Shopping for produce? Market forces vary

What I love about the Saturday farmers market in west Wichita goes beyond the truckloads of fresh zucchini, corn, onions and tomatoes, pork chops and tender steaks I can buy out there. I like the pragmatic Kansas atmosphere. Vendors are there to sell stuff, and buyers are there to buy stuff and then get on with their weekend. I don't feel like I need to wear a loose floral-print dress or a campy straw hat. I don't need a rustic woven basket to cart home bouquets of flowers (though yes, I can buy nice bouquets out there.) There's not an espresso cart anywhere near the place. Yeah, there was a little musical ensemble out there playing gospel tunes today, providing a low-key soundtrack. But nobody's putting on airs.

That unassuming authenticity is something I also treasured about Philadelphia's Italian Market. That's obviously a very different scene-- I loved going there to buy not only vegetables, but provolone and salami at DiBruno Brothers and pignoli cookies at Isgro's bakery a few blocks away. But the market in Philly never seemed like a tourist draw. It was kind of run down. Not a place to hang out. Just a great source of good, uniquely Philadelphia food.

When I lived in Missoula, I'd never miss the farmer's market at the north end of Higgins Avenue either, but I'd often leave without having bought much. There the market is a Saturday morning social scene, a place to buy a latte and a croissant and run into a dozen Teva-clad friends, and maybe spend 20 bucks on a baggie of huckleberries. People bring their big dogs, and the dogs have red bandannas tied around their necks. Parking is a problem.

We're going to Paris in the fall, and what I expect and hope still exists there (I haven't been in 25 years) are the city's street markets, where every day, shoppers fill string bags with camembert, brie, pate, perfect sugary strawberries. The neighborhood marche is just the place to pick up everything you need before catching the train for a picnic excursion to Versailles.

Funny how this morning's routine trek to west Wichita brings back memories of so many places I've lived. Tables heaped with fresh food tend to have that effect, I guess.

Here's a recipe I picked up this morning from a vendor who sold me a righteous K.C. strip steak (grain-fed, of course) and a package of beef brats:

Beef marinade

1 tsp. onion flakes
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 clove garlic
Pepper

Mix everything together in a zip-lock bag. Marinate meat 2 hours or overnight. (From Meng Farms, Pretty Prairie, Kansas)