Oysters & Oxtail

Gotta luv the catchy title of your blog.  How long have you been writing about your foodie experiences and why blogging

Thank you!  I started blogging in April 2012 mainly as a platform to practise writing. Food seemed like an obvious topic given that I was spending a lot of time reading about, shopping for and cooking it - why not write about it too!

What's great about blogging is that you can instantly self-publish and you can write exactly what you want.  Even if you don't care whether anyone reads it (which I certainly didn't to begin with), it forces you to be disciplined in a way that, say, simply writing a journal wouldn't.  I loved blogging so much that I started a food writing course with the University of Adelaide this year.  Unfortunately I had no time to keep up the blog as well, and it's currently still on hold while I figure out what's next.

Your article on Marrickville Markets is the perfect blend of words and photos.  How difficult is it to select which photos to include, or do you simply let the "moment" dictate or guide you to the end result

My post on Marrickville Markets has a far greater proportion of photos to words than most of my posts.  I really wanted to celebrate the markets and share the visitor experience with others

and I decided to just let the photos do the talking on this occasion.  After a good hour or so snapping away, I had an awful lot of photos and it was very difficult to edit them down - what's on the blog (which you can read "here") is just a fraction of what I took.

Marrickville Markets - as with so many markets - are so visually appealing and such rich, exciting material to photograph.  In selecting the best photos I think about composition, colour, texture - and with market photography I really like some element of human interaction.

How inspiring are markets like ours, to not only shop at but then to go and use the produce bought in a recipe book or two you may have lying around the at home

Absolutely!  The definition of my ideal Sunday would be to cycle to Marrickville Markets with my husband, buy lots of beautiful produce (and eat delicious things on the way round!), go home and cook a new recipe while listening to Radio National (I know, I'm starting to sound like a cliche!) and then eat it with a few glasses of wine.

From your perspective as not only a blogger but also a shopper, what is it about markets that make them "real"

What makes farmers' markets "real" is that direct connection with the people who grow and make the produce.  In today's Western world of food as a hugely commercial commodity controlled by a few powerful, faceless corporations, markets are increasingly popular as a way to experience a more authentic relationship with our food and where it comes from.  There's a beautiful sense of community that comes from sharing that experience of the market with other like-minded people.

If you had to sum up the world of Oysters & Oxtail in 5 words what would they be

For the love of food

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And on that note we say an ENORMOUS thank you to Oysters & Oxtail for not only sharing some of her time with us, but for writing an incredible blog on Marrickville Markets and sharing a little bit of insight as to why she feels markets like ours are an important part of today's busy, chaotic lifestyle where we all need to take time to "breath", enjoy the moment and get back to basics