What’s Going On At Central Market?

It’s true: Central Market’s popular and critically lauded Cooking School has re-opened with nearly-the-end-of-this-damned-pandemic safety measures smartly in place, and the schedule is looking almost as robust and delightful as in the Before Times.

[Note: We covered a number of those classes back in the day, and are sooooo happy to see this friendly-cheffed, education-forward place back up and running.]

Whether you’re looking for new skills and tips to help you prepare a sushi platter, a variety of filled Italian pasta, some florally decorated focaccia, an entire Cowboy Steak Dinner, or any number of delectable here-comes-summertime culinary gambits, the Central Market Cooking School on North Lamar has you covered.

[Note: We’re already posting options for Mother’s Day here in the Chronicle’s pages, and we reckon that the Decorated Focaccia class of Fri., May 7, 6:30pm ($60) would be a perfect gift for any creative and bread-loving mom.]

But we’re not just going to point you in the direction of that Cooking School and let you go, citizen. Because we’ve been sampling a plethora of new grocery products lately, too, and there are two of them – available at Central Market, yes – that we especially want to recommend.

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First, Central Market has cocojune.

(Let’s repeat that, with proper emphasis: CENTRAL MARKET HAS COCOJUNE!)

And if you don’t already know what that is, well, don’t feel dumb: We didn’t know about cocojune until a couple of months ago. But, upon discovering the stuff, we … uh … okay, we pretty much raved about its perfect vegan goodness in this blogpost.

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Second, Gino Angelini’s Artisanal Pasta Sauces.

Because Chef Gino runs Angelini Osteria out there in the Golden State of California, see, and it’s L.A.’s most celebrated destination for authentic Italian cuisine. And, lucky for the world, the acclaimed chef’s released his pasta sauces to the grocery trade. And, lucky for Austinites, the excellent noodle enhancements (also, word to the wise, the best friend to various cuts of chicken and beef and pork and veggies) are available at Central Market.

[Note: It’s not just the usual red sauces (the marinara, the arrabiata, the amatriciana, the pomodorini) that Angelini’s does so well that await you on those C.M. shelves. It’s that bestselling Limone of theirs, too – the delicate cream sauce that’s lighter yet more rich with flavor than a typical Alfredo sauce – that you’ll hope is still in stock the next time you visit that brightly enticing emporium.]

Or, pssst, maybe you could even get it online.

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Okay, that’s just three things worth noting at Central Market right now. And there’s always more to come, of course, and we’ll be sure to give you the ol’ Chronicle heads-up about ‘em, as the foodie world we once knew continues a-roaring on back.

Step by step, right? Step by tasty step.