Detroit's Eastern Market: A Farmers Market Shopping and Cooking Guide, Third Edition

By Lois Johnson, Margaret Thomas and Bruce Harkness

Since 1887, Detroit’s Eastern Market, the largest open-air market of its kind in the United States, has been home to an amazing community of farmers, merchants, and food lovers. Specialty shops, bakeries, spice companies, meat and poultry markets, restaurants, jazz cafés, old-time saloons, produce firms, gourmet shops, and cold-storage warehouses cover Eastern Market’s three square miles. Its many streets and vendors reflect the varied cultures and ethnicities that have shaped the city of Detroit.

In this third edition of Detroit’s Eastern Market, authors Lois Johnson and Margaret Thomas recount the history of the market with additional stories and personal accounts of families who have worked and shopped there for as many as four generations. The authors have updated store information and added new restaurants and businesses to their original listings, reflecting the changes and additions that have taken place in Eastern Market since the previous edition in 2005. Richly illustrated with all new photos, Detroit’s Eastern Market features more than a hundred pages of delightful recipes (including 17 new ones) from market retailers, farmers, chefs, and customers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press
• Release date: May 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9780814341605

Lois Johnson

Lois Johnson is an obsessive cook, always planning a menu, and Eastern Market has been her grocery store for forty years. After experiencing the pleasures of open-air shopping all over France and utilizing the wonderful and oldest market in England at Norwich, where else in Detroit could she go but Eastern Market? Margaret Thomas moved to Detroit from Florida in 1994 and quickly fell in love with Eastern Market. Although not an obsessive cook, she swoons at the sights and smells of a fine meal. Living in the market area, she shops there several days a week, calling a greeting to everyone in the market, most by name, often stopping to chat about their families. A city person through and through, she thrives on the color and ambiance the market exudes. Bruce Harkness received his BFA in photography from the Center for Creative Studies in 1979 and his MFA in photography from Wayne State University in 1982. He is the recipient of numerous grants including a 1987 Creative Artists Grant from the Michigan Council for the Arts and a 1978 Regional National Endowment for the Arts Grant.

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Praise for

DETROIT’S

EASTERN

MARKET

This latest edition is essential to navigating the vital artery that is Eastern Market, which has grown by leaps and bounds in the past decade. Those who have the older editions will want to upgrade for the new recipes alone, such as Phil Rivera’s famous banana ketchup, the perfect complement to Corridor Sausage’s Vietnamese Chicken—my all-time favorite!

—Yao-Fen You, associate curator of European sculpture and decorative arts at the Detroit Institute of Arts

I love the market! In the 13+ years we’ve been offering food and cultural tours in the market district, there is always more to experience, explore, and enjoy. Johnson and Thomas bring to life the rich history, tastes, and flavors of the historic market. It’s a wonderful read for lovers of the area and those interested in learning more, plus bonus pictures, shopping insights, and recipes.

—Linda Yellin, owner and guide of the Feet on the Street Tours in Eastern Market

Third edition © 2016 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission. Manufactured in the United States of America.

201918171654321

Originally published 1999 by Lois Johnson and Margaret Thomas. New edition published 2005 by Wayne State University Press.

Eastern Market Soup recipe reprinted with permission from The More the Merrier! © 1997, by the Hunger Action Coalition of Michigan.

ISBN 978-0-8143-4159-9 (paperback)

ISBN 978-0-8143-4160-5 (e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015954126

Designed and typeset by Bryce Schimanski

Composed in Adobe Caslon Pro

CONTENTS

Preface to the 2016 Edition

Acknowledgments

Origins of Detroit’s Eastern Market

Seasons of Detroit’s Eastern Market

Businesses of Detroit’s Eastern Market

Food-Related Shops

Restaurants and Bars

Specialty Shops

Wholesale Dealers of Detroit’s Eastern Market

Produce

Meat

Sheds of Detroit’s Eastern Market

Farmers and Vendors

Specialty Items in Stalls

The New Food Attitude: FoodLab Detroit

Shoppers of Detroit’s Eastern Market

Stories of Detroit’s Eastern Market We Want to Remember

Recipes of Detroit’s Eastern Market

Appetizers

Beverages

Soups

Salads

Sauces

Main Courses

Vegetables

Canning & Putting-by

Baked Goods

Market Menus

Recipe Index

PREFACE

Farmers markets and local food marketing have grown by leaps and bounds since we first started this book in 1994. In that year, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) recorded 1,755 farmers markets in the US. When this book was first published in 1999, the number had risen to over 2,800. By 2014, twenty years after we began, there were some 8,268 farmers markets across the country.

