A whole lot o' nothing. And then some…

TUM, TA TUM, TUM YUM!

Yesterday my pal – and faux business partner – Vern and I hit the one-year anniversary of TUM – the Toronto Underground Market. It’s not a farmer’s market, not a food expo, it’s more a place where budding chefs/official gourmands/people cooking in their home kitchens all meet to showcase and sell their wares. Some are restauranteurs. Some are food truckers. Some are caterers. And some are phenomenally talented cooks who want to shill their shit and have nowhere else to do so. Toronto by-laws are such that to make and sell food you need to jump through a lot of hoops. Which is why certain people who cook and sell homemade goodies out of their homes Do. Not. Exist. Anyhoo, whichever way you…um…slice it, TUM is a festival of food. We ate our way through it and here are our greatest hits…

To begin, we each wolfed down a “Cannele”.

Cannele. Not Canelle. No cinnamon here….

Originally hailing from Bordeaux these little custard treats came in orange and vanilla. I liked. Vern loved. And we were off.

Next stop: Caramels. Vanilla and sea salt. Sadly, the evidence has been ingested and there’s no photographic proof that I ever had any. So maybe I’ll pretend it wasn’t me that sucked back 5 in about 5 minutes. But I will tell you that real deal caramels (again, made the “French” way) don’t stick to your dental work!

Tucked away between an outer wall and storage units was a line up. A couple of guys cooking, a lot of yelling…Who were these people?

Fidel Gastro. Rebel without a kitchen.

Fidel Gastro. Brilliant. Hilarious. Cute. They were the rock stars of the entire event. People were lined up to sample their wares. Including us. We skipped the “Phad Thai fries” (WTF?! Next time!!) and went for the Gorgeous Jorge (peanut butter pulled pork, bacon jam and crackling. Grilled.) Saltiest and tastiest $5 I’ve ever spent. Our version became the “High Maintenance Jorge”. Because they cut in half. A good thing, ‘cuz we may have come to blows over this sandwich. So good we had to go back (and line up) twice. To bring home the bacon for our men.

And speaking of bacon…..That was definitely the theme of the day.

Cayenne-candied bacon. SPECTACULAR!

Leonard Pig Candy were flogging candied cayenne bacon ($5 for 2 pieces!) as well as chocolate-dipped bacon and bacon jam. We tried the milk-chocolate dipped strips. Yuck.

Not everything tastes better with chocolate.

Bacon-jam however, was $8 well-spent. Divine! Not to be confused with President’s Choice “Bacon Marmalade” (which is revolting). I don’t know what I’ll be doing with it, aside from sneaking a spoonful every once in a while. I just know it was incredible.

Ideas for Bacon Jam. I’m not the only one who needs it but doesn’t know why.

The accompanying bacon-mouth necessitated we bypass the line-ups for butter-chicken and waffles, Rock Lobster Company lobby-rolls and the carvery offering up “Canadian-Canadian Food” like roast beef and turkey.

Theeeeeere’s the beef.

Until we saw yet another line-up at “Hot Bunzz”. Korean Short Ribs with egg bun?! Three mushroom with cheese bun?! How could we resist?

Resistance was futile….

These were a bit herb-y but still….great texture! Needless to say, it was time for the sweets. Donuts from Dough by Rachelle (maple bacon, double chocolate, sprinkles). Cinnamon Buns by Little Tomato Catering (PB&J, maple bacon – again with the bacon!) and brownies, brownies and more brownies.

Not as good as kitchen co-op….

The most beautiful sweet things were the baked goods by Sullivan & Bleeker Baking Co. .

Taste as good as they look.

We split a “dirty dozen” mini-cupcakes. Flavours included mint chocolate, cookie dough, red velvet, ‘smores and more. Deeeelish.

Samosas filled with fresh veg and butter chicken. Cairo street food. Philippino BBQ. Thai curry boxes. Indonesian shrimp sticks. Backyard kitchens. Random tacos. On and on and on it went.

And that was just the daytime market! Apparently the night market is even better with booze, tunes, concerts and more vendors. Maybe by next month – turns out TUM is on monthly. So are weight watcher weigh-ins….. But until then….bring on the bacon!

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

109 Responses

  1. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted
    to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
    In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write
    again very soon!

  2. Just desire to say your article is as surprising. The clarity on your submit is just excellent and that i can suppose you’re an expert in this subject.
    Well together with your permission allow me to grab your
    feed to keep updated with approaching post. Thank you one million and
    please keep up the gratifying work.

  3. Hi there! Quick question that’s completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly?
    My website looks weird when viewing from my iphone 4.
    I’m trying to find a template or plugin that might be able to fix this problem.
    If you have any recommendations, please share. Cheers!

  4. Hi there! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog.
    Is it tough to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things
    out pretty fast. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to start.
    Do you have any points or suggestions? Thanks

  5. I’m very pleased to discover this page. I need to to thank
    you for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoyed
    every part of it and I have you saved to fav to
    check out new information on your site.

  6. We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
    Your site offered us with valuable information to work
    on. You have done an impressive job and our entire community will be thankful to you.

  7. I was suggested this website through my cousin. I’m no longer certain whether or not this post is written through him as no one else know such unique approximately my difficulty.
    You’re amazing! Thanks!

