Hopefully you made out to Edmonton’s second Hawkers Market last night, but if not, you can read up on what you missed here!
Hawkers Market
Founder and marketing director, Chris Jerome, was there making sure everybody had a smooth entrance. The Vancouver native Hawkers Market’s intention:
…to create a space where vibrant and exciting local food can be discovered. Hawkers gives local food entrepreneurs a place to conduct commerce, rapidly test ideas and meet their customers face to face
Hawkers Market
Hosted at the Mercer Warehouse, this was just too convenient for Joe and myself! Having missed out on last year, I wasn’t quite sure what I’d be in for. Probably should have read up on last year’s event and do my research! We ended up going nearly half full after a late snack, but I was scared the food would run out!
Slow Food Edmonton Local Marshmallow Trifecta
Our first eats for the night, after grabbing Edmonton’s local Alley Kat Main Squeeze Grapefruit Ale (yum!), was Slow Food Edmonton’s “Local Marshmallow Trifecta”. From the top clockwise: Toothless Dragon, luscious garden beet marshmallow topped with lemon beet syrup; Honey Badger, fresh honey marshmallow with toasted oats and a honey toffee crumb; and Wild Thang, a wild blueberry marshmallow topped with a bruleed blueberry. Delicious! My favorite was the Wild Thang, although all the marshmallows had a pretty mild flavor. Toppings were dressed to order which was cute! Loved it.
South Island Mini Pie Chook
Next we ate a mini 2″ pie from South Island Pie Co. Is it bad that I’ve never even heard of them until this event? A traditional New Zealand pie, the Chook had a couple bites of chicken, cranberry, and Camembert cheese. Maybe just ours, but I didn’t taste the cranberry! The dough was nice and flaky though and held it’s shape really nicely. Absolutely loved this! Will definitely be on the lookout for them at the City Market this summer and with seven different kinds of pie, I’ve got a lot of tasting to do!
Casa 21 Doce
Sopes
Barbacoa and Chorizo Sopes
Last eats for the night was the sopes from Casa Doce, a food truck based in Sherwood Park. Meat choices for the night were the barbacoa, shredded beef steamed in what looked like a type of leaf, and chorizo. The order came with two sopes so we did one of each. The toppings were great, my favorite being the chorizo, rich in flavor and a bit of the expected heat. It came loaded with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sour cream, guacamole, and cheese. I’ve never had a sopes before, but from what I understand, the corn masa is suppose to be thick enough to hold the toppings, but soft and pliable, unlike a tostada which is fried into a thin, crispy chip. Wasn’t the biggest fan of the sopes base, perhaps it wasn’t fried on the exterior enough, but we scooped up all the toppings! Totally forgot to add more condiments that were on the side of the booth. Could have made it spicier!
Low and Slow BBQ Menu
Low and Slow BBQ Menu Items
Sailin’ On
Other booths at Hawkers Market, but left untasted (damn the small stomach!): Low and Slow BBQ, who had a nice display of their menu items and vegan food truck Sailin’ On, who I did have a chance to try when they first popped up in 2012. Not photographed: Bully Food Truck, who I heard had the best dish of the night, a gigantic perogy and large portion of ham; Drift Food Truck, their signature spicy ketchup and fries making waves; Paper Bag Donuts; Mojo Jojo Pickles; and Parts and Service Food Truck. Creole Envie dropped out of the event due to unforeseen circumstances, which I was looking forward to.
It was an awesome night with great atmosphere and local DJs mixing in the background. It was a pleasure meeting Diane and her friends, bumped unexpectedly into a couple of my own, sharing a seat with Mack and Sharon, and finally meeting Jennie from Yelp! Follow LET’S OM NOM on Facebook for a heads up on more events if you missed out this time around! Hopefully Hawkers Market will become more than an annual event in Edmonton!
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