Farmers markets like our Eastern Market were the taproots of these movements. In 1999, there were sixty-five farmers markets in Michigan. According to the Michigan Farmers Market Association (MIFMA), today there are over 300 farmers markets; most are open seasonally from around May through October. Here in southeast Michigan there are six maintained year round: Detroit, Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, Flint, Lansing, and Monroe. The demand for farm-fresh produce keeps growing; plus, the demand for organic, not just farm-fresh, has been taken to heart by the food community.

In the public’s protest against pesticides and chemicals, organic farming has played an important role in the quest for good and nutritious foods. It has helped shape our awareness of how we fuel our bodies. Hopefully, it has made us more demanding of our food sources, so that we care about eating fresh, un-sprayed produce; free-range, grain-fed poultry; and farm-fresh eggs. The foods and recipes in this book reflect Detroit’s Eastern Market. They show the love and respect good food deserves. Many recipes come from generations ago—treasured family heirlooms still enjoyed today, some for everyday dinners, others for special celebrations.

When Margaret Thomas moved to Detroit from Florida in 1994, she fell in love with Eastern Market. Although not an obsessive cook, she swoons at the sights and smells of a fine meal. This book is her idea. Living in the Market area, she shops there several days a week, calling a greeting to everyone in the Market, most by name, often stopping to chat about their families. A city person through and through, she thrives on the color and ambiance the Market exudes.

For Lois Johnson, a farmers market has provided serious food shopping since 1964, the first year she lived in Paris. After experiencing the pleasures of open-air shopping all over France and utilizing the wonderful and oldest market in England at Norwich, where else in Detroit could she go but Eastern Market? Johnson is an obsessive cook, always planning a menu. Eastern Market has been her grocery store for over forty years.

Bruce Harkness, a photographer known for capturing the human spirit, gives us a record of Eastern Market today—the Market people, their products and working place. His childhood memories of the Market illuminate his pictures.

There are many farmers markets across the country, markets with similar histories, businesses, and devoted customers. But Eastern Market is Detroit’s jewel, and we hope to give it a little shine.

The people—farmers, vendors, storeowners, and customers—are the core of the Market’s life. They are the focus of this book. Through questionnaires, conversations, interviews, and observations, we wanted to capture the personalities of these food people. They have much in common—long days, early hours, the vagaries of the weather, and knowing they are essential to their community. They each have a different story to tell, a recipe to share.

In 2006, the Market shifted away from city management and is now operated totally through a public-private partnership called the Eastern Market Corporation. Within a few years, through hard work and careful planning, the EMC transformed the Market by renovating the sheds with new roofs and windows; refurbishing brick work, giving it a fresh coat of paint; and new curbs and driveways. EMC had a vision to recreate the look of the Market as it was when it began in the 1890s. Though some were skeptical of the changes when they began, the EMC has proved to be a major influence on the present day success of the Market. More crowds gather and shop, but not only on Saturdays, because now there is a Tuesday Market, a Sunday Street Market, plus shops are open six to seven days a week, leaving the Market available to supply the needs of its shoppers.

Through the Internet, social media, and television food shows, shoppers have become increasingly knowledgeable about food and therefore have created a growing demand for better, healthier, tastier fare to enhance their diets. From this public demand, EMC has helped spur the evolution of new enterprises that have at the core of their missions sustainable, healthy, safe, and delicious foods for all.

EMC, in partnership with Food Lab Detroit, has created Detroit Kitchen Connect. If you have a dream of starting your own food business but need to learn the ropes, Detroit Kitchen Connect offers commercial kitchen space, technical assistance, and workshops.

