neva have already made a second trip to the Cordova International Farmers Market. I look forward to going there on a regular basis myself. I hope to see you there some time.
