Corona and farmers’ markets

Corona times have their impact on farmers’ markets. In my hometown Bonn (Germany), the downtown market suffered as all surrounding shops were closed. When was that? March, April? Corona took away my sense for date and time.

The markets in the suburbs boomed as home office meant also cooking at home instead of eating in the canteen at work. And supermarkets did not always provide the “proper” environment in these times.

Besides those general trends here in Bonn, there was also one person who stranded in Bonn during Corona times and built his own business at the market.

This is the story about Baptiste, a French student who visited his German girlfriend and because he could not travel back anymore decided to start again baking bread on a wood fire oven and sell it on 2 markets in Bonn.

He got into contact with a local pizza backer “Pizza Prinzip” , who caters with his wood fire oven pizza for several markets, and off he went.

So let’s listen to his story and craft.

How did it all happen?

Askan: Baptiste, who are you, where do you come from and what are you doing in general?

Baptiste: I am Baptiste Hagège, French from the Southeast of France, more precise the Drôme region. I am into sports, rehabilitation and physiotherapy and another passion: bread and pastries. I am doing the latter one since being a little kid.

Since you were a kid?

Yes indeed, since I was 13, I was selling cakes and pastries in a bakery.

Great. And how did it happen that you came here to Bonn?

My girlfriend Nadine is living here in the city of Bonn and I was suppose to visit her for a weekend. But with Corona suddenly air travel stopped, everything was shut down. So I decided to stay with her during the times of Corona.

That sounds quite romantic. I hope she liked it as well.

Yes, very much.

Now you are working at the market in Oberkassel (neighborhood in Bonn) with a wood fire oven from Pizza Prinzip. How did that cooperation happen? You probably haven’t heard from Pizza Prinzip already in France.

I discovered the farmers’ market at the Frankenbad in Bonn and I asked myself, hey why not start selling bread here. The major things for selling bread are, first making bread, having flour and an oven. For the flour I discovered the nearby Broicher Mühle and afterwards I started looking for a wood fire oven. I approached several bakers in vain and then I contacted Zoe who is running the Frankenbad market, who told me to call Boris (owner of Pizza Prinzip). We started a trial with one of his ovens and it worked out. So he told me: just do it!

So we started the first Friday market here in Oberkassel, it worked really well, people were coming back the next time, they really liked the bread, which is the most important part (laughing).

Baking bread in a wood fire oven

But tell me, what is so special with a wood fire oven? At home I am baking bread as well, but only in a normal electric oven.

What’s so special about the wood fire oven is that you have to preheat the stones inside first, then you put the bread in the oven and do not heat it anymore, the stones give back the heat. Therefore one has to master the heating of the oven, meaning having the right wood and fire to heat up the stone to the right temperature.

What does it do to the bread when you bake it in a wood fire vs. an electric oven like at home?

Well it first adds taste to it. A more distinct taste to the bread crust and a particular color, a little darker. The bread will also not be uniform, there will be for example some darker spots due to some ashes or so which gives authenticity to the bread.

Is it harder to handle such an oven?

Yes it is more difficult than pressing a button of a regular oven. Each one is different. And it is after two months that I start to understand how the oven works. Before that it is only tests. So it is a long process. Of course the type of wood is important which will add taste to the bread and heat up differently.

A different style of breads

When I look at your breads, your Pain au Chocolat, I wouldn’t know which type of style they are. The baguette is not the one I usually see in France, neither will I find your other breads in a German bakery. How would you describe it?

Well, I would say it is a bread from former times and which comes back into fashion again. The breads are sourdough based which helps to keep them fresh longer and gives them a distinct taste, a certain acidity. It won”t be the classic baguette which is eaten immediately. I am using whole flour not the white one.

Which are the flours you enjoy working with?

For making bread I like working with spelt, the one you can find here and the one from France.

And what do you like so much about spelt?

The “little” spelt is one of the most ancients cereals. It is a bit yellow and has a distinct taste, slightly spicy somehow, slightly sugary , a quite particular cereal.

Spelt is different to wheat, it will not rise as much when baking. And here in Bonn is also different to the one in France.

Oh really? What does this mean?

In France we have an organization which protects the “little spelt” . Here in Germany it cross bred with wheat, looks a bit more brownish, with a strong taster, partly reminding of rye. So it is really a different flour altogether. In France spelt is strongly protected and therefore “pure pure”.

Is rye being used in France?

Yes. And here I discovered at the “Broicher Mühle” a super beautiful rye with yellow, purple, black, white colors. It is really great to work with, it has a great taste.

The experience selling at a market

Have you ever worked on a farmers’ market before, with your own oven etc.?

Not it is my first time. It is the first time that I sell bread on a market.

Where you not scared working at a market making your bread “live” in front of everybody?

