Saturday at the Old Town Salinas Market Place (and farmers market)

[Melanie Wong]

The last two Saturdays I’ve headed to the Old Town Market Place in Salinas, operating year-round, 9am to 2pm. Located in the parking lot across from the Steinbeck Center, this is where my dad’s office used to be on the 100-block of Main Street. It has a certified farmers market, then a section with prepared food vendors (Sparky’s root beer floats!) with tables and benches, and a general marketplace that includes Avon products, crafts, and a peddler of non-local produce.

Here are some of the scenes from the Market Place (“Carblover”, look at those onions!) -
http://flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/tags/oldtownmarketplace/

Of the prepared foods, I’ve tried a carne asada taco, $2, from the Trolley Car Pizza folks from Castroville. The tortilla is handmade to order and they’re grilling the beef right there. This was a credible job, nice if light seasoning on the beef, though the quality of the meat wasn’t as good as the best trucks here. The salsas were average and without distinction. This was a fair price for a taco on a handmade tortilla.

The barbecued pork skewer from Manila Ranch Market’s stand was terrible. I should have been paying closer attention and not ordered. I had spent so much time eyeing the various items arrayed on sterno trays, I felt I had to buy something when they kept asking me if I wanted anything. None of the other things looked that good, so I asked for the pork skewer as a safe bet. Though there’s a grill set up behind the canopy, this was not grilled. Instead it was slices of pre-roasted pork, similar to char siu, that were strung on a skewer and doused with ungodly sweet teriyaki sauce. Also, it was tepid and had not been kept at serving temperature.

The pollo asado stand manned by the people from Hector’s Bakery in Freedom smells great, though the smoke marinates everyone at the market. A lady sitting in front of a plate of chicken meat that she’d handpulled off the carcass was raving about it. This stand also has a couple racks of ribs on the grill.

I had asked the hot dog cart if the weenies had "snap". He offered us a sample, cutting a bare hot dog in half for my dad and me. This was a soft, skinless dog. I handed him a buck to thank him for the sample, but no-thanks. My father thought it was too bland and needed more garlic in the seasoning.

The roast corn stand seemed to be the most popular, even at $2 per ear. The contraption for roasting is an attraction in and of itself, and I’m sure I’ll try it the next time.

Peninsula Pastries is here. Beckman’s and Nina’s from Santa Cruz County sell here too.

Lastly, a rootbeer float from Sparky’s always makes me smile. Even when its foggy and too windy to enjoy at the fullest.

On the farmers market side, the other patrons have said that the produce is just starting to flesh out a gain. A few of the stands are small, local organic farms that are part of the ALBA program. Broccoli for 50¢, trimmed gorgeous red onions for 50¢, and organic leeks for a buck, and there’s still some dino kale and chard from the winter crops. Lots of strawberries and organic mushrooms too, we bought a basket of criminis for $2. My mom was happy with young and tender white-flower gai lan, a nice hefty bunch for a dollar from the Asian vegetable stand. And, we bought some beautiful cherries from the family farm in the central valley.

Google Street Map of Salinas Street Food,
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/407568

[Carb Lover]

Thanks for the report, Melanie! Looks like a great market. What does Nina's sell (is it the Russian pastries?). Papa Joe's, the seafood vendor, also sells at the Sun. Live Oak market in SC. And those onions look so fresh and gorgeous!!

[Melanie Wong]

Yes, Nina's is the Russian pastry stand, and it also makes crepes to order. The organic red onions would be three times the price at another farmers market.

On Sundays at Northridge shopping center is another farmers market but I haven't been there for many years.

[rworange]

Is they farmers market there all year? The California Federation of Certified Farmers markets only has them open May - Nov
http://www.cafarmersmarkets.com/search/

[Melanie Wong]

The Old Town website itself is out of date too. It used to be May to November, but is year-round now.

[Melanie Wong]

I visited the market again this morning. Somewhat disappointed that the produce offerings haven't fleshed out more now that we're into summer.

This was an opportunity to try the roasted corn (elote rostizado, $2) from Charlie's Corn of Castroville. It's cooked in an onsite oven contraption.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1067/533771677_72255f96f7_b.jpg

The dry-heat concentrates the flavor of the yellow corn more than the boiled versions otherwise available on the city streets. They're shucked to order and you're asked if you want butter or not (yes for me!). Then you dress it yourself with a choice of mayonnaise, chili powder, brushed on hot sauce, sprayer of Real lemon juice, salt, and a shaker of grated cotija cheese.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1334/7...

The flavor of the corn is worth the extra price for roasting. But I'll confess that I'm not as good as dressing an ear for myself as my favorite street vendors do.

[rworange]

Ain't that the truth about needing a certain expertise in dressing the corn. I made some Mexican corn at home and discovered that. You need the right touch for that chili. Your ear of corn looked a little like mine where the chili was too heavy.

That roasted corn sounds wonderful though. Maybe if I give them and extra buck they will dress it for me.

[Melanie Wong]

The chili was too heavy because the mayo was too heavy and more of the chili stuck.

Here's the report on the churro stand at the market place.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/421216

[toodie jane]

This roasted corn reminds me of the corn we used to get in Chualar during the 80's. I learned about the corn stand from my coworker, Juan Luis Valdez y Rico, whose father operated it. We stopped when we were on the road to visit my mother who lived in Monterey, and would stop here for some roasted corn to go. Sadly, we never ate it dressed on the spot. How silly was that?!

A master chivo bbqer in his younger years, (renowned in the Salinas valley, according to his son) but no longer able to do the hard physical work of deep pit cooking, Sr. Valdez operated a small business in a vacant lot across from the market, next to some small storefronts, open mostly on the weekend afternoons. His pickup truck bed was filled with fresh corn that he grew; he had a small bbq going and roasted the ears in the husks. He had cut limes and chili powder (pico de gallo?) on a card table; I don't recall seeing any mayonesa or cotija.

The ears were roasted to a deep charred brown and were slightly dry. The kernals did not pop with juice when bitten into, instead they popped cleanly off the cob and into the mouth. The flavor was SO concentrated and delicious, never burnt tasting.

Our purchase, tightly wrapped in foil and in a plastic bag, perfumed the car till we arrived home. I often cut the kernals from the cobs and served fresh or froze it for later use. It froze well. Not knowing any better, I served it gringo style with butter. But then, there weren't any local stores selling cotija that I knew about, either. I'm glad times have changed!

I believe Sr. Valdez passed away in the early 90's; afterwards, his daughters opened a small taqueria in the storefront adjacent to the lot where he parked. Driving past on 101 on Friday I saw that one of the other small storefronts in the same building was signed as "Valdez Produce." I wasn't driving, so we didn't stop. But I intend on going in my next trip north to see if this is the family of Sr. Valdez.

Thanks Melanie for bringing back this wonderful memory of my friend and his family. Somehow, having memories of friends and food intertwined makes them all the richer. I keep my eyes peeled as we go past Chualar in hopes of seeing someone else open an elote stand!