A Whole Other Market

Ah the sweet sweet smell of a long weekend. A well deserved one at that. Especially after last week's week long cram session to recertify and the weeks before business trip up north, a long weekend is just the thing to tide me over until the holiday season. 

Still the trip to Seattle was not a total loss. Though the week itself was spent nose to the grindstone, the weekend was a lovely breath of fresh air. Though the weather up there gave us no quarter, I bravely ventured forth to Pike Place Market and some of my most favorite haunts of the down town area.

As my friend Chris, said, if my site is called Cooking Debauchery then Pike Place Market is my Boudoir. Over my last half dozen visits I have honed my market strategy so that I can hit all of my favorite places and still have time for a little relaxation

My first stop is always to World Spice Market, the purveyor of the most aromatic spices and most perfect spice blends. They are the reason that my cupboards are full of exotic spices and my planked salmon is legendary (well in my own mind anyway). They only take cash and it can take them time to fill a large order, but the staff is friendly and you can pretty much sniff, see and touch any spice or spice blend they make. They also have a wonderful selection of teas and chai spice mixtures, including my two absolute favorites Moroccan Mint and Sweet Chai Spice. You can get your spices ground or unground and they will even double bag for a long trip home.

I had planned to get to the Market a lot earlier and had originally intended on having breakfast at the crumpet shop but as it was, we went straight from the spice market to my favorite restaurant in all of Seattle. A tiny, incidental find called “Matt’s at the Market.” A locavore’s dream, the menu changes with market availability. They shop twice at the market and they are open for lunch and dinner. The special of the day was a spectacular salmon BLT made with Copper Riversalmon, apple wood smoked bacon, local tomatoes, lettuce and avocado sauce. A to die for combination. As our waiter said “everything you could want in a sandwich and then just a little more.” It was preceded with an intensely flavored white bean soup for me and a blue cheese salad for Chris, whom was rather intimidated by the straight forward attitude of the waiter. But as for me, Matt’s never fails to exceed my expectations.

And with salmon still on my mind, I went wandering down to the market itself. As Chris has never been, I let him watch the flying fish routine that Pike Place Market is famous for before taking him to a far better fish place further inside the market. The first stop was Uli’s Famous Sausages, a place that had been recommended to me over and over again but one I had somehow failed to discover until this trip. I picked up three different types which were all delicious. The pork and cranberry and the extra garlic chicken proved to be the two favorites, while the lamb seemed to be a tad too strongly flavored for my family’s tastes. The extra garlic chicken however was by far the most flavorful and delicious sausage that I have tasted since my moms. I will absolutely have to return there.

And as luck would have it Uli’s is right next door to my favorite fish place, Pure Foods Fish Market. Sadly, even though I had a cooler with me and they promise to create 48 hour packs I have never been brave enough to actually buy any of their fresh seafood from the lobster tails the size of the forearm to the shrimp and palm sized scallops this is by far the most appetizing fish place in the market. I had been ordered by my family not to return without some of their incredible alder wood smoked salmon. As luck would have it, since Copper River Salmon was in season, I managed to pick up both regular smoked salmon and the intensely orange Copper River variety. As good as the regular smoked salmon is, the Copper River puts it to shame. Sweet, smoky and nutty there is nothing like it. My family agreed as the two big pieces I bought vanished the next day, everybody was eating it. Lucky, I still have some of their regular smoked salmon in the freezer; perhaps I will dig it out when the lingering memory of the Copper River Salmon is but a twinge and a sigh in the back of my mind.

Our packs loaded we ventured forth, sampling cherries and peaches and all of the bounty the market had to offer. And as always as I stroll I begin to miss the market even before I leave, knowing that the bounty of produce is soon to be out of my reach for another year or more.

Chris, who is a huge lover of red wines is seduced by the makers of wine jelly which he assures me will be delicious over a nebulous something BBQ’d. It is at this point that the back becomes far too heavy to easily maneuver so we return it to the car and resume our wanders, this time across the street to  Beecher's Handmade Cheeses and their small, but rarified collection of cheeses.

