Sunday, March 15, 2015

Exploring Three Farmers Markets in San Jose

Strawberries

It's Sunday, which meant that farmers markets got set up all over San Jose today. The first one that we hit up was at the Almaden Via Valiente Plaza Shopping Center (6946 Almaden Expressway). It was cozy, but had all the requisite things, including not just the usual fruit and vegetable guys, but of course a hummus guy, a honey lady, an acoustic guitar lady, plus some food stands. We grabbed these strawberries from Medina Berry Farms as they were much sweeter than the ones that we got at Whole Foods the other day.

Tamale Ranchero

Then we hit up the Blossom Hill Farmers Market near Jubba and the light rail station (525 Blossom Hill Road). It was slightly bigger, and interestingly enough also featured a stall selling strawberries from Medina Berry Farms but $2 cheaper (I'm not sure if they were less sweet). There was a tamale stall here too; I grabbed that ranchero tamale above as it was supposed to be some traditional recipe from Veracruz, and wrapped in plantain leaves rather than corn husks. I admittedly really couldn't taste much of a difference, but the masa was silky smooth and that red salsa packed some nice heat.

Chicharrones con queso pupusa

Lastly, we went to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds (344 Tully Road, 408-494-3247) as they had a "Farmer's Outdoor Market" starting at 4 PM in parking lot A. It was only when we got there did we realize that it wasn't really a farmers market, but rather more of a flea market. So on one hand I was a bit disappointed that there weren't really any stalls selling green produce, but on the other hand I was delighted that there was tons of Mexican food available...or rather in this case, Salvadorean. I grabbed a pupusa filled with chicharrones and cheese and wolfed this thing down in seconds. Rock on.

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