What exactly IS an activate nut? Well fortunately we have someone who can explain...

Can you give a little bit of an overview of how and when Edge Wellness came in to being

Edge Wellness is actually a medical clinic I created in 2006. I wasn’t satisfied with the model of general practice in Australia – ‘in and out in 5 minutes’! I learned that doctors are forced to do this because of the inflexible nature of our healthcare system whereby they are punished for spending any length of time with a patient, and discouraged from doing much more than write a script and treat the symptom. My medical clinic allows for much more comprehensive hour long consultations, and employs expert doctors who have the space to practise general, natural, environmental and nutritional medicine.

Working with such amazing practitioners exposed my wife (Astrid) and me to all sorts of things like Paleo, Organic and our famous ‘Activated Nuts’!

They are the best nuts we’ve ever tasted; we love baking with them and snacking on them all day. 

Patients started buying them in clinic, and before you knew it Astrid had quit her job as an interior decorator to run our market stall. It carries our clinic name ‘Edge Wellness’ because it stands for more than a clinic. It’s about better health through the latest research and the best products and services. Our mantra is ‘live a better life’.

Our first exposure to the OFM was finding Marrickville Organic Markets in 2013. We were market virgins but it quickly became our weekly Sunday shop for meat, salad, vegies and smoked salmon. The cos lettuce lasts at least 3 times as long as supermarket stuff. Scary. The organic veg is actually CHEAPER than the supermarket. The meat is much fresher.

Marrickville is still our favourite. We’ve never had a stall there, and we do love the other markets, but you never forget your first!

Amongst some of your products is your "activated" nut range. What exactly are activated nuts and what role (in your view) do they play in our daily wellbeing

Well the chef Pete Evans made them famous, and copped a lot of uneducated flack in the process. I guess that’s always the way with trendsetters. Activated nuts used to be called ‘sprouted’ nuts. Sprouting grains, nuts and seeds is a centuries-old process proven in the archaeological and anthropological record. Nearly every food we eat requires some processing, either: cooking, sprouting or just washing. We don’t roam around like triceratops eating plants willy nilly!

Nuts and seeds cause digestive problems in quite a few people because they are full of phytates which keep them in a state of stasis. Sprouting enhances the nutritional component of nuts and seeds and often removes the intolerance. It’s the same as germinating a seed. We made a short video last year explaining it

On a more visceral level, it’s hard to enjoy the recommended intake of nuts when they are bitter (raw walnuts), soggy (raw almonds), tasteless (raw pecans) and metallic (raw brazil nuts). Cue our activated nuts: our almonds are super-duper crunchy, our walnuts are buttery smooth and our pecans taste sweet like they are coated in caramel (they’re not). Try them – nothing compares!

Always with a smile, always with friendly advice, and now a firm favourite at our markets. Do you find that each area has its own specific demographic as far as which is the best-selling product or is it more of once an Edge Wellness devotee always an Edge Wellness devotee

We’ve been introducing and removing products, always on the lookout to provide something unique and premium. Along with our regular paleo cookies, carrot/ginger cakes and pumpkin muffins we added ice- cold drinking coconuts. It was the healthiest drink we could find and we noticed that other stalls were selling them warm. Ours are better by being fresh from the importer every Wednesday, and always smothered in ice for maximum refreshment.

We’re excited to be replacing them with ginger kombucha in the coming weeks. This particular kombucha has a massive probiotic count and negligible sugar because it’s properly fermented (where the probiotics metabolise all of the sugar). It’s made by our good friends at Amphore who have the best kombucha we’ve ever seen. We’ll be serving it ice-cold in summer and warm in winter (when warm, it’s like a healthy mulled wine). This will be another unique product that we are proud to bring to the markets.

What is it about markets like ours that form an important of the local community

The post-modern rejection of metanarratives is evidenced in Sydney’s embracing of local, ethical and sustainable produce. Sydney is no longer buying the large narrative the big brands are spinning with their highly processed and mass produced products. Sydney is increasingly looking for the small narrative - the story of the local farmer, the local business, the authentic work of husband and wife teams like Edge Wellness. Our stories are personal, real, transparent, and usually include better products. I for one will no longer buy lamb in a tray at one of the large supermarket chains. I’ll get it from Ben the Free Range Butcher who can tell me what his lambs eat, where their paddocks are, and how they were raised.

Astrid sharing the joy of free range meat

How would you sum up the world of Edge Wellness in 5 words

Live a better life!