And though at this point I was hot and thus not in the mood for cheese, the patient, knowledgeable staff tempts me with their select cheddar which is indeed very good. But what really catches my eye is a small label that read “Smokey Blue.” “Smokey Blue?” I ask. As in creamy blue cheese that is actually smoked? It is a fascinated concept and an even more fascinating execution. Famous Rogue Creamery blue cheese is smoked with hazelnut shells permeating the startlingly white cheese with subtly assertive hazelnut flavor. It is perhaps the most remarkable cheese I have had the pleasure to taste in a very long time. My initial thought was to pair it with dried or fresh apricots but since I have gotten home I have pretty much paired it with everything and have yet to be disappointed. And even though I only bought a quarter of a pound, I am delighted that the intense flavor makes it necessary to use just the tiniest of amounts. And incidentally… it is outstanding paired with rare roast beef and sea salt.

But by this point Chris has had enough of shopping and even though I did manage to lure him into the Sur la Table store for some gadget perusal he was more of less done! Wuss! He did however offer to go to the dockside aquarium which had the most fascinating exhibit of things I wanted to eat. Right down to the future planked salmon in the making.

Awwww… aren’t they cute? They are only the length of my finger.

Swim on little fishies… ‘cause sooner or later … I’m going to eat you!

*Ahem*

Ignore that.

I had intended for our day to end at the Space Needle, having weasled a reservation for 9:00pm near the window, but as they didn’t allow casual shorts and Chris was dressed in his rattiest pair, we decided to forgo the Space Needle and eat at Stanley & Seafort’s instead. They have better food anyway, and while the view is not 360, it is none the less gorgeous, especially with Seattle's incredibly long summer sunsets. And besides, while I didn’t get to take Chris to the Space Needle we did get to try a most delicious apple wood smoked rib eye served with a blue cheese sauce that is so good, it could be a cardinal sin. 

It was a wonderful last meal fortifying me until the next time I visit. 

I so desperately love Seattle!

 

Comments

[Tanna]

Wow, that is some tour of Pike's Place Market. I've been to many places you list and will absolutely seek out Beecher's Handmade Cheeses for that smoky blue and Pure Foods Fish Market when we again visit. Yes, I love Seattle!

[CocoaJava]

Beautiful pics, as always. I love the Market, and miss it! You've helped both fuel AND alleviate my homesickness all at once. Very confusing, that.

The sammich at Matt's sounds good. I may try to create something similar myself, soon!

[Kitarra]

Tanna,

Thank you! Beecher's is across the street from the market itself but it is so well worth it. I think though, that you can order the cheese directly from Rogue Creamery. I just can't find Rogue Creamery stuff here because of the Real California Cheese mafia! Let me know if you like it. Pure Foods is the best I found. And I like the staff which changes little from year to year. They know their stuff and they have great product!

CJ

Awwww. Maybe we can plan a trip there together and finally convince Chris how awsome of a place Seattle is! The sammich at Matt's was incredible. They used a great spice mix on the salmon and then just a light dusting of cornmeal to give it the tiniest bit of crunch. It was so incredibly good.

[Suzanne Vancil]

Tanna is my best friend and I follow her lead. I hope one day to accompany her to Seattle to visit her son. I enjoyed my first visit to your site and will continue to drop by for a visit.

[Kitarra]

Suzanne,

Welcome! I am glad you enjoy the site!

Seattle is well worth the visit! I highly recommend it!

[keiko Oikawa]

Hi Kitarra - what a beautiful mountain, I think it's a good enough reason to go to Seattle :) Everything looks gorgeous, I respecially love the look of the lobsters and scallops...

[Kitarra]

Keiko - Thank you very much. It was a gorgeos day and I was lucky to get that shot. I came upon it by accident. The scallops and lobsters were huge and I wanted to take them home so badly! But it was going to be almost two days till I got home and I didn't think they would be safe to eat after that! But they made me wish so much to have a kitchen near by.