Adelaide Central Market is something that I was completely ignorant about before I visited Adelaide, and it ended up being one of my favourite things in the city.
Just before Christmas, my wife and I caught a plane to Adelaide and for our carry on luggage, brought an empty cooler with us. The plan was to drive back to Melbourne via the Barossa Valley and any other places that sounded interesting and to fill up the cooler with all kinds of great produce from the places that we discovered.
We didn’t think that we would start filling the cooler up until we had left Adelaide, but then we discovered the Adelaide Central Market.
Established in 1869, the City Markets as they were then known were little more than a piece of land where several market growers decided to set up stalls to sell their produce. Within a year, the markets were officially established as an ongoing operation, opening on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Today, the Adelaide Central Market is where retailers and producers alike gather to sell fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and other products. There are also a variety of cafes inside and the atmosphere is very lively.
My wife and I were very impressed by the selection of cheeses and smallgoods available in the market. It seemed that every second shop was selling their own Mettwurst, owing to the large number of Germans who immigrated to South Australia over the years.
The Smelly Cheese Shop was one of our favourite shops. It had a huge selection of local and imported cheeses and the staff were very knowledgeable about all of the different products on offer. The fact that there were tasting sessions on didn’t hurt either.
As well as the traditional market stalls, there were quite a few newer stores in the market selling all kinds of organic produce and more fashionable food items. This shop had a great selection of cereals and grains and was very much on trend with the food movement of today.
I was really impressed with all that the Adelaide Central Market had to offer. It many ways it reminded me of La Boqueria Market in Barcelona and we left the market with a few items to start our journey with. It was hard to exercise self restraint and not stock up on more.