A few weeks ago, I joined Heather from the Food Hussy for a “Taste of the World Tour” at Findlay Market.

The tour started at Daisy Mae’s Market.

First, we sampled different jams and jellies from Yoder’s Amish Farm at Daisy Mae’s. All of them were really good. The pepper jelly might have been my favorite.

We also tried a homemade strawberry mango salsa. I would have never have thought to put those ingredients together but it was really good. The cilantro was an unexpected ingredient that added a lot of great flavor. Daisy Mae’s provides local produce when it’s in season and also tries to keep healthy produce accessible to all.

The group was divided in two and our leader was Barb. She let us know that the tour was beginning when we saw her put on the hat.

The hat also helped us locate her in a crowd of people as we moved around during the market. I did feel the urge to start a conga line and sing the “Chiquita banana” song but I resisted.

Our tour took us inside and outside of Findlay Market. Our next stop was bread from the Bean Haus.  They started with coffee and then branched out to baking. They make all of their bread with the mixer that you see in the picture below.

We tried a focaccia bread with provolone and pepperoni.

They make 1500 loaves of hand formed bread a day.

During the tour you will learn a lot about the history of Findlay Market.  There are 35 full time merchants who are there everyday but Monday.

We went to a nearby brick and mortar bakery and cafe next.

S and J bakery and cafe uses local ingredients for their cafe items, makes pastries and cakes, dressings in house and also makes their bread fresh daily.

We sampled their incredible chocolate mousse with blueberry.

The tour also gives you the opportunity to hear from the business owners and top employees who really give you insight to why they are so passionate about their businesses.

Barb did a great job of telling us the history of Findlay Market and the surrounding area. There is so much in this area that can be overlooked if you don’t know what to look for.

Our next food sample came from Eli’s BBQ.

I just did a review on their other location a few weeks prior. We received a generous sample of their pulled pork sandwich.

Eli’s uses a rub blended from Findlay Market vendor, Colonel De.

Our next destination was Churchill’s Fine Teas.

The owner’s wife was from London and wanted good tea in the states and always struggled to find it so they started Churchill’s. Their store carries 263 teas from all over the world.

Churchill’s Tea is sells loose leaf tea by the ounce.  My sample was the lemon drop tea.

Our last food stop of the tour was Taste of Belgium.

We sampled their waffles. The Taste of Belgium’s waffles are denser than waffles that you might be used to . I’ve had their amazing chicken and waffles from their sit down restaurant location. I’ve also tried a few of their other desserts from the Findlay Market location. I don’t think it’s possible to make a wrong selection. Everything is really good.

The end of our tour offered the optional wine or beer tasting add on for $5 more.

Heather and I joined Barb at Market Wines to sample a few of the wines.

I really enjoyed the tour and the opportunity to hear the heart of some of the vendors who make Findlay Market such a great jewell in Cincinnati.

The tour gives you a great variety of food vendors and a lot of history and information about Findlay Market that most people aren’t aware of.

 

I’m so excited about all of the great improvements and the development happening in Over the Rhine. Our families loves going downtown. If you are a little more intimidated by the unfamiliar, this is the perfect tour for you. The vendors vary on the tour depending on availability. What’s great is that you have someone to guide you through the experience, who will also give you confidence and knowledge to not let it be your last visit to Findlay Market.

If you enjoy local foods, you have an insider giving you information of vendors who can help you enjoy or create a great meal.

You can find out more about Cincinnati Food Tours from their website.

There are some tours coming up that take place during special Bunbury Festival discount days at Findlay Market. The first date is this Thursday, May 16 at 4 pm. Guests can apply the price of their Taste the World ticket toward the 5 receipts needed to get a 20% discount to Bunbury. There’s another special Bunbury day with a tour on Sunday, May 19.