The holiday season might be over, but local farmers’ market shopping continues throughout the year.
In this edition of the Market Report, columnist Grace Wang unwraps a festive showcase featuring two exceptional local vendors.
Prairie Mill Bread Co. crafts classic favourites and artisanal delights, while Fradu Café entices with the flavours of South African barbecue.
PRAIRIE MILL BREAD CO.
Prairie Mill Bread Co. has been baking farm-to-table bread since 1997. John and Karen Juurlink took over the bakery in 1999 and have participated in farmers’ markets on and off since. John says the bakery centres on “the core values of buying and producing local products,” making them a perfect fit for farmers’ markets.
The bakery was a part of this summer’s Hillhurst Sunnyside Farmers’ Market, the Dalhousie Farmers’ Market and the Bearspaw Lions Club’s Sunday Farmers’ Market. The storefront in Dalhousie is open year-round and the team mills its own flour from certified organic wheat sourced from Schmidt Farms in Fox Valley, Saskatchewan. Over the years, John says the bakery has “tried practically everything” and carries a slew of tried-and-true classic loaves, including a stellar Honey Whole Wheat loaf. If you’re not usually a fan of whole wheat bread, give this one a shot—it’s soft and light with a touch of honey. True to the bakery’s ethos, the honey is locally sourced from Golden Acres Honey in Three Hills. John’s favourite is the Nine Grain loaf, a whole wheat bread featuring white wheat, red wheat, rye, barley, corn, millet, oats, flax and buckwheat, all sourced from Vulcan’s Grainworks.
With the holidays just around the corner, Prairie Mill is also rolling out its seasonal White Chocolate Cranberry loaf studded with dried cranberries. With more than two decades in Calgary, Prairie Mill Bread Co. sees countless regulars, and John says, “the biggest compliment is when I see their kids coming.” Here’s to many more years of delicious, farm-to-table bread.
Prairie Mill Bread Co. | Hillhurst, Dalhousie, and Bearspaw Farmers’ Markets during summer; year-round location at 129, 4820 Northland Dr. N.W. | 403.282.6455 | prairiemillbread.com
FRADU CAFÉ SOUTH AFRICAN BBQ
In South Africa, barbecue, also known as braai, is a cultural and culinary institution. Frank Ngwenya brings the fiery flavours of braai to Calgary at Fradu Café. After a string of bad luck in property development, Frank started cooking out of his apartment in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 2007 and soon found himself opening a restaurant. Today, Fradu Café has several locations in South Africa and Frank says, “I have been very surprised by how Canadians have embraced our food.” But once you’ve tasted the meats at Fradu Café, it’s no surprise that carnivorous Calgarians are smitten.
Fradu Café’s chuck beef is locally sourced and aged before being grilled to tender, juicy perfection, and its massive beef ribs are falling-off-the-bone tender with liberal brushes of homemade barbecue sauce. The flavours are fantastic. Fradu’s most popular dish, the chakalaka boerie roll, is a South African take on a hot dog with from-scratch boerewors sausage, a buttered and toasted roll and heaps of chakalaka, a spicy bean-and-tomato relish. Fradu Café’s boerewors are a juicy, satisfying mix of pork and beef with notes of nutmeg and a delicate tanginess. All this meat goes well with peri-peri fries, which makes the tasty fries a touch spicy and very addictive.
Frank credits his team for helping him set up and run his stall and catering business in Calgary, and has big hopes for the future, including a store selling South African products. He says, “it gives me great happiness to see people enjoying our dishes” and notes kids eat free at the stall on weekends until the end of December, as he wants to “have families enjoy our food together.”
Fradu Café South African BBQ | Fresh and Local Market & Kitchens | 12445 Lake Fraser Dr. S.E. | 867.688.0252 | fraducafesouthafricanbbq.ca
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