Oh yes, I was scared. When I had my first breads, they were a failure. So I put them aside. Then somebody wanted to buy them and I told him: no don’t buy them they are not good. But he still wanted to buy them and he liked them. The next breads turned out better nevertheless.

You had some experience as a youngster selling bread in a bakery, is this experience here at the market very different?

Ooh, yes, yes, it is a bit different. First it is a bit more complicated as I do not speak German. Okay, I know spelt flour, rye flour or “would you like a Pain au Chocolat” in German. But beyond that the communication with the people is different.

So it is the smile which wins at the end of the day, even under a mask in Corona times?

Exactly, the smile with the people is what counts. Then the people are happy.

Is it always the same people who came to you to buy bread? Or did it always change?

I have base of loyal customers, that is really a great experience, one of the most positive things I am taking with me being at the market. You meet every week the same people, they provide me with feedback, telling me what was good and what not so good as you have to consider that I am not really a professional who has done many markets. So I get a lot of advice from the local customers, and that is really super. And what is great they still come back when there was something not so great. They try something different, it is really nice.

The difference between markets

You are working at two markets: the one here in Oberkassel, rather a suburb and the other one at the “Frankenbad” in the “old town” of Bonn at the center. Is there a difference between the 2 markets? Or are they the same?

No, they are very different. On the level of the organization and people. In the “old town” market I have to first produce my bread in the oven and the transport it to the market with a trailer on my bike. Here in Oberkassel I produce the bread on the spot itself. There is also a different ambiance, here in Oberkassel people take more time to talk with each other. À Frankenbad people have less time, but they are a very different type of people. So there the markets have different type of customers, event though the age groups are similar at my stall. But as a whole there are more young people at Frankenbad who are more interested in the initiative. In Oberkassel people prefer the more traditional side. In Oberkassel the people are interested in the fact that I am a young guy and working to get things done. Frankenbad has a more alternative ambiance also when it comes to consumer habits.

And what does it mean in terms of sales? Is it different as well?

No, not really. People come, ask what kind of bread it is, we give them advice for example what they are going to have for dinner and give them the best choice. On the pastry level people have also the same preferences. It is kind of balanced between the two markets.

I have heard that you will come back one more time and then you will leave?

Yes.

Leaving the beautiful city of Bonn,

yes

your girl friend,

yes

the chance to bake bread and sell it

yes

Which is really pity from my perspective.

Now I know: I can make it!

But tell me how would you characterize your experiences here? What are your lessons learned? For you personally.

In the meantime the cook from nearby bistro came by and wanted to buy some bread as well. And after a chit chat Baptiste commented:

You see it is nice, he gets some breads from me and he brings me his great bowls, this exchange is really a nice experience. But also the ambiance amongst the traders is great. I give bread, I get fish. That is really a particular ambiance.

So what does this experience here means for your future? Is it something you do not want to do anymore because it is so hard?

It gave me the idea that it is feasible to do it. Baking breading, finding flour, starting the business, people who come back to buy again. At the beginning we wanted to do it for ourselves and now we want to do it for the customers. So these two things blend together, that is really super. I really got the feeling that I can make it.

So it means that one of these days we will see you here again? Maybe during vacation?

Why not. I call Boris (Pizza Prinzip owner) and will ask him if I can bake some bread in one of his ovens and then we start again.

Any final words?

First, I would like to thank Boris a lot for his help, he gave me everything and trusted me. That was top. You know I just the capabilities and he gave me all the materials. And even when I had a strange idea, he said “no worries, just do it”.

And second I would like to thank all the people from Bonn who bought my bread.

Epilogue

I was really impressed how Baptiste got stranded and found a way to make a living in a foreign city without any knowledge of the local language. And how people like Boris are helping in a practical way without knowing about the outcomes. These are the stories which make farmers’ markets unique places full of life.

A little link list:

• Market in Oberkassel
• Farmers’ market at the Frankenbad
• Pizza Prinzip who helped Baptiste with the wood fire oven
• The local mill Broicher Mühle for Baptiste’s bread
• The other markets in Bonn on this blog

The post How Corona “helped” me to start a business – Interview with Baptiste at the Oberkassel Farmers’ Market appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

A long history

Since centuries the regional “capital” Gunzenhausen in Franconia (now part of Bavaria) has the right to hold a market. And since these days, people come from far to buy at the Thursday outdoor market.

Some people from the surrounding area even schedule their doctors or administrative appointments to allow them do their purchases at the market.

This is what I had been told by one market trader. Looking around, the story seemed reasonable as the quality of the produce looked good.

Gunzenhausen is part of Franconia a region in Bavaria, Germany. It is generally speaking an area known for its beer, wine and its cuisine, which in my opinion is one of the better German ones. All is still linked to the regional food production and people are putting some emphasis on food quality. And this region is particularly meat heavy with big portions and small prices.

