Takapuna Markets – A Culinary Tour

My friend Miss C suggested we hit Takapuna Markets yesterday morning. It’s been years since I have been to Taka Markets, but I lived on the North Shore for about 10 years and we visited the Taka Markets religiously back then. My parents always bought vegetables and flowers, me and my sister mostly bought junk.

From my teenage point of view, Takapuna markets wasn’t a foodie paradise. There are plenty of clothes, jewelry, toys, secondhand stalls, crafts, plants and end of line or seconds to grab my attention instead. Sure, I ate the street food on offer, but I never bought ingredients.

Oh how things have changed.

These days, I love markets, but I usually go to ones that are close to me. Britomart and Parnell Markets are foodie heaven, but it’s no secret that these places are not cheap. There are usually a few bargains to be had at city markets, but generally, you go for quality and specialty goods. I only started cooking a few years ago, so this Sunday was going to be the first time as a grown up and definitely the first time as a food obsessed shopper.

I caught 2 buses and met Miss C just outside the main carpark of the markets before 11am. Taka Markets go from 6am to noon so we had a good hour. It was a scorcher of a day and neither of us had eaten yet.

An older gentleman was selling a range of flavoured mustards and jars of dried herbs and spices. $2.50NZ ($1.80US) a jar for just about everything in his stall. I took me a while to pick something that I cook with but didn’t already have. I settled for oregano.

I spied a big box of oyster mushrooms for $5. I love oyster mushrooms, but they’re a bit pricey at my local store. Sure, they’re usually cleaned, uniform in size and nicely packaged at my local store. But I am happy to clean mushrooms and to eat them in different sizes. Oyster mushrooms have a soft, feathery texture and soak up sauce and flavours like a muthafugga. When I first moved out of home and lived on K Rd, I would buy a pack of oyster mushrooms downstairs from Lim Chour and saute them with some coconut cream, sweet chilli sauce and serve with pasta, noodles or rice. Easy noms.

I had to get a relish or a chutney and at $5 for a beetroot chutney, it was a winner. Ok, so I bought it because of it’s gorgeous colour and I also love how there are only 5 ingredients listed on the chutney label.

A fish truck. I gave this a miss since I wasn’t anywhere near home or a fridge.

Mussel Madness offered whitebait fritters for $7 and mussel fritters for $6. Considering whitebait sells for $100 a kilo and mussels for $3 a kilo, the $1 difference seemed inadequate. I thought I was going to get to try whitebait, but it really was no surprise that they were sold out. We “settled” for mussel instead.

Fritters being cooked.

The condiments station to the side was a great idea. Tomato, sweet chili, malt vinegar, salt, pepper and lemon.

There is a slice of bread hiding under there.

We were feeling a bit parched by the end of our market visit so we stopped at the Fun Juice stall. They have a few combination suggestions and I got the beetroot, carrot and orange while Miss C opted for the beetroot, apple and orange. At $3 for a small cup (or $4 for a large) this was a bargain. Freshly juiced and delicious.

After the markets, we strolled down to the beach and got mango sorbet and coconut ice cream indulge in front of Rangitoto Island. Heaven!

We ate all the oyster mushrooms for dinner last night and I’ve used both the beetroot chutney and the oregano for dinner last night and tonight. I consider that a successful shopping adventure.