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Birmingham Wholesale Markets.


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Not being from Birmingham or even remotely close I was wondering about tying in a visit to here along with one of our foodie treks to Purnells etc, etc.

Most appealing would be the fish as I overheard someone in a restaurant enthusing about its quality and extremely good value.

Anyone been? Any do's, don'ts?

Best time to get there, etc, etc.

Thanks in anticipation :smile:

"So many places, so little time"

http://londoncalling...blogspot.co.uk/

@d_goodfellow1

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Hmmm! Value, yes, there's lots of cheap stuff. Quality, that's pretty debatable. Many of the stalls I wouldn't touch with a bargepole. Like all markets there are some gems if you look hard.

Freshness is a major issue when it comes to the fish.

Much of the fish is pre-filleted making it very hard to assess freshness. The stallholders often obfuscate the provenance of their fish and when exactly it was caught. Birmingham is of course about as far from the sea as you can get, so this is perhaps not surprising.

There are a lot of fish stalls selling for the Asian market, so a lot of frozen Pacific fish which I am never keen to take home (poorly stored and hardly local).

The way I get around it is to buy live stuff where possible, Pearce's Shellfish usually have live crabs and various other shellfish. Sometimes they even have live eels

The confusingly named "Mr Fish" sells good game during the season, I picked up some grouse there which weren't cheap but seemed in pretty good shape.

There are lots of halal meat stalls selling goat and lamb. Plus some quite downmarket regular butchers. You can pick up a Walter Smith pork-pie which got a good write-up in the Independent and is a good pie. You can find some very cheap cuts: chicken feet, lamb heads, tripe etc. A lot of this is for the Afro-Caribbean market.

That sounds rather negative. Having said all that, I love going to the market - its colourful, quite smelly, full of people from all walks of life looking for a bargain and it kind of reminds me of a Spanish market for that reason. But I wouldn't make a special trip.

Some of our photos are in this Flickr set: DSCN2207

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My ears are burning adey!

I think David means the Wholesale market not the Indoor market, where I agree some of the stuff can be a bit ropey. The Wholesale market is about 400m down the road from the Indoor market. I go there fairly regularly, about once a month to stock up on fish and other goodies. Be warned, it's a proper wholesale market so you have to get there early. I usually go around 7am and the best days for seafood are, infuriatingly, Wednesday & Thursday. For somewhere so far from the sea they have some very good fish though and it's definitely worth it. There are always lots of cheap live shellfish; lobsters, razors, scallops, crabs etc and a big selection of wet fish. Sometimes they have surprises, on separate occasions I've bought live mediterranean & Norwegian sea urchin and live abalone. The fish market is adjoining the poultry section, where you can find my favourite label rouge chicken (sold out by Thursday), whole lobes of foie gras, cheap gressingham ducks and game.

There used to be a website with a map of the complex but it seems they've taken it down recently because the whole place is being moved out of the centre. If you're driving you will struggle to get past the guards unless you're in a traders type van. Don't worry you can just walk in so park up in the multistorey next door or on the street. Apparently it's the biggest market in the UK, so as you go in follow the road to the right and the fish & poultry section is in the big building on the left. After shopping for fish & poultry check out the veg section ( as you come in on the left), you will not believe how massive this space is. Good luck and try not to get mown down by the trolleys.

Edited by Prawncrackers (log)
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Thanks Guys, thats a very rewarding response. Most of my questions have been answered.

I have a fascination with markets, the people, the atmosphere, etc, and of course the produce.

Most certainly make a visit, but have to buy another freezer or clear some of the stuff in the one we use. :smile:

"So many places, so little time"

http://londoncalling...blogspot.co.uk/

@d_goodfellow1

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Prawncrackers,

Is 8 or 9 too late to arrive or is there still time to do business?

Also can you buy smaller quantities of goods, for example a kilo or two of fish as opposed to a box?

How much are the Label Rouge chickens?

Thanks.

"So many places, so little time"

http://londoncalling...blogspot.co.uk/

@d_goodfellow1

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From experience 8 o'clock should be alright, I've never tried going as late as 9. I would say it's pushing it at that time. When I go at 7 they seem to be starting to hose everything down. The best days are Wednesday and Thursday for wetfish and poultry, you'll be okay on Friday too for lobsters. One of the better traders is WS Scott, give them a call beforehand (try 07875325177 if you can't reach their landline). You can buy your fish singly if you want but they will get grumpy (ok grumpier) if you ask them to clean and gut them too!

Label Rouge chickens, medium size £5 = much cheapness. Do not ever freeze them as it ruins the texture, best chickens for Hainan Chicken rice I reckon.

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From experience 8 o'clock should be alright, I've never tried going as late as 9. I would say it's pushing it at that time. When I go at 7 they seem to be starting to hose everything down. The best days are Wednesday and Thursday for wetfish and poultry, you'll be okay on Friday too for lobsters. One of the better traders is WS Scott, give them a call beforehand (try 07875325177 if you can't reach their landline). You can buy your fish singly if you want but they will get grumpy (ok grumpier) if you ask them to clean and gut them too!

Label Rouge chickens, medium size £5 = much cheapness. Do not ever freeze them as it ruins the texture, best chickens for Hainan Chicken rice I reckon.

Top Man, thanks ever so much for that, I can't wait to go now :biggrin:

"So many places, so little time"

http://londoncalling...blogspot.co.uk/

@d_goodfellow1

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Oh! Yes I was talking about the Indoor Market. For some reason never considered the Wholesale market, didn't think there would be much there for me. Sounds like I was totally wrong and I will be heading there ASAP! Isn't eGullet great?

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Prawn's always getting great quality food from that place and posting great shots of it.

But does anyone know of wholesale food markets in Liverpool or Manchester? We could do with compiling a list.

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