Regional quality

The outdoor market stretches along the main road in the historical center of the city and has 20 or so stalls. It is a mix of producers and traders, but all with regional roots and often unique products. The offering covered basically everything: fruits & vegetables, dairy, cheese, meat, fish (also local sweet water ones), spices, flowers, bread, pastry.

It is just nice to see a market having regional, rather smaller producers who deliver quality into the city. The local white asparagus for example was in season and carefully screened by knowledgeable housewives.

Let me highlight a few examples to show why people are coming from far to this place.

Re-inventing selling eggs

The lady who sold eggs and pasta made it very clear and explained it in great length that her chicken were truly free range ones. They have stables that they can move from on meadow to the other to provide their animals good food. And I learned that there is no need to put eggs in the fridge, it does not prolong their shelf life.

The succession of the farm seem to be in good hands, as her 11 year old daughter had a few quails and selling their eggs. They went into our basket and made us happy in our home kitchen. Not so easy to crack though.

Direct sales is at the core of their business. Customers can come to their farm at any time, take what they need and put the money into a box. She never really experienced fraud. Nice to hear.

And she even went one step further and sharing a temperature controlled vending machine with a butcher. She is selling eggs, chicken soup, pasta and other items. It is placed next to a camping site and the business is doing well.

I am always amazed about the creativity of small producers when it comes to ideas on how to compete against big business.

A woman’s job and a man’s job

Sheep meat is my favorite one. But it is not as widespread in Germany as pork or chicken. Finding a shepherd who is selling her own meat is then kind of a jackpot as it is often imported from the Netherlands or New Zealand for example.

The lady running the stall enjoyed what she was doing: talking to customers, telling them about all aspects raising and butchering sheep. It was a pleasure to listen to her. And she explained that her family business is clearly divided: her husband does not like to so much to do deal with people, so he is raising the flock. Her strengths is dealing with customers, her husband’s to deal with the animals. Sounds almost like a cliché, doesn’t it?

Bringing wholewheat bread to a new level

The most surprising stall to me was the organic wholewheat baker. Why is that? Well, I am not a particular fan of wholewheat bread. To me, it often lacks a truly fine aroma and spreading butter often results into the slice break apart in more or less big crumbs making it unpleasant to eat.

But this bakery here owned by the Fischer family in Lichtenau offered a truly new experience. Their wholewheat baguette had such a great structure, aroma and taste, a bit different to a classic French baguette, but with a very pleasant own character. No wonder: the sourdough raises for 3 (three) days before it is being baked. And we know that time is probably the most important “ingredient” for a good bread. It was so different to my usual experience that almost jumped around like a kid at Christmas.

Several types of bread found the way into my shopping bag. Still they did not survive for a long time. For people who love bread, there is no way passing by without buying a loaf or a roll.

Two times

At the day of my visit I went two times to the market. First alone, to get the basics for this post and then with my family. They enjoyed the market as well, which does not happen every time I visit one. Especially since there were no typical street food vendors around. Still the local produce was good enough for them.

All in all: The Thursday outdoor market in Gunzenhausen is a great representation of a hub for regional quality products and certainly worth a little detour.

A little link list:

• The page on the market by the city of Gunzenhausen
• The Gunzenhausen market on German TV
• The website of the egg producer and their Facebook presence
• A directory with the contacts of the shepherds
• The website of the organic bakery

The post Coming from far – Market in Gunzenhausen, Franconia / Germany appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Scroll down for the map including directions

What I still remember is the cheese, the wood oven bread and the horse meat sausages – all from the region of Saxony – I had to buy it.

A bit of walking

It was the end of the summer school vacation. It was warm but gray, the ambiance at the market very relaxed. The vendors had time to talk and nobody seemed to be in a hurry.

The Sachsenmarkt in Dresden is not a small one I have to say. Two parallel lanes of about 100 meters separated by grass and rows of trees for picnic (is it allowed?), each lane with two rows of stalls – officially around 160 – facing each other. I had to do a bit of walking to get a glimpse of the wide choice.

A Westerner meets the East

As somebody who grew up in Western Germany my notion of Eastern Germany is rather limited, nothing to be proud of. When thinking of agricultural production in the East, I always have the big state farms in mind. And looking at the fields while traveling, they looked much larger than the ones in my area. So I was pleasantly surprised to see so many small producers at the market.

The whole market has a strong focus on regional products, also something I am not used too. “International” products were rare. Yes, the fish was not from the area, a Turkish stall served Mediterranean delicacies, the flowers probably came from the Netherlands and the Hungarian stall was run by real Hungarians. But that’s about it I guess. The rest was showing what the region has to offer.

Cheese, bread & horse meat

I do not consider Germany as a cheese country, the market seems dominated by large scale dairies which produce surprisingly low quality or boring stuff. France, Italy & the Netherlands are still the true cheese heaven to me.

The Sachsenmarkt surprised me. I guess at least 6 stalls with regional artisan cheeses, the highest density I have ever seen at a German market. Most of it was organic, from cow milk but also a lot from goat milk – I do not remember sheep milk. The choice was plentiful: from fresh cheeses to more mature ones up to a year old; with different ingredients and spices – always a winner: fenugreek; but also with funny names: Gute-Laune-Käse (jolly mood cheese) – did not try this one, I was already fine. The only thing I really missed were truly old cheeses. I just love the “yellow gold” which is 3 years old or so, the aroma is so concentrated and overwhelming. Unfortunately these artisans do not have enough space to produce it and maybe customers would not like to pay the necessary premium.

Another attraction was the baker who produced on site in a wood fire oven. People were queuing to get their share. He does not mind making the effort to bring his mobile oven to the markets and living a life where you have to get up early to produce real bread. He loves his craft and does not want to stop even though it is hard to find apprentices for his business. I guess working in a bread factory means having a more socially compatible schedule. He had a large variety of breads, I bought three smaller ones: a potato bread, one with sprouts and a regular sourdough one. They were tasty.

Three stalls had horse meat and sausages. I once had in Italy my very first horse steak tartar. It is decades ago and I am still chasing this taste. These stalls brought me closer to it and I bought a few sausages. One of them was run by one of the few remaining horse meat butchers in the region, the old generation does not seem to find successors. The clientèle is also rather limited but thankfully he still continues his job. Of course he sells also other meats to make a living.

BBQ on a bicycle

What a surprise! At the end of the market I found something I saw once: a charcoal grill for Bratwurst on a bicycle! Three years ago I had a stop over in Chemnitz at the market roughly one hour drive from Dresden. I saw the same bike, and yes the guy told me that it was him, the one from Chemnitz. The world is a small planet! But I don’t think that he was cycling the whole distance.

Learn the difference between Dresden and Leipzig

Most of the vendors cater for several markets. As regional and organic food is not on the budget side, they are looking for larger cities with purchasing power. Leipzig, the largest city in the state of Saxony is not far away from Dresden, its capital. Space for a rivalry. And yes, I learned my lesson from a lady selling bread; the message was very clear: Leipzig people are grumpy, they complain too much, they are not laid back. You go there only for the money not for the fun. Dresden people are just the opposite: friendly and gemütlich! They always have time for a chat and are patient. I can confirm the latter for this market: once I started a conversation with any vendor he did not end until I continued my walk, while real customers waited patiently for their turn.

Now I have to check out the Leipzig markets.

All in all: A display of Saxony produces, go for it if you want to get to know the regional bounty – only on Fridays.

A little link list:

• Farmers’ markets in Dresden (German)
• Marktgilde, the company managing the Sachsenmarkt amongst many others in Germany

The post Cheese, bread & horse meat – Sachsenmarkt in Dresden / Germany appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

In my blog a wide range farmers’ markets, market halls and the like have been described.

Meat

On my inward journey to the market I made a stop at the butcher Wiskirchen, where there is always a long queue waiting for service. Queues are not my cup of tea but today I decided to stay in line. I asked a couple people ahead of me why they were queuing but did not get a satisfying answer. When it was my turn the butcher explained: “well, we are just working too slow”. The laughs were all around. He is sourcing his meat and sausages from several producers with trustworthy quality he knows since a long time. My eyes caught a whole rabbit, something I always have been interested in but was always to shy to buy. This was my chance and together with a glass of rillettes it got into my bag.

As I was too lazy to find uncomplicated rabbit recipes, I just took the whole animal, fried it a bit on all sides, added a bit of thyme and rosemary and then put it into the oven at 80°C for a three hours, as I like low temperature cooking a lot. After having eaten the rabbit, I will be queuing again: the quality of the meat was really great.

Having the chance to buy a whole rabbit made me realize that nowadays the way meat is being presented and sold (in supermarkets) creates a disconnection to the fact that an animal had to be raised and killed to fill our stomachs. Instead it rather looks like something which could come out of a factory like any other consumer good. I guess this is a good entry point for artificial meat.

Vegetables

I moved on to one of the vegetable & fruit sellers, Mr. Raditzkys stall. His family enterprise sells on several Bonn markets and they have been featured in local newspapers and TV. The produce is sourced from the wholesale market in Cologne. I needed tomatoes and they had only one variety: the “Tasty Tom” ones. The sales lady convinced me that they were honoring their name, so I was willing to pay the premium even though it is was not the right season for great tomatoes.

I needed some salad, and here I have a favorite trader Mr. Henschke who is a producer himself as well and adds from other sources when necessary. I once bought some great Italian radicchio and since then he is the guy. He did not have this original one anymore (wrong season?), still he got me as a customer, and in addition the new harvest potatoes from Cyprus went into my shopping bag. They ended as roasted potatoes next to the rabbit.

Bread

Bread is something I cannot live without. Having lived a great portion of my life in the Würzburg area in Germany, where great bread is being produced, I am quite picky about it. So far in the Bonn area, I have never found the “right” one and I am always on the hunt for it. I had never bough a bread from the organic bakery “Tillmann” at the market, so I had to give it a try. And I found a keeper! Now there is one more reason to make the trip to the Bad Godesberg market.

Cheese

At the market it is very easy for me to stretch my budget to the very limit and to have too much food in the fridge. The choice is just so tempting. With a little discipline I allowed myself one more purchase at the Cilinaria Espania stall, which sells cheeses and antipasti with a Spanish touch. Mr. Linnemann refines cream cheese and other ones to his tasting with different spices, dried tomatoes and other condiments. Those dips are hard to resist. As we know each other a bit, we had our conversation, also about his quest to find a space at the main market in Bonn, where he could also sell some street food, which is not permitted at the current spot. I hope he will be successful, it will be an enrichment. He is a good sales person, very generous in giving samples, alway chatting and recommending new creations. This charm makes you overlook your budget and enjoy the good food side of life. Together with the ciabatta type of bread he sells, it was easy to overcome the time until the rabbit left the oven.

Experience

In an older post I described the market as a relaxed one. I have to add that it is a welcoming one as well, who is able to offer great quality and discoveries. And the traders are certainly a bunch of people to feel comfortable with. Shopping here brought smiles into the kitchen.

A little link list:

• My post on the Bad Godesberg market
• The Bad Godesberg market traders

The post Discoveries – Shopping at the farmers’ market appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

“They are Slow Food” the guy from Zürich told me when tasting the oysters from the nearby sea for the bar he wanted to start in his home town. The oysters just been collected, they were not farmed. “Slow Food” indeed describes the organic Noordermarkt fairly well. It is located near the city center of Amsterdam (see map below). It is surrounded by nice cafés, a play ground and the large Noorderkerk church, offering kind of a Mediterranean, relaxing feeling – at least on sunny days.

Due to the EuroPride 2016 canal parade the market was smaller than usual, but still worth a visit.

The oysters

Coming back to the oysters. The stall owner gets them from the North Sea, they are not farmed, they are wild ones, just collected off the ground, obviously during low tide. The helpful staff opens them up to be eaten on the spot, with lemon, Tabasco, pepper or just natural. A glass of champagne from Germany – yes! – complements them. Good start of the day. These oysters are not as famous as the ones from France, but the owner drives them even down to Switzerland, where they can be resold with a nice margin. And I learned something new about oysters: the “pregnant” ones taste creamier than usual, not necessarily to my liking. The vendor had unusual signs with pregnant and non-pregnant mermaids to represent them – check the picture gallery.

Walking along

After this first meal and longer conversation with the Swiss guy and his upcoming bar business, it was time to move on and discover the other offering. Summer is always a good season for a market visit, colors are bright due to nature’s bounty, people are in a good mood and have time to enjoy the food. The traders, as I have observed on other Dutch markets as well, have a nicely swift, direct and sarcastic humor. Not really gentle, but very funny. The crowd looks pretty much like health conscious middle class, not as diverse as in The Hague at the Haagse Markt.

The offering is nicely presented, flowers give the individual stalls a country home feeling, everything is tasteful aiming at high quality and not at cheap prices. The herbs vendor had a garden of Eden like display enticing an “I want to have it” feeling, just gorgeous. His salsa in the big clay pots gives an excuse to take a short cut instead of cooking yourself.

The fruits and veggie stalls were in peak season. Berries, plums, zucchini blossoms, all kinds of tomatoes, beets and much more celebrated summer, the samples helped to make the choice what to purchase much easier.

Cheese is a very integral part of the Dutch diet. Several stalls catered for the appetite. The selection was not only about the big cheese wheels as known from travel reports. Some are imported cheeses like the Austrian mountain cheese with honey & clover I enjoyed a lot as it was not sweet but made the honey taste blend in really well. In general the choice is rather focused on semi-hard and hard cheeses, with only a few fresh or soft ones, but with excellent aromas. It is popular to add spices like cumin, seeds, e.g. clover, pesto etc. during the cheese making process, thus creating more diversity. My favorites are still the 3 or more year old farmers’ cheeses (Boerenkaas) which have a very concentrated gorgeous aroma. For kids the younger ones are probably more suitable as they taste smoother. Let them cut in dices by the vendor, get some bread (or not) and you will almost save lunch, it is so rich in flavor.

Coming from Germany, I am not a particular friend of Dutch bread from a taste & consistency perspective. But on the market there were some decent ones available. And it is also baked on site. So I assume that they use prepared frozen dough like any (cheap) baking shop nowadays. This is a bit disappointing, their beautiful presentation helped me to overcome these feelings, especially since I cannot resist croissants, which were decent. I also think they are a good way to judge if a baker understands his craft or not and is using good products in the first place.

Next stop: meat and sausages. I bought some dried pork sausage to bring back home with strong aroma fitting well to a good beer. The meat is also a temptation, especially lamb. Most meat was vacuum packed, rather supermarket and not butcher like.

What I find in many Dutch markets are the dried fruit & nuts section in all kinds of mixes often of tropical origin. I do not remember other European markets having such a liking for this product category. Maybe I have not traveled enough.

Despite the appetite for fish in this country there was only one stall selling it, including live lobster. And I do not remember if it was organic, farmed or “regular” fish. The oysters were definitely more interesting to me.

And yes there was a little street food available, I think only Vietnamese.

The costs of running a business on the market

Markets are a business for localities, traders and at times market management companies like the Group Géraud. And I am always wondering what traders have to pay for being at the market. At the Noordermarkt it was easier to find out as two gentlemen in a kind of uniform were collecting the fees. They did that with a device that had each trader with his/her photo. They told me that the fees varied by size of the stall, day of the week and locality of the market. In this case it was about 19.20€ for a 4 meters stall per market day. That would translate into a 576€ monthly rental, highly likely much cheaper than any shop in that area. It seems to be a good place to start a business at reasonable risks.

All in all: A nice market worth a detour when you are in Amsterdam, especially when you are looking for organic products

A little link list:

• A quick introduction from Amsterdam.info
• A free e-book on the markets of Amsterdam
• The Noordermarkt on Wikipedia

The post Trendy – Organic Noordermarkt, Amsterdam / Netherlands appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Theme markets in Bonn

Every few weeks there is a theme market at the Bonn main market. Basically it is either a French or an Italian one. In both cases the vendors celebrate foods & produces or their original countries. And for the first time I took a closer look to the Italian one.

The offering

The dozen or so stalls are lined up in two rows back to back. Each one is representing a different region of Italy like Tuscany, Lombardy, Sicily etc. thus giving broad insights into the regional delicacies.

Still the main offering is about cheeses, hams and salamis, all in large varieties and quantities. Salami with fennel, wine, truffles, or from wild boar; cheeses from cow or sheep milk including the famous ones as Parmesan cheese but also great mountain cheeses, all of those were present.

I also had the opportunity to discover some new produce like the nicely spiced wild boar fillet jerky called Coppiette (see picture gallery) or a gorgeously smooth but distinct mountain cheese from Tuscany – a surprise to me, as I only think of hills in Tuscany, not mountains.

To be fair the variety went far beyond ham, salami & cheese, but I needed to look a bit closer. Yes, there was plenty of olives to buy and obviously olive oil. Sicily showed it’s marzipan style sweets but also many other ones I am still not familiar with (check the pics). Bread was available and I was told that it was even baked in Italy – nevertheless still looking fresh after the transport. At home the quality did not convince me, especially considering the price.

One stall offered Italian street food and of course I could not resist to buy myself a little lunch. The Bruschetta was simple and delicious, no idea where the tomatoes came from, they had real taste, something I am not used to anymore. Besides the bruschetta, antipasti samples cooked at site, sandwiches and Foccacia were available, all looking delicious.

This theme market offered a very nice round trip through regional Italian products, sampling was generous.Prices were rather on the higher end, I cannot judge if always justified.

How does the theme market work?

As this Italian theme market moves in a weekly rhythm from city to city like a traveling circus, I got curious on how the whole thing works.

It seems to be fairly simple. There is a company called Athena International owned apparently by an Italian and a German which manages the whole tour. This means finding the locations in German cities (in 2015 28 cities), providing the infrastructure for the stalls, e.g. permissions, tents, banners, and acquiring Italian traders who manage their own stall and profits. The company is always looking for new vendors.

The Italian traders themselves need to be able to source their own high quality produce from the various regions. German language knowledge is not really a prerequisite, but all vendors know how to offer samples, explain some basics on their offering and closing the deal. Somehow it is comforting that the vendors are “real Italians”, it certainly improves the credibility of the market.

Hard life

For the traders life is not easy. Changing location every week, not being able to settle and put down roots is strenuous. As the caravan moves for months within Germany, the – mostly male – traders are separated from their families at home. Doing this for years in a row, partly due to lack of job alternatives in Italy, is a true burden. So I hope they make a decent profit to get off the circuit after a while. I am grateful to their service as it gives me the possibility to dig deeper into Italian food lifestyle.

