Prahran Market Tour and Seasonal Brunch by Tobie Puttock
Prahran Market is leading the way in terms of new initiatives, tours and in terms of sustainability with its Green Earth Soil food created from waste from the market. The World Loves Melbourne was invited along to check out a new food tour and the sustainability initiatives of Prahran Market along with four leading Melbourne influencers. We visted some of the world class stalls such as Sweet Greek Shop, Nahedas Choice, Paddlewheel Prahran, Libertea, Damian Pike Mushroom Man, The Food House, Blackhearts & Sparrows, and The Cheese Shop Deli. Following our tour with Declan, we were treated with an extraordinary brunch cooked by celebrity chef Tobie Puttock.
Incredible peaches juicy and sweet at Paddlewheel, an organic star at Prahran Market, with produce straight from the farmer or producer.
Damian Pike the "mushroom man" is an icon in Prahran Market and the Australian foodie scene.
Damian Pike has exciting produce all year round, notably mushrooms, but also other produce (for example fresh chillis and corn right now).
Fresh green chillis to bring the punch to your home cooking.
The Food House Delicatessen is a premium deli specialising in ready meade meals, takeaway antipasti, deli meats, cheese, dips, pickles and ferments, sauces, salads and more. We sampled an incredible fennel infused salami, stracciatella cheese, dried chorizo and wine infused cheese.
The Food House Delicatessen is another must visit with its exceptional cheeses (notably a wine infused cheese).
The Cheese Shop Deli had some exceptional raw milk sheeps cheeses.
Sweet Greek is another iconic stall in Prahran Market featuring the best of Greek cakes and treats.
Kathy Tsaples from Sweet Greek.
Sampling these Greek balls was pure joy.
Naheda's Choice is famous for its massive range of over 100 dips (my favourite is the smoked eggplant), and its selection of cheeses and olives, the pomegranate Turkish delight with gold leaf and handmade sweets.
A small sample of the over 100 dips.
Blackhearts & Sparrows are sibling-owned purveyors of uniqie wine, beer and cider from Australia and abroad. We checked out unique Melbourne based bitters as well as vermouth.
Locally made vermouth to enjoy on the rocks.
Libertea is a loose leaf tea specialty shop offering an authentic Chinese tea range, organic stone-milled matcha and more. Our tea ceremony was fabulous featuring fine Oolong tea.
Next was our epic Brunch by Tobie Puttock featuring some of the best produce of Prahran Market. Personally I feel this is a great initiative to showcase what you can do with such stunning seasonal produce.
Pine mushrooms from Damian Pike Mushroom Man have a firm meaty quality.
Tobie Puttock celebrity chef is the face and Ambassador of Prahran Market, known for his culinary exploits and connection with Jamie Oliver.
Gin infused bacon was a highlight of the brunch.
The Brunch by Tobie Puttock was extraordinary; pine mushrooms with garlic parsley butter and Sardinian salted ricotta, fried eggs with lardo, bacon, smoked trout and charred bread. Tobie cooked the pine mushrooms over high heat in a pan, adding the garlic parsley butter at the end when it cooled down rahter than burning it. He added the shaved Sardinian salted ricotta to the mushrooms. Free range fried eggs were exceptional perfect on top of the grilled bread, along with the bacon. This was not just any old bacon but Four Pillars Gin infused bacon. The smoked trout was also a highlight. Washed down with Australian sparkling.
Tobie Puttock showcased what you can do with fabulous Prahran Market ingredients. Here is the run down of each ingredient -
Pine Mushrooms - Damian Pike
Garlic and Parsley - Pino's Fine Produce
Smoked Trout - Claringbold's Seafoods
Gin pig bacon - Gary's Meats
Eggs and Butter - Whisked
Sardinian salted ricotta - Maker & Monger
Sourdough - Q Le Baker
It's impressive that annually, Prahran Market recycles over 250 tonnes of food waste, transforming it into ‘soil food’, a super nutritious, rich fertiliser perfect for gardens (and our large planter boxes). The wastage used in the sustainability program includes fish offal, green waste and coffee grounds from traders. We got to check out the green rehydration machine, Gaia, which transforms the waste into fertiliser in just ten hours, allowing the Market to recycle 80% of its waste streams.
Also, the water evaporated from the waste is harvested and used to service the Market’s bathrooms. This adds up to nearly 25 kilolitres of water annually, too.
The Gaia machine, installed at the Market in July 2017, dehydrates bone, fish, offal and coffee grounds, fermenting the ingredients overnight into a nutrient-dense product called Green Earth SoilFoodTM. This wonder product has a high level of nitrogen, calcium and concentrated nutrients that the Market supplies as a plant fertiliser to service the local community.
Prahran Market is also donating 100% of the proceeds to Cultivating Community, a local charity providing opportunities for public and community housing tenants and others living in poverty to grow their own food in community gardens.
Shoppers are also able to take home some of the Green Earth SoilFood, for a gold coin donation, with a good old-fashioned honesty box.
We highly recommend a tour and while you're there grab some Soil Food.