Washington DC Markets

The Lincoln Memorial.

The Air and Space Museum.

The Dupont Circle Farmers' Market.

Yes, it's a Produce Savant trip to Washington DC!

I hadn't been to DC for many years. On my last visit, I was so produce-starved I ended up buying a banana from an ice cream parlor. But things have changed since then.

I was delighted to find that farmers' markets have become popular and readily accessible since my last visit. When I asked the staff at our hotel about farmers' markets, I received some helpful and straightforward ideas, mercifully free of any good-thing-I'm-paid-to-deal-with-members-of-fringe-communities response.

But we found our first market serendipitously, while walking downtown. This market was held at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

The USDA market offered a two-fer: vendors plus the opportunity to see produce growing in the surrounding gardens. The selection of farm stands was small, but offset by the friendly vibe and the extreme convenience of finding the market without going out of our way. 

The market's modest size showcased the courtly manners of the vendors. These manners, coupled with the prominence of certain vegetables like lima beans and okra - while our markets in New York do have them, they occupy less actual and mental real estate - gave the market a semi-Southern vibe, not inappropriate for this semi-Southern city.   

 


Would it be snarky to note that the USDA farm stand that attracted the longest lines featured King Corn? Yes, skip over the fairy eggplant, tomatoes and okra to get to the market's real attraction, kettle corn.

Of course, like all travelers, we had to keep it moving.

Our next destination was the Eastern Market, a public market in the Capitol Hill neighborhood that first opened in 1873 - about 20 years earlier than Philadelphia's wonderful Reading Terminal Market.  Its 19th century building was gutted in a fire in 2007 but renovated and re-opened in 2009. My carnivorous friends were very impressed by the market's butcher stand. For us herbivores, the market was a little small. We were ready for some destination produce markets.

Next stop: the market at 14th and U Streets. 

I enjoy exploring urban neighborhoods like U Street, which added to the fun. This market had a nice selection of farm stands.

Although the prices seemed a bit high by New York standards - more on this later - the vendors did have a more formal system of discounting small and bruised produce than is common in New York.

I have to admit my favorite vendor was not a farm stand but rather No 1 Sons, produce picklers. As a connoisseur not only of farmers' markets but also their signs, I was doubly wowed.

Our final market: the huge Dupont Circle farmers market. 







This one is operated by FreshFarm, which also runs conveniently located markets in neighborhoods such as Foggy Bottom, Union Market, downtown Silver Spring (Maryland) and "by the White House." 







FreshFarm restricts participation to "farmers/producers who sell what they grow, raise or produce on their own farm or facility." All farmers must hail from the Chesapeake Bay Watershed region, which by FreshFarm's reckoning includes a 200 mile radius of Washington DC and the states of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia.


I enjoyed the extensive samples and some C-SPAN policy wonk celebrity sighting. I can't wait for the Us Magazine spread: "Celebrities are just like us - they shop at farmers' markets!" I'm just not sure that pundits count as celebrities.

I couldn't help but notice that the prices at the market - Dupont Circle especially - were steep, noticeably steeper than NYC's Union Square Greenmarket. I mentioned this to a FreshFarm staffer, and she responded matter-of-factly, "Oh, DC is much more expensive than New York in general." 

Huh!  This was news to me (and various chart-makers) - NYC's real estate costs are especially ridiculous - but we're happy to step aside. 

Lest you think the Produce Savant is a philistine with limited interests, I should add that I did visit many of Washington's great museums. Here are some highlights from the National Gallery of Art! 

·         

The ramps are here!

They're coming. The signs are in place.

Wait - they're here!

In my experience, no other item of seasonal produce, however delectable - not corn, not cherries, not berries, not tomatoes - generates as much anticipation and fanfare at the Union Square Farmers' Market as ramps do.

Ramps, also known as wild leeks are certainly a lovely sign of spring.

Even their roots are cool.

My hair looks like this sometimes

And the city of Chicago supposedly got its name from "shikaakwa" or "chicagou," an American Indian word for ramps. But never mind all that. 

Ramp enthusiasts stage annual ramp festivals out of love for this short-lived vegetable. April (take that, T.S. Eliot) is ramp season, and for once this blog will salute a vegetable in its heyday rather than hailing it farewell when its season ends.

My friend Thom, hot off her guest blogging effort about mango agar dessert has returned to write this ode/recipe for her beloved ramps. Take it away, Thom!

I love ramps and you can put them in anything, quiche, pasta, omelets, etc.

Ramps are only available in Spring, 2 - 3  weeks window max, and then they are gone! So eat them while you can!

I like to serve ramps with pasta. I cook the pasta - I use rigatoni in this recipe - separately and don't cook the ramps until the pasta is done because the ramps have a very short cooking time. Drain the pasta for ease of use but keep some of the pasta's cooking water since you'll need it for the finished dish. 

Instructions:

There is nothing I hate more than sandy vegetables, and ramps are sandy. Make sure you untie the rubber band that is generally used to tie the bunch of ramps and soak them in cold water.  By doing that, all the sand/soil/dirt will loosen, which makes it easier to rinse later. 

Rub a dub dub, some ramps in a tub

Once you have rinsed them WELL, you can cut off the root and very tip top part.  I like to pull out the first outer layer skin off too, because normally that's where all the dirt hides.  Once you do that, it's nice and pretty and ready to use.

You can eat the ENTIRE ramp (other than the root part). Chop the white part in smaller pieces since it takes longer to cook.  As you can see from my picture, the bottom of the ramps are cut into small pieces and the top parts, which cook more quickly, are left in relatively large pieces.

Heat a saute pan with either olive oil or butter (depending upon how healthy you want to be). Saute the white part of the ramp in medium heat, add a sprinkle of salt, then add the rest of the leafy part and add a little bit more salt. 

Once the white part is translucent, about 3 -4 minutes, add the cooked pasta into the saute pan along with a ladle of the pasta's cooking water. Mix well, and you are done.

For extra flavor, sprinkle a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese on top and freshly grounded pepper. Enjoy!