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Caramel Corn to Basil
The Oakland Farmer's Market at Jack London Square
By Peggy Vincent
Vendors with juice dripping from their elbows cut slices from deep yellow peaches and offered them to all passers-by. Ruby slabs of watermelon lay like mosaic tiles on trays of crushed ice. Nectarines, circular rounds of honeydew melons and baskets of raspberries lay on a sloping countertop, arranged to look like a glittering display in a jewelry store. There's even something for the animals: homemade, people-shaped dog biscuits to reward hungry puppies, and tubs of Kitty Grass to "aid digestion and help prevent hairballs" for housebound kitties.
Then I spied the lady I had been looking for – the seller of a dark and evil-looking aubergine dip with overtones of smoke and spice that everyone in my family finds irresistible. She easily sold me the large $8 tub instead of the smaller one by assuring me that the dip keeps for two months in the fridge.
She leaned forward and whispered a recipe into my ear, directing me next toward the ruddy-cheeked mushroom grower in the adjacent stall to her. He convinced me to buy 2 pounds instead of just 1 by telling me something I've wanted to know for years: how to keep mushrooms from going mushy. His secret: Put them in a brown paper bag, fold it over and put the paper bag into a plastic bag before putting the whole package into the fridge. If the mushrooms are fresh, he swears this method keeps them useable for two weeks.