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So!  nothing left for it other than to say a massive muchos gracias to Matt & Astrid for sharing a bit of their world with us, demystifying nuts that are Activated and bringing a whole lotta sunshine every Sunday at our infamous and enormously popular Frenchs Forest Market!

Alexandra's Table.....possibly the Northern Beaches answer to Heston!

A most welcome addition to Frenchs Forest Market and judging by the interest in your products, a much needed one!  Can you give us a little bit of history behind the beginnings of Alexandra's Table

My family has been on the Paleo diet for more than 4 years now.  When we started, there weren't many good recipes, so I did lots of experimenting.  I've made ice creams as well, but dairy free ice creams are quite different than the "real" ones.  If they are made with soy milk, you can taste soy.  If they are made with coconut milk, you can taste coconut.

Once I had an idea which I tried and it seemed to work.  I worked on the recipe a lot to find the right ratio of ingredients.

As a food blogger, my first impulse was to post my new ice cream recipe on the net, but then I thought that it was too good to give away...so instead we started a company called Alexandra's Table.

These ice creams don't have soy milk, coconut milk or any disturbing flavours.  They don't have additives, colours or preservatives.  They are creamy and scoopable straight from the freezer.  People describe them as being "moussey".

Since we introduced Alexandra's ice creams, I've still been working on the basic recipe to make my customers more satisfied.  I make these ice creams sweeter now than at the very beginning.  I've added new ingredients to stabilise the texture so they won't drop in volume while you take them home, they stay fresh longer, they melt slower and are colder on the tongue and they are a little bit less moussey. 

The Paleo movement has gained an incredible momentum.  From your personal stance, why do you think that is

You can be on a Paleo diet long term without side effects, which is very important. You can keep your weight down, you don't feel bloated after meals etc.  Paleo is not only a diet, but a lifestyle which is pretty easy to keep on in our Australian climate.

There are so many people who have cured their so-called "life time sickness" with Paleo, so it doesn't surprise me that this movement is gaining more and more people widely around the world, and is becoming increasingly well known in Australia as well.

I am originally from Hungary where there are heaps of followers of Paleo.  There are Paleo cafes, patisseries and shops in almost every city and big town in the country. You can buy Paleo ingredients which are not yet available in Australia.

I personally thought I was healthy even before Paleo.  However I quickly realised that some problems I had (and never thought about them as sicknesses) just disappeared due to my new diet.

I think that given time, people's personal experiences provides the proof that being on Paleo is healthy.  it is hard to find anything wrong when you eat organic vegetables, organic fruits and your meat comes not only from an organic source but from animals that have been fed what they are meant to eat.

The flavour combinations you come up with for your ice cream peaked with the Bacon & Egg!  Where or what inspires these delightful moments of madness

On the very first day of our market appearance, I realised that people don't want to by ice creams early in the morning.  I truly understand that, so I thought I should make a breakfast ice cream.  

As we eat bacon & egg almost every morning it was an obvious choice.  I always thought that a savoury ice cream would be interesting.  The somebody reminded me that Hetson Blumenthal has already made an Bacon & Egg ice cream and it's on the menu of his restaurant, The Fat Duck.

I don't know how I forgot about it as I've learned a lot from his shows and books!  My Bacon & Egg ice cream is different from his one though....but keep tuned...I'll come out with other crazy things!  I have to keep up with Heston!!!!

What is it about market life that keeps it real for you

The main thing is that I can meet my customers directly.  Their feedback is very important to me because I can change my products to their satisfaction.  If they are happy, I am happy.

I know what it means when you kids are not allowed to eat dairy ice creams.  I know what it means when you cannot try new flavours.  It's really thrilling when I see those little children eating my chocolate ice creams and they like them just as my kids do and they come back the following Sunday for another one.

We have a special flavour every Sunday which is not available anywhere else.  We have Bacon & Egg (savoury ice cream), Apricot, Sweet Basil and Olive Oil with Iron Bark Honey.  If you want to know ahead, I usually post the news on my facebook page a day or two before market day (you can see Alexandra's Table facebook page "here") 

not ice cream but seriously Alexandra's Table's moreish yumminess 

How would you sum up the world of Alexandra's Table in 5 words

Free of everything bad, full of flavour!

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So you heard it hear first peoples!  Find this amazingingly happy face of the lady who makes the delightfully crazy sounding ice creams and while you're there a) let her know you read all about her, b) sample some of her yummies and c) BUY up big cause she's one in a million and she's all ours!