Two markets add a nice pinch of variety

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This article was published 11/04/2019 (2732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At Blady Middle Eastern market, there are bins of olives, dates and nuts. There are shelves of spices and seasonings, including hard-to-find ingredients such as dried lemons, and sweets such as ma’amoul cookies and baklava. There are teas, Arabic coffee and non-alcoholic malt drinks.

There are also plenty of house-made prepared foods at this Portage Avenue venue, like ready-to-go falafel and marinated chicken. Lamb kofta was herby and spiced and really easy to cook up at home (in a frying pan, in the oven or on the barbecue).

Tabbouleh is fresh, verdant and lemony, and there are several varieties of hummus — one very good version gets a deep, intriguing layer of flavour from walnuts. A sampled mixed pickle — which combines peppers, cauliflower, carrots, cukes and cabbage — is crisp and astringently vinegary.

The sumac version of house-made labeneh has a nice kick to it, with just an edge of bitterness offsetting the richness of the strained, thickened yogurt. There’s also halloumi and a range of feta cheese, from an ultra-creamy Macedonian to a salty, crumbly Spartan.

Blady has partnered with Manitoba producers to provide halal meat, which means there’s lots of good, fresh, local lamb, including cuts — such as big, bone-in shoulders — that can be hard to find at the grocery chains.

Head to the back of the shop to get fresh pita — and by fresh, we mean made to order right in front of you.

Fresh is the best — some purists would say the only — way to eat pita, and it’s neat to watch the whole process. The dough balls are stretched and put into super-hot ovens for just a minute or two, the breads coming out puffed and then gently deflating — you can almost hear them sigh. Then you carry them away, still warm, in a paper bag. The texture is stretchy and chewy and the addition of whole-wheat flour gives the pita a slight nuttiness.

A family-run store, Blady offers friendly, helpful, personal service.

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Black Market Provisions, which recently opened on the happening South Osborne strip, offers good-to-go takeaway products such as soups, salads and bakery items, including lots of vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free and gluten-friendly possibilities.

The soups include a nice vegan borscht with a clear gingered-up broth, as well as a spicy Thai carrot with lots of chili and zingy lime. The hamburger soup, a comfort-food fave that many kids love, is tomatoey — but not too tomatoey — and packed with the comfort of barley and veg.

The chicken salad — good for sandwiches or just on its own — is a modern take on a classic Coronation chicken dish, with a little curry, a little crunch and the sweetness of mango.

The Fiesta is a simple green salad with a few carefully considered extras — corn, black beans, quinoa, vegan feta, grape tomatoes — served with a well-balanced cilantro-lime vinaigrette on the side.

The outstanding sourdough bread — from Eadha Bread on Ellice Avenue — is crispy and chewy with a nice tang. A sampled lemon blueberry muffin was genuinely muffin-y. Unlike some supermarket versions, which are often basically cupcakes masquerading as muffins, these are moist and nicely dense but still tender.

There is a rotating array of desserts — including several vegan options — like tasty Oreo Rice Krispies squares and chocolate brownies, thin and fudgy with a sweet swirl of tahini and a sprinkling of sesame seeds for texture.

Black Market’s owners started out with Pop Cart, offering handmade ice pops at farmers markets and summer fests, and their dairy-free ice creams are terrific, with clear flavours and a fresh, clean finish. Thai-phoon, with the flavours of coconut milk, lemongrass and ginger and the textures of dried mango and crystallized ginger, is complex, unexpected and flat-out gorgeous.

Along with some pantry staples, Black Market also showcases the work of local artisans, like the Happyland Print Shop, which offers a funny little poster mapping out the mysteries of Winnipeg dainty trays, from vínarterta to matrimonial cake to peanut butter marshmallow squares.

The bright, white, nicely appointed little space has a neighbourly feel. On one visit, one of the co-owners was wearing a shirt that said “Radiate Positivity.” Black Market really does.

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And speaking of positivity — and ice cream — hats off to the intrepid folks I’ve seen lining up at the Bridge Drive In, sometimes on sub-zero days. The Bridge Drive In’s annual seasonal opening is a reminder that, for Winnipeggers, spring isn’t just a calendar date or even a temperature — it’s a state of mind.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca