Volume 2: St. Jacob’s Farmer’s Market Deep Cuts

The Farmer’s Market at St. Jacob’s, just outside of Waterloo, has always been a popular destination for food lovers and urbanites wanting a taste of rural life. With livestock auctions during the summer and the region’s Mennonite heritage, it becomes easy to imagine a simpler time. That being said, the market is usually packed on summer and fall weekends. To help you cut through the crowds, here are some of our most unique finds from our latest trip. Hopefully you will be inspired to search for a hidden gem on your next visit.

Superior Meats has a huge stand which sells all manner of cheeses and cured meats. Wanting something a little more interesting than the usual jerky and cheddars, we were happy to find a selection of wild game pepperettes and a boar salami. We found the elk and venison pepperettes to have a fuller flavour than the traditional options, and the salami was used as a topping on our version of a meat lover’s pizza.

With apples in season, we made sure to grab a basket. Ginger gold apples are soft, sweet, and juicy. We consider them exclusive to the market as we are unable to find them in stores. We were also able to pick up a brown paper bag full of fresh oyster mushrooms which were delicious sautéed in butter.

As you can see from the picture, the line up for apple fritters snakes through the indoor portion of the market and out the doors. Perhaps one day I will get there early enough to not have to wait an inordinate amount of time to see what all the fuss is about. In the meantime, we had great tasting ginger and onion dumplings, and chicken katsu baos from Feng’s Dumplings. Our lunch was washed down with refreshing Black Currant and Haskap Berry sparkling waters from Plaid Shirt farms. Coffee options include The Traveller, a coffee truck run by market favourite Full of Beans. They had some unique fall flavours including a delicious apple cinnamon latte.

After a long day of trying not to get lost in the hustle and bustle of the busy market, our after_ collection hoodies and sweats were the perfect uniform for winding down and relaxing.

Supporting local has never looked or tasted better!