By Nicola van Laar
A lively group of 10 women from the NSW Senior’s Festival group assembled at a red tent on the green lawn on a humid Saturday morning in March, where they are introduced to Elena Duggan, the 2016 MasterChef Australia winner.
Duggan is warm, knowledgeable and engaging, the same in person as on screen in the MasterChef Australia series. She explained how she took over as tour guide from Tawnya Bahr last year.
“An interest in farmer’s markets and in showcasing and celebrating Australian producers, connected me with Tawnya from Straight to the Source,” Duggan said. “It brings me a lot of joy to spend my Saturday mornings with our tour participants and producers.”
The Northside Produce Markets have been operating in Ted Mack Civic Park in North Sydney since 1999 and contribute to the fundraising efforts of the North Sydney Community Centre.
There are 70 stall holders at the markets from as far afield as Orange, the Riverina, Southern Highlands and Central Tablelands.
The first stallholder on the tour is Jill Pienaar of the Second Mouse Cheese Co from Orange. The cheeses are hand-made and stirred in small batches, which doesn’t toughen the curds like machine stirring does, using milk from local independent dairies.
Tastings are offered of the Double Cream Brie, which is soft and buttery, and the Roobie Blue, which is bold but not ammoniac.
Duggan and Pienaar provide creative ways to pair the cheeses in both fresh and cooked styles, such as Roobie Blue cheese on hot cross buns.
The second stallholder on the tour is Dominic Ryan, the local founder of Restore. The concept was born two years ago from the realisation that we are over-reliant on plastic for our supermarket staples, harming the environment and underpaying our farmers.
Restore partners with NSW family-owned farms and producers that use regenerative practices to make their fresh, nutritious food. They sell a curated selection of Jersey milks, cream, yoghurt, butter, eggs, honey, bread, jams and juices.
“We want to bring back the milkman concept of service,” Ryan said. “We have a subscription service, with weekly deliveries to over 45 postcodes in Sydney, from Manly to Maroubra.”
Using a library system of reusable, returnable, washed and sanitised glassware, Ryan said each jar is refilled on average 25 times, which is currently saving 2000 plastic bottles per week in Sydney.
The tour also included tastings of fruit from Yuri, jam from Uncle Stan, figs from Figlicious and gin from Finders Distillery.
Lisa MacDonald has been the market’s co-ordinator for the past 14 years. Self-confessed foodie MacDonald is the perfect person for this position, as she has been a stallholder here and is passionate about the community.
“They are passionate, knowledgeable people selling quality fresh foods and artisanal products,” MacDonald said. “The benefit to the community is in connection and access to the smaller growers. They keep the food bowl going and offer heritage varieties you won’t find elsewhere.”
Five tours are held annually and are proudly supported by North Sydney Council. The next two Behind the Scenes tours are for adults only on Saturday, May 2, 2026. Book in quickly via the link Book Tour Here, as they are free and have limited numbers.
Featured image: Elena Duggan, Season 8 winner MasterChef Australia, 2016. Picture: Channel 10