Advances in food processing, production, and eating habits have increased the Market’s importance and influence significantly. Shoppers are more attuned to the health and well-being of themselves and their families.

EMC relies on thousands of participants, including farmers, vendors, merchants, shoppers, workers, volunteers, buskers, and residents who call Eastern Market home. EMC has produced a Market to be proud of and continues to do so. The best part is that the heart of the Market still beats strongly.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We’ve met so many generous people since we began this project that it would be impossible to mention them all. Besides Don and Marjorie Hirt’s bird’s-eye tour of the Market, and Ed Deeb’s and Alex Pollock’s enthusiasm for our story, we want to thank all the Market people who took the time to answer our questionnaire or be interviewed, often after a twelve-hour working day, for their patience and interest. Their spirit was always fresh and inspiring.

To all our friends and family members, who read, edited, tasted, and encouraged, we offer our warm appreciation. Words pale compared to Bruce Harkness’s vibrant photographs, but thank you, Bruce, for enduring all the early hours and making the Market glow. The support and good humor of Chris and Jim made it all possible—our love and thanks.

ORIGINS OF DETROIT’S EASTERN MARKET

In 1802, Detroit city officials established a central location for the marketing of agricultural goods. A municipal ordinance issued on March 20 of that year set aside riverside land at the foot of what would become Woodward Avenue for a new Cadillac market that would be highly useful, convenient, and beneficial to the vendor and purchaser of provisions. Foodstuffs from the shores of Michigan, Ontario, and even Ohio moved to the town, rivaling the produce hauled overland by farmers. As riverfront real estate became more valuable with the diversification of port activities and as Detroit’s population burgeoned, the 1840s saw the Market relocate first inside Old City Hall, and later to a shed built for it on Cadillac Square—still owned by the city, establishing a pattern that would continue until 2006.

The early nineteenth century saw today’s Market area, with street names like Gratiot, Riopelle, St. Aubin, Orleans, and Rivard, farmed by French families such as Charles and Nicholas Guoin who laid claim to a fifty-five acre parcel just north of Gratiot Road, bounded on the west by Russell Street. In 1834, the City of Detroit purchased their land for $2,010. Thirty-five acres of the parcel were subdivided into lots and sold to German immigrants looking for a place to locate their community. The fifteen remaining acres that fronted Gratiot with Russell on the west side became a second city cemetery. But by 1869, the cemetery was full and the city ordered the graves relocated to Grosse Pointe. As city growth, land values, and downtown congestion made the Cadillac Square market increasingly problematic (the ladies of the city were appalled at the mess caused by the horse traffic and desired a more gracious place to shop for food), City officials moved the market north yet again, this time to the vacated cemetery land. Thus, in 1887, Detroit’s open market moved to its present location and was renamed Eastern Market.

Just as street names reflect the Market area’s French influence, so, too, do some of the buildings reflect its German heritage. Vivio’s Restaurant is housed in Meyfarth Hall, built in 1892 for the German community as a social hall. Earlier, in 1875, Sacred Heart Church was consecrated at Eliot and Rivard to serve the German-Catholic population. Romanesque in style, with a 130-foot steeple, it remains a handsome structure that can be seen today from Interstate 75.

With its relocation to Russell Street and the building of its first municipal market hall, Eastern Market started to take shape. The first two sheds were put up in 1891. Shed 2 stands today surrounded by Russell, Winder, Market, and Adelaide streets. By the turn of the century, many businesses were established on those streets.

After the First World War, to meet the increasing food demands of a growing city, more and more wholesalers and distributors settled in the Market district. To accommodate this growth, the city added more sheds, one in 1922 and another in 1929. As new businesses flourished, Eastern Market became the hub for southeastern Michigan food distribution. Shed 5 was added in 1938, and the last shed to be added was in 1965. To create parking space in the Market area, old Shed I was removed to Belle Isle and used as a horse stable.

Originally, city planners developed three markets to fill the needs of its citizens: Eastern Market, Chene-Ferry