Like all foodies I love a good farmers market. We’re blessed with some crackers in Perth – I enjoy the bustle of the Subi Farmers and love the village feel of the Kalamunda Sunday Markets. Wherever we go, it’s always a hike, as we live north of Joondalup. On Saturday, Little Chef and I enjoyed a new farmers market… The St Stephens Community Farmers Market is just a few streets from where we live – it was nice that the farmers, food trucks and artisans came to us for a change *wink*

The St Stephens farmers market is on from 8am to 12noon, in Tapping, each Saturday in September. If locals get behind it, it will be around for a lot longer. We left home a bit later in the day and missed the biggest crowd, though it meant that by the time I made it to one of my favourites – “The Juicist” – they had sold out of juice! Bummer.

It makes a lot of sense having a famers market in Tapping. Before the suburb existed 15-20 years ago it was mainly market gardens. There are still many operating market gardens in the surrounding suburbs of outer Wanneroo. The fruit and veg stalls are brimming with local produce and I got some to cook that night in a stir-fry.

We sampled some award winning olive oil, made locally in Gingin. The oil, from family owned Guinea Grove Farm is organic and biodynamic. Guinea Fowl roam free amongst the olive groves to reduce pests. I bought a bottle of olive oil that is blended with lime juice. I had a lovely zesty flavour and is apparently great with seafood and as a salad dressing – I can’t wait to use it!

I spotted the lovely Mei, creator of Turban Chopsticks. You may remember I cooked some TC onion bhajis and biryani – check them out here. For a lazy cook like myself, the Turban Chopsticks meal kits are a godsend and make cooking a tasty dinner a breeze. Mei was very kind to gift me a jar of her butter chicken sauce – so I’m looking forward to cooking that along with the Turban Chopsticks ricotta bites. Stay tuned to how that turns out in the next week or two.

Raw food is so on trend at the moment. There are a couple of raw sellers at the market. After a couple of taste tests, I bought a Red Velvet bliss ball from Sneaky, who have a range of organic, gluten free treats – including protein bars.

I was intrigued by the Bon Pussy chilli sauces. Jamaican food is something I don’t know too much about and I’d love to find out more. We tried a couple of sauces, which are also great as marinades – they were really tasty! The chillies used are grown in Freo and the popular product is shipped all over the world.

I had a chat with another fantastic Perth foodie, Latasha from Latasha’s Kitchen. She has a multitude of spice blends, oils, pastes, chutneys and more. Check out the scrumptious Chicken Kuruma Masala I made a few months ago HERE. At the market, I tried one of her sweet creations – a cherry chocolate sauce – which would be amazing on a pavlova!

Little Chef can’t go past a Bratwurst stand or a sausage sizzle without begging me for a snag. These smelled heavenly, but the little fella scoffed the lot before I even managed a nibble! Greedy guts.

As well as a multitude of foodie stalls there’s also home ware, crafts, beauty products and more.

It’s a great place to find a unique gift.

With so many delicious aromas in the air, I sniffed out a giant paella dish before I saw it! It was from KQ Spanish Food – I happily tasted the paella which was brimming with chorizo, carrot, zucchini and corn on the cobb.

There’s lots for the kids to do – a bouncy castle, petting farm, pony rides, go karting – as well as a big sandy and shaded playground. There’s also live entertainment, which adds to the atmosphere.

On our way back to the car we made one last stop. Little Chef had been so good while I chatted to many stall holders so I let him have an “Ice cream”. I’m not entirely sure if frozen yogurt is more healthy than Ice-cream, but I assume it is. Little Chef chose to have a Tim Tam crushed up into it too – so it turned out to not be such a healthy snack – whoops.

We both enjoyed the St Stephens Farmers Markets and will be back again next week for sure – when I got home I tucked into the Red Velvet Sneaky bliss ball – so scrummy and healthy to boot!

We hope everyone else in the Joondalup and Wanneroo areas get on board too – it will be wonderful to see this become a permanent fixture in the outer northern suburbs! Each week the stall holders line up changes a little, so I’m looking forward to what I discover there next Saturday morning!

For more info check out the website… www.sscfarmersmarket.org.au