Cooks whip up 14 different soups for Farmer’s Market patrons

The smell of 14 different soups made by chefs from across Bloomington filled the air over Morton Street Saturday morning at the Farmer’s Market’s first soup-tasting.\nThe purpose of the soup tasting was to bring people to the Farmer’s Market and remind them that the market is still open through November, said Lori Appler, a senior and an AmeriCorps member who works with the \nFarmer’s Market.\nOrganizers encouraged the chefs to use local food from the farmers around Bloomington, much of which is sold at the market, Appler said.\nMany of the chefs also hold booths at the market.\n“We used stuff that people can obtain at the market, but we didn’t actually get it from there,” said Matt Tedesco, a cook at Upland Brewery. “They wanted people to take a look at our recipes and make their own interpretation \nof them.”\nEach cook had the recipe for his soup sitting out so visitors could take a copy of the ones\n they enjoyed. \nEverything from Guatamalan potato soup to pumpkin and apple spiced soup was available for tasting. Many new restaurants used the event as an opportunity to let residents know about their dishes. \n“Our restaurant is new to the community,” said chef Jeff Finch from Trulli Flatbread, 514 Kirkwood Ave. “We’ve only been here about six months. This lets people know who we are and sample our stuff. There’s a huge sense of community out there that will hopefully enjoy and support our restaurant.”\nThe soup-tasting had an unexpected turnout, Tedesco said. \n“My initial reaction was, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of people here,’” Tedesco said. “I think everyone ran out of soup\n in the end.”\nThe Farmer’s Market holds other tastings throughout the year to bring people in. \n“We want to encourage students who aren’t aware of us or feel it’s too early, that we’re open until 1 p.m. and encourage them to come down,”\nsaid Appler.\nThree more Saturday markets are scheduled for the year. The final Saturday is Nov. 24 and it’s a special holiday market. Besides having the normal food, many arts and crafts for the holidays are also available.\n“We are the only farmer’s market in Indiana to accept food stamps,” Appler said. “We just started that this year. We have different ethnic income levels and different ages and beliefs. Bloomington has a varied culture and we are gearing off the idea of Bloomington in general.”\nThe Farmer’s Market is located at 401 N. Morton St. in front of City Hall. For the rest of the month, the market will be open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to \n1 p.m.