  8. Greetings from Carolina! I’m bored at work so I decided to browse your website on my iphone during
    lunch break. I really like the knowledge you provide here
    and can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
    I’m shocked at how quick your blog loaded on my cell phone ..
    I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, fantastic site!

  9. Undeniably imagine that which you stated. Your favorite justification seemed
    to be at the internet the easiest factor to bear in mind of.

    I say to you, I definitely get annoyed at the same time as other folks think about
    worries that they plainly don’t recognise about.
    You managed to hit the nail upon the top and outlined out the whole thing with no need side effect , other people can take a signal.

    Will probably be back to get more. Thanks

  10. Hello terrific website! Does running a blog similar to this take a large
    amount of work? I have very little knowledge of programming however I
    was hoping to start my own blog soon. Anyway, should you have any recommendations or tips for
    new blog owners please share. I understand this is off subject however I simply had to ask.
    Thanks!

  11. Thank you for every other informative website. The place else may just I am
    getting that type of information written in such an ideal
    manner? I have a venture that I’m simply now running on, and I have been at the look out for such
    information.

  12. Hi there I am so glad I found your blog page, I really
    found you by accident, while I was searching on Bing for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a marvelous post and a all round entertaining blog (I also
    love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the minute but I
    have saved it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will
    be back to read a great deal more, Please do keep up the superb work.

  13. I was wondering if you ever thought of changing
    the structure of your site? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
    But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.

    Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or two images.
    Maybe you could space it out better?

  14. Superb blog! Do you have any tips for aspiring writers? I’m
    planning to start my own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
    Would you suggest starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a
    paid option? There are so many options out there that I’m totally confused ..
    Any suggestions? Bless you!

  15. I was recommended this web site by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my difficulty.
    You are wonderful! Thanks!

  16. Have you ever thought about publishing an ebook or
    guest authoring on other websites? I have a blog centered on the same ideas
    you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I
    know my viewers would value your work. If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to shoot
    me an email.

  17. Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of
    the pictures aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its
    a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the
    same outcome.

  18. Heya are using WordPress for your blog platform?
    I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create my own. Do you need any html
    coding knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would
    be really appreciated!

  19. When I initially commented I appear to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox
    and now whenever a comment is added I get 4 emails with the exact same
    comment. Is there an easy method you are able to remove me from that
    service? Many thanks!

  20. Superb blog you have here but I was curious about if
    you knew of any message boards that cover the same
    topics discussed here? I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get feedback from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest.

    If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
    Thanks!

  21. I’ve been browsing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never
    found any interesting article like yours.
    It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all webmasters
    and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be a lot more useful than ever before.

  22. I blog frequently and I genuinely thank you for your content.

    Your article has really peaked my interest. I will book mark your website and keep checking for new information about once per week.
    I opted in for your RSS feed too.

  23. Wonderful beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend
    your site, how can i subscribe for a blog web site?
    The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of
    this your broadcast provided bright clear idea

  24. An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a coworker who
    has been doing a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me lunch because I stumbled upon it for him…
    lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!!
    But yeah, thanx for spending the time to talk about this subject here on your web site.

  25. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and
    wished to say that I’ve truly enjoyed surfing around
    your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your rss
    feed and I hope you write again soon!

  26. Greetings from Idaho! I’m bored to tears at work so
    I decided to check out your site on my iphone
    during lunch break. I love the information you provide here and
    can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
    I’m surprised at how fast your blog loaded on my mobile
    .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, good blog!

  27. Hello there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment
    form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours
    and I’m having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!

  28. It is appropriate time to make a few plans for the longer term and it’s time to be happy.
    I have learn this submit and if I may I want to suggest you some attention-grabbing things or suggestions.
    Maybe you can write subsequent articles referring to this article.
    I want to read more issues about it!

  29. I was suggested this web site by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post
    is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my
    problem. You are amazing! Thanks!

  30. I got this website from my buddy who told me about this web site and at the moment this time I am browsing this web site and reading very informative articles or
    reviews here.

  31. I’m not sure exactly why but this web site is loading very slow for me.
    Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end?
    I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.

  32. What i don’t understood is if truth be told how you’re not really much
    more neatly-liked than you may be now. You
    are very intelligent. You realize thus significantly with regards to this matter, produced me individually imagine it from
    so many varied angles. Its like women and men aren’t fascinated unless
    it’s one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your individual stuffs great.
    All the time care for it up!

  33. I’m impressed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s both educative and engaging, and let me tell you,
    you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is something too few folks are
    speaking intelligently about. Now i’m very happy I stumbled across this in my search for something concerning this.

  34. Definitely believe that that you said. Your favourite justification appeared
    to be at the internet the simplest factor to understand of.
    I say to you, I certainly get annoyed even as people consider issues that they plainly don’t know about.
    You managed to hit the nail upon the highest and defined out the entire thing without having side effect ,
    people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more.
    Thank you

  35. you’re actually a just right webmaster. The web site loading velocity is incredible.

    It kind of feels that you are doing any distinctive trick.
    Furthermore, The contents are masterwork. you have performed a fantastic activity on this matter!

  36. Hello! This is my first visit to your blog!
    We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
    Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have done a outstanding job!

  37. Do you have a spam problem on this website; I also am
    a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; we have created
    some nice practices and we are looking to swap solutions
    with other folks, please shoot me an email if interested.

Leave a Reply to Corrugated Mailing Tubes Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *