Local Food, California in Winter

We had a wonderful trip to the local Farmer's Market in downtown La Jolla. All kinds of fruit and vegetable produce, from oranges and olives to salad grow near here. The only problem: an MC playing oldies but baddies that we didn't much like. The setting is gorgeous: behind the stalls is a large school playing-field, and behind that, the green hills of the city.

I bought sugar peas, artichokes, and tomatoes from the guy in the photo above. He lives around 25 miles from here, he said.
Besides produce stalls, the market has a number of food stalls from all kinds of cuisines. We talked to an Egyptian woman, who had not brought any ful -- a dish I'd love to try. She had falafel, which as far as I know was invented in Egypt and later spread around the whole Middle East. Many vendors go from market to market -- the Egyptian lady serves dinner one night a week at the Oceanside market, for example.




Flowers, potted plants, bonsai trees, cheap clothing (what a very similar French market would call fripes, I think), crafts and jewelery, and even oriental rugs were available.


Here are some of the foods waiting for our lunch: