In summers years back when my parents had a large vegetable garden in the San Joaquin Vally, we would reap the benefits of their hard work in the blistering 100 degrees heat and have the sweetest most flavorful tomatoes I've ever tasted.  Every tomatoe since then has not measured up - except for the dry farmed tomatoes that are now in season at the farmers markets and specialty grocery stores.

A special combination of soil, waterfall, and temperature produce small intensely flavored tomatoes that remind me of my parents' tomatoes.  Being farmed without irrigation results in a smaller tomatoe, but the taste is wonderful.

Long before Foodies gushed about local, seasonal, and organic food sourced from small farmers, the Alemany Farmers Market was offering this food in a no nonsense straight forward manner.  In contrast, the downtown Ferry Building Farmers Market garners all the publicity and yes -- it is beautiful and chic no question.  The Ferry Building is located next to the iconic Bay Bridge in a historic skylit building while the Alemany Farmers Market is an outdoor barren concrete shed tucked in at the side of the intersection of two freeways.

Here at the Alemany Farmers Market ordinary people shop.

SOMA StrEAT Food Park opened a while ago.  Its only a couple of blocks from me so I went over to check it out.  There's a changing variety of trucks so there's always something different to try.  Today I had the Salmon Salad (Truck on the right) and the Chairman Bao Baked Pork Belly bun (truck on the left).  Both really good. The sun finally came out so it was pleasant sitting outdoors.

This package of frozen dim sum is about $4.00 for a package of 20 pieces or $.20 each. I wonder how much of that went to the worker?

I was walking up and down the aisle at 99 Ranch Market the other day checking out all the "exotic" stuff.  I like the old time graphics from Asia. 

The image at the top is a symbol of Zoroastrian Religion, one of the oldest in the world that dates from about 3,500 years ago originating in Persia (Iran).  I saw it in a doorway on Fillmore Street near Union recently and because of my studies at the Asian Art Museum, I  immediately recognized it.  It has the same Zoroastrian symbol.   The silver bowl below is a recent acquisition by the museum and dates from the 19th century and was commissioned in India and made by Burmese artisans. 

I wondered if there was a Zorastrian organization here on Fillmore, but there wasn't any identification other than the symbol.