Toronto Underground Market

I dropped into the first-ever Toronto Underground Market at the Evergreen Brickworks on Saturday night as part of a marathon day that saw me biking all over; from one of the highest points of downtown (Casa Loma) to almost the lowest (the foot of the Don Valley). Along this trajectory I had my first-ever chance to explore Milkman's Lane, which was mildly hair-raising due to the current "severe erosion issues", but definitely a fascinating part of the city I intend to explore further.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the Underground Market; what I found was a bustling food fair with an avid, youngish crowd eagerly lining up, tasting and comparing the foods on offer. I have been told that, in other cities, the wares tend to be prepared, packaged foods like the spices above, or sauces, preserves and so on. Here, however, the emphasis was squarely on street eats and sweet treats.

If TUM is to be judged as a trend indicator, then French-inspired baking is still a force to be reckoned with; macarons are holding their own, and cupcakes are nowhere. Whether by coincidence or otherwise, Philippine cuisine was well represented. And of course there was a huge lineup for La Carnita, the renegade pop-up taqueria that doesn't actually sell tacos. Instead, they sell t-shirts that entitle you to sample tacos, in order to circumvent regulations that would make their operation inadmissible in this town.

Which of course is the point of TUM: it showcases skilled food vendors whose wares would currently be outlawed under our health and business codes. As such, it's an interesting part of the network of battlegrounds over the regulation (or deregulation) of small-scale and artisanal food production; and I look forward to seeing where the next action on this front will occur.