At last weekend’s Portland Farmers Market, they had its grand opening for 2011, kicking off its 20th season. I visited my regular vendors to see what they had, as well as saw a few new faces. This post covers those vendor booths at the market that I was checking out/usually stop for reviewing meats and seafood offerings.

I always like to walk slowly to gaze at the offerings of Chop, but I try to walk away without pate since my arteries would suffer if I patronized them often. But, that richness tempts me every time. I always feel both bad and good about seeing Chop overwhelmed by visitors trying their various pates and salami, all these hands with toothpicks grabbing crowding around while more people are on the outer circle waiting to do the same thing… It looks like Paul brought Erica as backup help too on opening day (they are the co-owners); when he first started it was just him manning the booth. They really do have excellent pates at a reasonable $5 for most of them, a few at $6-7 and they also have duck confit. Wonderfully (for them) they sell out by the end of the market- sometimes even by just after lunchtime, so if you want pate, make this an early stop. I can’t really fault the people for wanting to crowd his booth though- look at his beautiful boards!

All the pates are good in different ways, depending on what you want to have with them. As you can see, he also has salamis. Chop is responsible for totally raising my standard for pates now that I’ve had theirs fresh takes using meats varying (and combining) from pork, chicken, duck, venison… The fact they source locally and know the story of their product also demonstrates the respect they have for their product. Bah, after passing it a few times, I ended up buying their duck and truffle pate. Resistance was futile. Well, it’s been several months right?

As I was circling around and heading towards the end that has the hot food booths, I was surprised to run into Olympic Provisions. I’ve heard of them before already in the foodie circuit, but I hadn’t seen that as the PSU market before. But I suppose it’s fair to have a booth to compete with Chop. Well, compete in terms of salami and sausage anyway- Chop has pate while Olympic Provisions does not. They had the same experience of quite a group of people in front of their boards, sampling each of their offerings. They too sold out before the end of the market- just shows you Portland peoples love their meats. In fact, in the second picture you can see a father holding his toddler daughter encouraging her to reach over and take a sample.

Because of the crowd I only tried the chorizo, and when I heard that they had kielbasa snapped that up and went on my way. I hope they expand their offerings at the market to beyond the salamis as time goes on. I’m a big fan of Mortadella (when I have a week where I bring sandwiches to lunch, that’s the “lunchmeat” I prefer), and sometimes you want fresh meat, not the dry kind (even though they are both tasty). On the other hand, the dry salamis are sort of an investment as they keep longer then any fresh sausage- and a little can go a long way.

I don’t purchase this often, but once in a while I want Italian Sausage. You may not have noticed on a market visit, but the same Salumeria di Carlo stall that is grilling those bell peppers and onions and sausages into a bun with honey or yellow mustard for you to enjoy as an Italian Sausage Sandwich, tempting down the market from north to south with those aromas, are more then a hot food vendor. They also sell those sausages in packages for you to take home and do what you will. My choice is to break apart to use it in breakfast scrambles. They have Southern Italian style that is spicier and seasoned with fennel garlic and chilies, and also a Northern Italian style that is sweeter with coriander nutmeg and white wine. I like them both

In terms of seafood, I don’t get it too often as F complains it stinks up the garbage can (and the house if I cook it). But, I can’t resist 100% of the time, and crab and shrimp and lobster aren’t as bad as fish, so there is that. That’s when I look to admire Linda Brand Crab’s offerings. They have fish, crab, oysters and clams. Most importantly to me, they offer some of their crab already removed from that dangerous sharp shell so that you can get right into the enjoyment with less pre-work. You can buy lemons and cocktail sauce right there if you want to just rip into it and eat right there.

Usually the “booth” (more like a simple set up of a giant cooler and then some guys sitting behind a folding table and handmade signs) with the Native Americans selling salmon from the Columbia always has an impressive fish on display, and it makes me a little nostalgic for how it probably was back 100 or so years ago with probably a parallel setup to sell the fish from their tribe by the still being established Portland. This year at the opening they brought a few of the tribespeople to sing and chant which I could hear all the way on the other side of the market, so I promised myself to get some salmon or something from them this year- they almost always have beautiful fish.

There are several other meat vendors at the market that sell the larger “entree” size cuts of meat like steaks and rack of lamb from the ranch or fish steaks or oysters- their booths are full of coolers of meat or catches fresh that will blow your mind if you are already impressed with the offering of Whole Foods and New Seasons (ok… well some of them do sell to local grocery stores here sometimes. But this is direct!). Since the meat eaters of my household are mainly me and Lobo the cat though, I haven’t explored this side of the market yet and stick to meat offerings that can be portioned into smaller servings. But, if you’re normal household that has meat and seafood being prepared in your kitchen regularly, there is a whole other branch of meats and seafoods at the market that I haven’t covered and you should definitely see for yourself.

Living this close to the market, I can’t imagine buying meat from a store when you can get it here during the Farmer’s Market season. Support the local economy and sustainability and know you’re not keeping a factory farm in business. Even though I do eat meat (and love it), I try to do so sparingly, and thoughtfully, and respectfully. I think it’s more then a seasoning of good conscience that makes these offerings taste better – but it sure doesn’t hurt either.