Gourmet Experience #098 Graze your way through Eumundi Markets

With around 500 stalls, huge swathes of which are devoted to feeding hungry browsers, one of the more delightful aspects of the Eumundi Markets is its emphasis on “try before you buy” . . . so, really, you can be chock full of freshly roasted chestnuts, Japanese pancakes, peanut brittle and delicious homemade lemonade before you’ve even decided what’s for lunch.

Each year around June the entire town goes bananas for the Eumundi Food Fest, an absolute must-do for lovers of farmers’ markets, cook-offs, tastings and more.

The culinary selection is vast: Spanish tapas; French soups; homemade ginger beer; organic breads and conserves; Tibetan momos; Dutch poffertjes (right next to the delicious homemade lemonade); Bavarian bratwurst (right opposite the delicious Dutch poffertjes); award-winning Noosa Chilli (more free tastings, if you dare); organic samosas; mango licks; weird curly fries on sticks; stinky cheeses; cold meats – in fact, one of Eumundi’s most celebrated culinary sons would have to be Russian sausage genius David Kasmaroski, whose now-famous Eumundi Smokehouse meats had their humble beginnings here just over a decade ago.

Bush foods master Peter Wolfe runs free cooking classes each Wednesday in the produce precinct, drawing upon both his vast knowledge and the superb selection of fresh materials available right there on the day. Having celebrated its 30th birthday in 2009, like a fine wine these markets appear to be getting better with age.

Where: 76 Memorial Drive, Eumundi, Qld. Open Wed and Sat year round, Thurs evenings Dec-Jan. www.eumundimarkets.com.au

Did you know: Each year around June the entire town goes bananas for the Eumundi Food Fest, an absolute must-do for lovers of farmers’ markets, cook-offs, tastings and more.