Jackson - Portland Farmers Market cookbook: 100 seasonal recipes and stories that celebrate local food and people

Copyright 2016 by Ellen Jackson

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published by Sasquatch Books

Editor: Susan Roxborough
Production editor: Em Gale
Design: Anna Goldstein
Cover photographs: Charity Burggraaf
Interior Photographs:
Farms and Market by Alan Weiner
Recipes and Ingredients by Charity Burggraaf
Food styling: Shannon Douglas
Copyeditor: Diane Sepanski

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

eBook ISBN: 978-1-63217-016-3
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63217-015-6

Sasquatch Books
1904 Third Avenue, Suite 710
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 467-4300
www.sasquatchbooks.com

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To the farmers, foragers, fishermen, ranchers, and food artisans who awaken early and work tirelessly to feed Portlanders

IVE HAD THE PLEASURE OF running the Portland Farmers Market for the last five of its twenty-five seasons. Over the years, Ive gotten to know our farmers and food artisans, and watched multiple markets spring to life each week. Every time, it feels like a miraclethe transformation from empty parks and parking lots to orderly rows of stalls and tented tables overflowing with fresh food and flowers; once-quiet spaces bustling with shoppers toting bulging bags, families chatting with growers, and market staff and volunteers scurrying about. And then, a few hours later, the markets wind down, vendors pack up their displays and drive home, and the spaces wait serenely until the next market day. Im in awe of the people who produce our food, and I think we all should be.

Though operating for only a handful of hours each week, Portlands farmers markets make a lasting impact. The seven markets we operate contribute about $8 million each year to Oregons economy. Of equal importance is the incredible, immeasurable joy they bring to the shoppers, eaters, growers, home cooks, and restaurant chefs and owners who support them and to whom we offer this book. Ellen Jackson, a longtime member of our board of directors, dreamed for years about using her culinary know-how to pen a Portland Farmers Market cookbook. As we approached our silver anniversary, she suggested that now was the time. Thank you, Ellen, together with our recipe contributors: I hope weve created a fitting tribute to our local food culture, our market vendors, and the community that celebrates them.

Farmers are at our corethey are our reason for being. In 1992, thirteen of them set up shop in a parking lot beside the Willamette River, flanked by the historic Albers Mill and the now defunct River Queen , a ferryboat turned floating restaurant. What activists and market founders Craig Mosbaek, Ted Snider, and Richard Hagan started has grown and flourished year upon year to represent the 250-plus farmers and food artisans who currently sell at our markets. Some would say they sparked a movement with their intention to support local farm families and small food entrepreneurs, as now our region is home to more than forty independently run markets, and Portlands food scene, barely on the radar in 1992, is internationally famous.

From that single-market beginning, Portland Farmers Market added vendors and new locations slowly and thoughtfully, one every few years to arrive at todays seven. With markets in three downtown locations and four close-in neighborhoods, we span the city center and welcome seven hundred thousand shoppers each year. And not just during the summer. We opened a winter market in downtown Portland in 2012. Our growers have tackled the challenges of winter production in order to create a source of year-round income, and shoppers have come out in droves to support them. Since 2014 we have operated year-round under the shelter of giant elm trees in the center of the Portland State University campus.

The success of our vendors is measured in numbersof market shoppers and dollars spentbut Portland Farmers Market acts as a business incubator as well. Our markets are invaluable venues for new food businesses to sample and market products, gather loyal customers, and grow to scale. More than fifty vendors have used our markets as springboards to open restaurants, bakeries, and wholesale businesses. Some have literally grown up inand right out ofthe market.

Guided by their graciousness and our policy, prepared-foods vendors are required to source at least 25 percent of their ingredients locally, ideally from their fellow Portland Farmers Market farmers and ranchers. Many reach much further and build their reputations on the high quality and fresh flavors that are the unmistakable hallmark of using local ingredients.

For shoppers, a trip to the farmers market is authentically Portland. For example, weve gone beyond recycling and composting: when you purchase a meal at one of our larger markets, you get it on a real plate with real silverware, which you then return to a central location. Prepared-foods vendors collect the dirty dishes and silverware at the end of the market and take them back to their kitchens, where they wash them for use the following week.