Visit one of the 10 best produce markets in the world – the Adelaide Central Market

The sense of community is very strong.

Dating back to 1869 the fruit and vegetable exchange was originally located in the city's East End (the original façade above Ebenezer Place still survives) but for many decades the Central Market has occupied a vast covered space between Gouger Street and Grote Street in the CBD, a two minute walk from Victoria Square.

Today, the Central Market is one of Adelaide's must-do travel experiences, attracting some eight million visitors a year.

While many shoppers are content to explore the daily markets (which are open daily apart from Sundays and Mondays), others take advantage of Mark Gleeson's excellent food and wine walking tours or book into one of the specialist cooking classes now available; the twilight Wine & Champagne Tasting Market Tours are especially popular, alongside the long-running Breakfast and Morning tours.

Many of the established stalls such as The Smelly Cheese Shop, Barossa Fine Food, The Mettwurst Shop, Providore (look out for the large chocolate fountain), Cappo Seafoods, Charlesworth Nuts, Feast meats and Charcuterie Traiteur have developed a strong and passionate local following, but there's always something new to entice adventurous tastebuds, so keep your eyes peeled,

Places to relax at the Adelaide Central Market

Anyone suffering from foodie fatigue should drop into one of the famous market cafes, such as Zuma or Lucia's, to catch your breath before embarking on another circuit of the always-busy fruit and veg stalls; Lucia's is held in particular affection by locals because it was Adelaide's original pizza bar and continues to serve authentic Italian fare and a good range of drinks and tasty desserts.

Make sure you check out the latest addition to the empire – Lucia's Fine Food, next door, which stocks a brilliant range of wood fired breads, pastas, sauces, small goods, cheeses, Italian biscuits and other delicacies.

Despite its palpable sense of heritage the Central Market continues to develop and is constantly introducing new experiences for the food-lover.

One of the latest is the monthly Butcher's Block, where stallholders are invited to showcase their produce in a series of cooking demonstrations, teamed with local wine or beer.

Sharing the passion of the purveyors

"Butcher's Block gives Central Market stallholders an opportunity to share (their) knowledge via a hands on experience, directly to an appreciative audience," says Gleeson.

"There are over 80 people in the Adelaide Central Market that have some history as a food industry professional."

Some Butcher's Block events are paired with a local craft beer tasting, which Gleeson sees as a perfect accompaniment to the food stories being shared by producers; craft beer is one of the fastest artisan product in South Australia.

"We intend to work with as many local brewers as possible," he says.

"Butcher's Block is an opportunity for start-up small-to-medium food and beer producers to make contact directly with customers. People have become more interested in flavor profiles, in product origin and in the people behind the scenes who manufacture and create great food, wine and beer."

While the market is best known for its fresh fruit and vegetables, farmhouse cheeses, excellent seafood, smallgoods and freshly baked goods, the range of ingredients is constantly expanding.

Today's offering goes well beyond the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe – specialist products and spices from South-East Asian, the Indian subcontinent, North Africa the Pacific and South America are now on display.

Authentic bohemian charm

General manager Aaron Brumby has great plans for the great Adelaide icon, including the redevelopment of the current site, the possibility of running an open air market in Gouger Street and creating a stronger link between the market and the city's major retail hub on Rundle Mall.

But Brumby has dismissed calls to upgrade the market's current bohemian vibe which he says must be preserved at all cost; the authority is also responsible to the vast parking lot which located directly above the market.

"I love how it is now, so I wouldn't change it anyway," he says. "What we may do down the track is improve the fixtures and fitting, but it has to be authentic because it really is the heart and soul of Adelaide."

The Central Market is already ranked as one of the 10 best produce markets in the world, Brumby would one day like to occupy the top spot which is currently taken by the open market in Barcelona.

"I want it to be a buzzing city market," he says.

New opportunities in China

Whatever changes occur over the next few years it is unlikely that anything else could possibly displace the Central Market as Adelaide's premiere food hub. Apart from the core market space which contains around 80 stalls, coffee shops and eateries the nearby arcade contains another 120 specialist stores – many of them food-related.

Two minutes' walk from the main doors you'll also find the city's small but interesting Chinatown precinct and the tiny alleys fanning off from Gouger Street are now home to a myriad of providores, fishmongers cafes and small Asian restaurants.

The rise of online shopping does not seem to have diminished people's fascination with produce markets. In fact there is plenty of evidence that consumers are now more interested than ever in knowing about the provenance of their food, learning how to best prepare it and meeting the gardeners, farmers, fishers and others who earn their living growing all of this great produce.

No one knows about the growth in food tourism better than Mark Gleeson, the man who first launched the Central Market Tours and has hosted food enthusiasts from almost every part of the globe.

His newest market is mainland China.

"There's such a general change in food and tourism. They go hand in hand, and we're just really starting to see that," he says. "Once upon a time travel in Australia was about going on a holiday in a caravan, but now food is big time."

MORE INFORMATION

Central Market, 44-60 Gouger Street, Adelaide. Opens on Tuesday to Saturday, with late night opening on Friday but early closing (3pm) on Saturday.

This article is bought to you by South Australian Tourism Commission.