Author Archives: Elise A Fredericks

Natural

Elise Fredericks

Professor Krondl

When I think of the word natural, the first thing that comes to my mind personally is farmers markets or a vegan/vegetarian diet. I think of colorful fruits and vegetables bursting with that fresh crisp “just picked” taste. In the food industry, “natural” is used mostly to describe naturally sourced products and relates generally to fresh foods and dishes made using fresh ingredients. Say for example a salad bar where you can pick and choose your own mix-ins and pay a little bit too much for something that would be cheaper with some local produce. I can think of a huge handful of vegan restaurants and recipes that require all natural ingredients littered throughout the city and I feel everyone should try something at least once, you might love it! I’ve included a few photos that I have taken over the summer that I feel pertain to the word the most. I love a good farmers market as we’ve approached already this semester, there’s nothing more amazing to me that the wonders of nature presented us with such tasty snacks. Fruits and veggies make incredible portable healthy grub, great for you and bursting with flavor right in the palm of your hand.

Brooklyn Borough Hall Greenmarket

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Elise Fredericks

Since I was a child, I’ve always visited farmers markets all over NYC. I’ve even been to ones in various states all over the country. They have always been one of my personal favorite places to wander through in passing because frankly, I’ve never purposely gone out of my way to visit a farmers market, yet, any time I happen upon one I’m completely drawn in. Be it the signs advertising fresh baked goods, fresh fruit and vegetables or, my personal favorite, the maple stands.

Now the market I’m writing about (Brooklyn Borough Hall Greenmarket) unfortunately does not feature a maple stand but they do have an incredible selection of fresh produce and pastries. I have been stopping there almost every week since the start of the semester whether to pick up a few fresh peaches for breakfast before class or a small loaf of walnut zucchini bread. Sadly, peaches are available exclusively in the summer so I’ll have to wait another year for some more.

I do absolutely love the concept of greenmarkets, a nice set up of products from all over NYS for the public to help themselves to and experiences flavors they’ve possibly never had before all while supporting local farmers. I’ve never dealt with very high prices at greenmarkets which is just another point of why they’re so cool. Another thing about the markets I have visited is that a large percentage of them have a compost stand, for food scraps amongst market goers or people bringing their natural scraps from home to recycle. So, affordable AND delicious local goods, supporting farmers and their families, and helping with the environment. How much better could you ask for?

Turnstyle Underground Market

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A bustling little strip hidden underneath the crowded streets around 59th street and Central Park, you can escape into the equally crowded hall. Filled with visiting tourists, students, and locals looking for a snack or quick meal. My best friend and I grew an interest in going to this particular location thanks to handy dandy social media advertisements.

Slightly reminiscent of a sawed off portion of a mall, Turnstyle Market holds a vastly mixed selection of stands and shops ranging from a small Taiwanese joint called Zai Lai to chicken in a waffle cone at Chikn’ Cone. We ran into a friend who happened to work at Zai Lai and luckily got to use his employee discount. His coworkers seemed very friendly and dedicated to their craft, handled and garnished the food very nicely. We chose to share a pork belly bun and a beef roll from Zai Lai. Both were delicious, the pork belly melted in your mouth while the beef roll featured a delicious sweet and savory sauce. We also tried mini donuts from The Doughnuttery, each donut was made to order and tossed in a flavored sugar mixture depending on your chosen flavors.

They were pricey for the size but the flavors were diverse, it was definitely the variety that drew us in. You can buy a pack of 6 (for $6) with your choice of 1-2 flavors, or 12 ($11) with 1-4 flavors and so on. As for the products that tempted me, I tried everything I felt inclined to.

Something I was NOT willing to try was a bar of pizza-flavored chocolate from Dylan’s Candy Bar. Though, my best friend and I were feeling brave and disgusting so we tried it anyway. It was indeed disgusting and smelled of pizza flavored Pringles, just not as tasty as them.

For the experience, I give Turnstyle Underground Market a solid 7/10 and would definitely stroll through it again and try out the foods from the upcoming food shops and I think that it’s an enjoyable atmosphere in a small slightly hidden gem that anyone can indulge in.