All in all: This traveling theme market “circus” is a nice way for a focused discovery of regional Italian delicacies.

A little link list:

• The organizers of the traveling Italian theme market Athena International
• A short video on the Italian theme market

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Düsseldorf has the reputation to be a posh city. The market at the Carlsplatz reflects this as well.

The setting

Strangely enough the Carlsplatz market is not listed in the city’s directory of markets, despite the size and downtown location (see map below), which makes it also interesting for tourists. But the market has it’s own website at least, so it is fairly easy to get some information – when you are ready for German.

The market consists of approximately 60 permanent stalls covered by a glass roof which makes it easy to do purchases or having a snack independent of the weather. The offering is very diverse from local to international/exotic produce and delicacies. This makes it easy to find the right ingredients even for unusual recipes. For serious cooks of the area certainly a must go.

So what is the offering?

Basically everything to be eaten. I found so many items which are rare to find, be it because they are truly exotic, rarely used in the kitchen or just out of season. The latter is not necessarily to my liking, but …

So I will focus on the stalls which got my special attention. And I will start with simple potatoes.

The potato stall

The potato stall impressed me the most on this market. I love potatoes with character and flavour and they are not always easy to find. Therefore it was revealing to find probably more than 40 varieties coming from the potato country of origin (Peru), Scotland, France, Netherlands, Germany … you name it, resulting in a large range of types of starch and colours, from white to even blue. I am not sure if I saw Idaho potatoes though.

The vendor offered this large choice for the first season and seemed to be happy with the success. It took him some time to find whole sellers who could deliver in consistent quantities all the varieties. For me it was worth the effort. Hopefully the vendor will continue next season with the same offering as well.

What TV cooking shows do to us

The spice stall had such a large offer, ready for any kind of cooking book. As it is still in fashion, many types of salt were available, the same was true for peppercorns. So I asked the lady about the current hip stuff. She told me that TV cooking shows have the largest influence. She can predict which spice mixe will be in demand the next day. Currently Ras El Hanout and Garam Masala are en vogue. She questioned the preferences of the fashion at times, but it still means business.

The pasta lady

The fresh pasta being sold in all kinds of colours, shapes and fillings comes from Berlin. The owner explained that they are made by former Michelin star chefs who preferred a – hopefully – less stressing lifestyle. The fillings of the pasta are really unique: ricotta with honey on red beet pasta, Zucchini with raw ham to name a few.

I was wondering why the pasta lady did not offer some meals to attract more customers. Well, as the city wants to keep the market as a produce market and not a street food market, she did not get a concession yet, despite other stalls offering food. She noticed that on days where people eat at the market, she sells less produce, therefore making such an offering tricky for her.

Family business: basket maker

To my surprise there was a basket maker booth. The fairly young basket maker was in the process of fixing a chair for a customer, when he explained why he was doing business at this place. He preferred to go where the customers are instead of them having to look for him. Customers usually want to have some chairs or other furniture fixed, often heritage items or new designer furniture. Repairing on site helps him to get the trust of the clientele as they can watch him working his craft (see picture gallery). The gentleman took over the stall from an old man who had died some 5 years ago. He explained that the craft of basket making is something which needs to be learned over a long period of time, therefore it is often a family business. He hopes his son will continue the family tradition.

Street food

Yes there is plenty to eat on the spot: from local to international. On the local side there is the obligatory Bratwurst, but also Reibekuchen, a potato pancake or fritter which is often eaten with apple sauce (you don’t have to – see gallery for close up). Then you have shrimp rolls, oysters, antipasti, Iranian specialities like yoghurt with rose petals, tartlets, … The cuisine is Asian, Bavarian, French and where ever from. Coffee is being roasted on the spot and the result is truly delicious (Kaffee Reich).

Be aware that the queues are getting long around lunch time.

What else?

Well, all kinds of local and exotic vegetables and fruit are available. There are some butchers, an organic one as well, but it seemed to me that the choice was not as good as at the Rodenkirchen market in nearby Cologne. Saying that: do not forget that Düsseldorf and Cologne live their rivalry with great passion. There was quite a lot of US beef available, which is mostly better than the German one. In Rodenkirchen there is one shop near the market with Argentinian beef

The cheese stalls are good, though not overwhelming. I was surprised by one stall focusing on true Dutch cheese, not the cheap and tasteless stuff you get usually in Germany. A piece of 3 year old Gouda is now in my possession with great pride.

Home made Italian style antipasti caught my eyes and taste buds. I forgot to buy the famous Persian nougat – but at least I made a picture (gallery). The last time I ate it was in my childhood and I still remember it. Next time I probably buy some geese eggs, as I never tasted them.

