Share Coverage
Send to KindleCategory: Community and Society / Food and Beverage / Food and Cooking
Canberra food lovers queue from 4:00am for Christmas day fare
Saturday, 24 Dec 2016 09:51:59 | Alkira Reinfrank
Prawns were at the top of everyone's wish list. (ABC News: Alkira Reinfrank)
With less than 24 hours left to prepare for the big day, Canberrans have made their last-minute dash to the territory's markets to pick up all their Christmas day essentials.
Weary eyed but full of Christmas cheer, punters shuffled their way through the Fyshwick Markets since the wee hours of this morning to get their hands on fresh seafood, warm sourdough and sweet treats.
The first customer for the fish shops arrived just shy of 4:00am, with lines stretching well beyond the shopfronts by mid-morning.
Chris Russell from Ocean Fresh Seafoods said Canberrans were buying up big on Aussie Christmas classics.
He expects to sell 4.5 tonnes of cooked prawns, 330 kilograms of cooked lobster and 2,700 dozen of oysters.
"It started about 3:55am with four or five customers initially, and from their we have been serving hundreds every hour," he said.
However some of the out-of-town visitors were "shocked" at Canberra's craze for seafood.
"[I'm] surprised how many people are here queueing for the fish," Herman Schwoerer from Germany said.
"In Germany we eat a lot of different things ... such as original ham, Black Forrest ham and smoked ham.
"But here it is fish. It's perfect".
Sourdough reins supreme at markets
It was not just the fish shops that were abuzz, with butchers and fruit shops filled to the brim with customers from the crack of dawn.
Fruit mince pies have taken a back seat to sourdough purchases this year.
Louise Smith from Crust Bakery said people had been queueing for baked goods since 5:00am.
She said her bakers have been in overdrive, working for the last 48 hours.
"We are expecting to sell out around 1:00pm," she said.
For the shopkeepers at the markets, Christmas eve marks one of the bustiest days of the year.
But it is also signals the final sprint till the workers get to relax and rest their feet after a long and fruitful year.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
