Wha...? Farmer's market in Dubai? No way...but really, are you serious? Yaaaay! I'm so excited that I want to...I want to...I don't know what I wanna do, but you get what I mean. I'm that excited.
Knowing that Dubai had it's own farmer's market made me feel whole again. Not that I had shattered into tiny jaggedy pieces when I moved back home to Dubai and realized I could no longer skip down to my farmer's market on Union Square or Chelsea Market in New York. Yep, I literally used to skip out of excitement on those weekend mornings when I'd hit the farmer's market, even if I didn't need to buy anything. Just the thought of breathing in fresh veggies and fruits and breads and meats and everything natural that wasn't covered in cling wrap and shoved on a wimpy styrofoam tray was like my weekend high. Which doesn't say too much about my weekends, but whatever. I'm a grocery geek, and my friends still love me. [I think]
Baker & Spice at Souk al Bahar were the proud hosts of this rare and much anticipated event. The first time they they held the market was in April of this year (um, WHERE was I at the time?), so this was their second attempt at bringing in produce from Abu Dhabi's very own proudly certified Organic Farm on her site. This would be exciting. This would be BIG. This would bring in that awesome, over-priced farm-to-table trend in Dubai that we've all been waiting for. Oh wait, what am I talking about...Dubai is overpriced anyway. Ok, so rephrase: this would bring in that awesome trend of not feeling ripped off after you'd paid a bomb for a meal, because it was actually farm fresh instead of being flash frozen and imported from Holland.(Incidentally, Sally has written up on the first showcasing of this farmer's market based in April. Evidently, not all of us were hibernating in ignorance at the time.)
And so, with a jolly skip in my step and fingers all tingly with anticipation to grasp the season's best fruit, I stepped foot into Souk Al Bahar's patio, overlooking the majestic Burj Khalifa and beautiful Dubai Mall man-made pools. I had my camera ready at hand, so I could snap up the most juiciest and crispiest of shots. I had my wallet just peeping out of my purse, within optimal reach so I could grab and buy at ease. I was ready to inhale the essence of nature that would connect me to the produce borne by the soils on which I'd spent my formative childhood years. For a farm fresh crate of strawberries, I could be a poet.
The towering Burj Khalifa, heavy concrete looming over the city's attempt at going back-to-farm basics.
Here's a replay of the first few climactic seconds of my entry into the market:
Skippety skip, skippety skip, skip-a-maroo, skip-de...
...DOOP. [end of climax]
That's it? Naaah, it can't be...just those five, or six, no five, stalls? One of which has its fruits and veggies suffocated in cling wrap and...what's that you say, they're im...im...[eech. just say it.]...imported from Iran?
Naaaaaaaaaaaa-ooooooooooo. [my face shaking from side to side in slow-motion dramatic disbelief and despair]
It hurt. It hurt bad, especially because I'd dragged my friend out at 10am on a Friday morning to be one of the first takers at this place. And like the girl who'd managed to land up unfashionably on time for a not-so-happening party, I felt miserable. Super uncool and miserable. And somewhat mean. Because here were a handful of little hopeful stalls eager to bring in the farm-to-table revolution to Dubai, and I was ruthfully dissing them out.
The angel in me pleaded: At least the rest of the stalls, other than the totally anti-farmer's market 'imported' stall, has real organic produce grown in Abu Dhabi. And at least they have the basic goods, like tomatoes and leafy green spinach and crates of fresh strawberries and local milk and honey and even fresh eggs! 
The demon in me hissed: Yep, and this is still downright dismal.
The major redeeming factor was not really anything that claimed to be organic, but the Baker's and Spice spread of baked goodies. Put me in a landfill with a plate of danishes and banana bread slices, and I'll be golden. Baker's and Spice had laid out a pretty ravishing display of croissants, muffins, breads, cake, date and tahini danishes (instant replay: date and tahini danishes...how cool is that?!)
...even spiced nuts that I almost bought after crunching through a sample handful. Except that they were crazy expensive and I'd have been crabbed at at home for bringing something so expensive that was just spices and toasted nuts and that could have been tossed together in our kitchen for 1/4th the price. I finally caved into the apple walnut and cinnamon bread, which I picked up for Sally's gingerbread party in place of the dessert I'd attempted to make a day earlier - and that died a slow painful death somewhere between the stove and my kitchen trash can.
The one thing that really made this farmer's market unique compared to the ones I've seen in the U.S. was that they stocked live animals. Like goats and birds and cute little things all meant to be hacked to death for lunch. The ultimate in sinister farm-to-table concepts. Shudder.
I did pick up a crate of miniature eggs for about 10 dirhams for my folks, both of whom later gave their solemn nod to the fact that the eggs tasted quite different from store-bought eggs and were quite pleasant when fried sunny side up on a lazy Friday morning. 
To give the Abu Dhabi Organic market some credit, the other fruits and veggies looked fresh and crisp - but felt a bit pricey and limited in selection, which makes them not conducive to buying a week's worth of groceries for the family. Unless you combined it with a trip to Spinney's that's conveniently located right inside Souq Al Bahar.
Shushing up the demon in me for just a second, I think that Abu Dhabi has gone out on a limb to make fruits and veggies in a region that's naturally not fit for anything but parched shrubbery and cactii. So they definitely deserve a few stars for the commendable effort. But somewhere in the marketing of the event, something hadn't been done right. Rather than claiming to be a 'farmer's market' - that somehow, provokes lush images of multiple stalls with heaps and heaps of assorted fruits and vegetables and plants and meats and cheeses and breads and everything that makes a grocery geek like myself go spinning out of control with her little recyclable jute bag, it should have quietly been called something that conveys the concept of being local and fresh, but doesn't let the idea blow out of proportion in the mind of an innocent farm-fresh enthusiast like myself. For instance, another name could have well been 'The Friday organic stall.' Or maybe 'The Green Experiment.' Or better yet, 'Awesome Baked Goodies, with a Touch of Green on the Side.'
Baker & Spice Souk Al Bahar Phone: 04-4252241