Well 60 booths have more to offer than you can discover on a single morning.

All in all: the broad offering and the many discoveries of rare produce make this market stand out from the crowd. For me the potato stall would be reason enough to visit it again. Still there is a lot to discover.

A little link list

• The official website of the market with a gallery and vendor listing – German
• The semi-official website – German
• Listing of Düsseldorf markets – German
• More pictures on my photo site

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The setting

In Manosque a small city in the Provence / France has two locations for the Saturday market: one is a the Hotel de Ville (city hall)  the other one this post is about, is to be found in a short distance at the Place du Terreau in the heart of the old city. This square in the heart of the city is a parking lot on other days of the week.

The market is a mix of flea and food market. Cheap clothes and items are available. The other half of the market is focused on food, be it produce or ready made meals like paella. The crowd is more touristic in summer times and in the other seasons the multi-ethnicity of the area can easily be observed.

It is quite different to the one at the city hall, less romantic, but with more food choices, except oysters and organic produce.

What to get there

Of course all the products which should be on a (French) market are available: vegetables and fruits of the season, great cheeses (there are 2 stalls at least), dried sausages, artisan bread and others. There are also less common produce like lavender honey, Mediterranean pickle mixes, and a fish monger despite the distance to the sea.

When it comes to the cheeses it is worth looking at whole ones as they will resist pressure and temperature when bringing them back home via plane or so. I took a Tome de Pays which was about a kilogram. Since the prices are moderate it is a great culinary souvenir. There is of course also very great dried sausages which somehow found their way into my suitcase.

Anything special?

The choice of ready made meals from food carts and stalls is very convenient and appealing. Starting from roasted poultry in many variations, paella, shrimp dishes, stuffed calamari in tomato sauce, pizza, Vietnamese specialities, Moroccan couscous or tajine,  and a few other things are available. The offering changes over the seasons. In autumn and winter there will be more hearty meals available like sauerkraut and sausages.
This market will not leave you hungry. As an alternative buy some bread and cheese from the market and enjoy this satisfying pleasure.

What do the vendors say?

Well they talk quite a lot when you have time and are interested in their life and work. I immediately was presented to visitors and other vendors as an English journalist. Something I would appreciate being, but reality is different, also when it comes to my accent. But all kinds of fun was very welcomed and political correctness not taken too seriously. And they seem to appreciate tourists as well, expressing that in a friendly service and a gentle willingness to allow pictures being taken.

One vendor had a selling tactic, which was different to the other ones. The tomatoes or other vegetables, probably a kilogram or two, were already filled in open plastic bags (see picture in the gallery). Each bag was then placed in a bowl for the clientele to immediately see the volume of the merchandise. The lady owning the stall presented this as a solution allowing her to offer cheaper prices due to the quantities and it helped her to serve the clientele in  a very fast way as well. I saw this method a day before at a market in Marseille, but did not get the same explanation. In many African markets this is a standard method.

All in all: It is a nice market with good products – not a surprise in France though – worth to be visited when being nearby & hungry.

A little link list:

• What to do in Manosque
• Other markets in the area by weekday (pdf)

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The Franconian region of Bavaria / Germany has a tradition of good sourdough bread, often enriched with caraway as it is the tradition. This one is from the market in Würzburg the capital of Lower Franconia, also known for its wine.

This bread is still produced by a traditional baker in wood-fired stove and a home made, non-industrial sourdough with rye only. And this makes this bread so special, as the number of artisan bakers is in strong decline since years, which is sad for a country which takes pride in its large variety of breads. And this specific bread which I consider to be one of the bests in its category, will probably only be available for a some more years as the baker has no successor. Maybe he will pass on his unique sourdough to somebody outside his family so we will benefit for extended periods of such a superb bread.

What makes it superb? It is the taste, the consistency, and the long period where it stays fresh. The taste is fairly complex and has deep aromas developed by the sourdough and the addition of caraway. The crust is fairly strong and keeps the bread fresh. The inside is moist for a ling period of time, and even when spreading cold butter the bread does not easily break apart. And after several days of storage it still tastes wonderful.

Just spread butter on it, maybe add a little salt and you will experience pure joy of simplicity and goodness.

It is being produced in round loaves of 1 or 3kg.

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La Orotava on the northern side of the island of Tenerife, Spain is a lovely city with a historic centre. A little bit away from the centre the city started an open market hall some years ago. Having constructed a hall certainly helps against the temperatures of the hot summers. The success seemed to be limited as the hall was not too busy on a Saturday morning.

Still the market has a nice mix of products: fruits and vegetables (especially potatoes in a large variety), cheeses, bread and other typical food stuff. Next to it there is also some space for crafts, which gives the market a nice flavour.

All in all: A nice to visit market.

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