Surprise: winter is cold

It is cold, it is grey on this winter day in Zagreb, but suddenly there are bright summer colours popping up. Piles of oranges, mandarines, apples, kiwis and the abundant red umbrellas pop up when approaching the Kvatric market (or Kvaternikov Trg). A friendly touch to this day.

Located next to a larger street (Ulica Pavla Šubića), the iron fence around the market gives a feeling of being a protected school yard. And it is busy indeed, despite being smaller than the more famous Dolac market.

Structure & order are everything

The city of Zagreb has a very clear idea on how a market has to be like: it has to look very, very organized and structured. All stalls in the centre have the same tables of the same size of the same shape. Against sun, rain and maybe bad luck the stalls are all protected by the same umbrellas, the ones beach cafés might use as well. There is a section with open stalls which need refrigeration and a glass protected display. Also here the same size, shape and style. The open space is surrounded by permanent structures which look also similar to one another.

The vendors

The vendors, mainly ladies, gave this rigid structure and organization a nice charm. To my relief some of them spoke English. The cheese stands operated by old ladies throughout, my lack of Croatian by big smiles and body language for great conversations.

I don’t know how they made it throughout the day in this cold weather as not everyone had an outdoor heater to get at least some warmth. And the cafés at the market helped as well. The weather did not stop people from leaving the market with their hands full of large bags with merchandise.

The offering – quite local

The offering was seasonal for sure. Oranges, apples everywhere. Cabbage, beets, potatoes, carrots, dried beans of all kinds were the common vegetables. Pickles, open sauerkraut, and whole fermented cabbages were unique and interesting to discover.

Strange to me was the set of egg shops, maybe half a dozen all in permanent structures. So many eggs on one single market. No idea why.

The old ladies of the cheese stalls offered only local ones, no Camembert or so.

The butcher had a shop on the side of the market with classic cuts of beef and pork and some dried sausages. As he allowed me to take some pictures, he took away the tray of sweetbreads as he deemed it as not esthetic enough. What a pity.

One my way out I was surprised to discover the small fish market hall: beautiful selection of Mediterranean fishes like sea devil, calamari and live shrimps. It is almost as living at the sea. Not too many customers were on a shopping spree, an easy time to take some pictures. One fish monger even posed some seafood to get better pictures.

All in all: a typical Zagreb market, a little bit hidden, worth a visit for market lovers who want to experience charming vendors

A little link list:

• A blog post on the market from tatjanapasalic.com
• The official/administrative site for all Zagreb markets from Zagrebački Holding – trznice-zg.hr  with the listing of all the vendors

The post Kvatric outdoor market, Zagreb / Croatia appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Getting there

Conveniently located right at the subway station “Rochusgasse” (line U3) this market welcomes you during day & night time with produce, convenience food, quick lunches and time for coffee or a drink at night.

Similar to the famous Naschmarkt most of the stalls are permanent structures looking almost like a compound. Many of them are rather restaurants or pubs than classic stalls where to buy produce. There are also temporary stalls like at a regular farmer’s market. Still the choice is wide and ranges from local products to international specialities and even brands.

The vendors and their future

As one vegetable stall owner said: “I wish we had more vegetable sellers, as with my small surface I cannot cater for all the demand”. But managing such a stall is hard work, getting up at 3 am to be at the Vienna wholesale market to get the right quality products and working until the evening hours. Him and his wife have done it for 32 years! So they have hard time to find staff adhering to such working hours, even though he closes the stall for 2 months per year to have some rest. He and and his wife will probably be without a successor when they retire.

Another aspect some vendors fear are the attempts of law makers to apparently only allow packaged products. It would make the difference between supermarkets and open markets much smaller in terms of offerings, e.g. cheese. Markets would then become less attractive. This reminds of the efforts some years ago in the European Union not to allow anymore cheese making from raw milk. This attempt failed at the end to the benefit of a culture of artisan cheeses as offered at the Rochus market.

The transition of the market

The market is changing over time. Once there were more classic businesses on this market, e.g. 3 butchers instead of one today. Now many stalls are lunch places, restaurants or pubs. There is even a fish franchise “Nordsee” from Germany selling fresh fish and fast food. This is good for people in need for some quick lunches or a drink in the evening, but it takes away the character of a typical picture book market.

Nebertheless the Rochus market benefits from a huge popularity and support according to the vendors. Business is not declining.

The offering

The temporary stalls offer a mix of standard and local offers or specialities. A Greek vendor is selling since 8 years artisan products like cheese, sausages and ham from the western part of Austria (Vorarlberg). I saw some nice porcini mushrooms, grapes from the south of Austria, local cowberries. This offering is positioned next to other seasonal products easily available in supermarkets as well, but probably in a better quality.

The permanent stalls have their own specialities as well. The cheese shop had a nice selection of Austrian and other cheeses. The spiced fatback (Gewürzspeck) sold there (!) caught my eyes, a real delight and easy to bring back home as it does not need refrigeration.

The butcher “Radatz” had a very wide offering in meats, sausages and convenience food. The marinated chicken and beef mixed with vegetables were ready made for the pan for quick cooking, a feast for the eyes. Organic beef was also available. Furthermore he offered a large variety of other prepared foods like baked chicken schnitzels and the like. All in all a good mix of basic products and convenience food.

All in all: Worth a visit when you come by, good for a quick lunch and some culinary souvenirs

A little link list:

• A quick introduction into the markets in Vienna from vienna-insight.at
• For those who can read Arabic letters, a post from Iranian Vienna

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