The Queen Anne farmers market neighborhood

Seattle is a hilly city. I walked from Lake Union up to the Queen Anne farmers’ market for 45 min and I could feel it, it replaced a workout. It took me through a neighborhood of individual houses all with some patina and character. It seemed that people here were living since quite some time, some with elaborate gardens and a few with veggie growing on the sidewalk. Hybrids and Volvos were to find as well. It didn’t look rich but definitely not poor either. On the main street Trader Joe’s and some post-hipster shops were clearly visible. Somehow a perfect cliché area for a premium farmers’ market.

Feel good

I was overwhelmed by the market: so big, so lively so many great choices. The neighborhood seems to truly embrace this market, it looked like everybody was there to purchase fresh produce for home cooking. They had often big baskets and were wandering from one fresh produce stall to another, checking on what would best fit their desires. Veggies and fruit were in full season: berries, peppers, pumpkin, eggplants, zucchinis, tomatoes, salads, chilies, corn, beets, and so much more. All was nicely presented, making it impossible not to buy anything. Find the “best” producer wasn’t easier either, but it was fun. The vibe was definitely a feel good one.

Goodness

The fresh produce stalls are dominating the market, something I always appreciate. It is the best way to get a feeling for the differences in quality and taste. And it is a great incentive to cook from scratch. Most of the stalls made an effort to explain their way of production, e.g organic, free range etc. to show their customers that they contribute (hopefully) in local or regional sustainability. As we were in full garden season, farmers showed the different varieties of produce like yellow, green and purple looking beans; tomatoes showed different shapes and colors as well. Now: what to chose for which type of recipe? I still have to learn that and the market is the right place to do so, and Queen Anne farmers market delivered the right excitement and motivation.

My two heroes (bacon & cider)

At markets I often have the chance to make discoveries, mostly I just tumble across them without any system or so in my mind. Sometimes it is about a great story, sometimes about a great produce or even both. At Queen Anne farmers market I was again lucky.

I walked by Carl’s Cutting Board a couple times without noticing the stall. One of the challenges of US farmers’ markets is that there are no meat or fish mongers who have a nice display of their produce. Almost everything is frozen and stored in coolers making it hard to appreciate the full range of products. I am not sure what the reason is: lack of power or lack of capital for a decent stall.

After my second or third round of the market I gave it a try and started talking with Carl. He had a good story to tell. He came from Sweden to Seattle to work with Amazon in their headquarters and soon started to take culinary classes in his free time. He liked it and decided to start his own business producing bacon, sausages and more, but no meat cuts. It sounds like one of these urban fairy tales which always amazes me: giving up a corporate life  and starting a craft business out of sheer passion. “When your are doing something you really like, you need less money” was is answer when I asked him why he was giving up a high salary job. His choice of profession was good for me, and I guess for others as well: the smoked bacon I bought had a superb taste, not comparable with the one you get at super markets.

Sampling is one of the easy things to do at a US farmers’ market. And sometimes even sampling of alcoholic beverages. The Finnriver cider stall did it as well. I know cider as a drink which rarely provides a taste beyond a basic one. Here, I had about half a dozen samples and I am now convinced: you can do so much more out of an apple. The ciders had such a broad range of aromas that it was a real pleasure. The variety was truly large: some ciders were more traditional, some more modern, somehow the apple analogy of unusual craft beers. There were oak-aged ciders (I bought that one), botanical ones, … I was deeply impressed how far the cider craft can take us in discovering the world of aromas. And looking at the number of Finnriver fans on Facebook, I am not the only one who thinks that way.

What did I buy?

Being in a hotel restrained my choice, despite a kitchenette. It was blueberry season, I can’t resist. Alvarez organic farms had very nice pickled peppers/chilies with the right heat to it. The oak-aged cider made me very happy, and sad, because I believe I will not find such a good one back in Germany. And yes the bacon did not last very long …

I tried also some street food, salmon on a roll, it couldn’t convince me. Still it looked good like most of the other food.

All in all: Just a great market with excellent produce and a very nice feel good vibe – worth a detour

A little link list:

• The official website of the Queen Anne farmers market
• The Queen Anne farmers market on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram
• The website of Carl the Swedish guy who makes such great charcuterie of course on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as well
• The website of the great cider maker Finnriver, on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

The post Feel good – Queen Anne farmers market, Seattle / USA appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Scroll down for the map including directions

Finding the right place

It is full of tourists in the Medina (old town) of Marrakesh. But there is also a local life, despite the tourist induced gentrification. I was wondering where people do their day to day shopping for food and I did not expect it to be found in the covered market in the heart of the city. And Tarek helped me to feel comfortable.

I had short visits of the city before and after hiking in the Atlas mountains with a friend – okay it was hiking in a valley, not really steep. A little Internet search helped to find markets which I hoped would be a bit off the beaten paths. That means they should not part of the Jemaa el-Fnaa square which is truly famous for its souks and very crowded. So the covered market seemed to be the right place for me. It is rather a market hall and not huge and the entrance easy to be overlooked. Nevertheless it covers all the daily needs for food and cooking, including spices for tourists.

I entered it and felt a bit intimidated because it was fairly calm, not too many customers were around. This always gives me the impression that I will be approached by vendors and feel obliged to buy something. This was really not the case. The vendors were relaxed and pleasant.

Tarek

Then came Tarek. He owns a stall full of pickles, olives, pastes and other condiments. He saw me coming and immediately offered me to try his olives and did not stop until I had a taste of his major staples. He opened jars just to give me a spoon full of home made harissa, tapenade and more. I hope he refilled them for the buyers. I even had to try a tea where he added a little menthol crystals to show me how good it is against cough. It certainly burns everything bad out of the throat, I can tell now. So after the tour of his merchandise, there was no sign of pushing me to buy something. I felt comfortable and we chatted a bit. After this visit I decided to fill up my backpack when traveling back home.

Strolling around

I continued strolling, I had time and the place is not large, so it is easy to get an overview once and then focus on the interesting things. It is not only a market where goods are being sold. Butchers still do the slaughter and cut the meat, pastry makers produce the dough on site (see photo gallery).

I am always fascinated to see butchers working. I eat meat but I would not like to kill animals, so I am happy when others do it. In the market still a lot of live poultry was available. The chicken live in cages under more or less simple conditions and are being slaughtered on the spot. Hard to get it any fresher in the city.

The pastry makers fascinated me. Two guys prepared a round dough for further processing. The first guy took a lump of soft, shiny dough and dabbed it on a bass drum sized heated steel plate to create a very thin layer, filo like. This took maybe 30 seconds, then it was turn of the second guy who took the thin layer of the steel plate and swirled it in the air like a pizza baker. The whole process looked very artistic and left me with mouth open – while I was trying to take pictures.

I made my way through the spice, flower, vegetable and fruit stalls, everything presented to please the eye. Somehow I had the feeling that the quality of the produce was superior to what I experience in Germany. It looked more ripe, not so industrial perfect but more “robust” and “healthy”. This is the moment where I ask myself why I rarely do vacation in a flat with its own kitchen.

Epilogue

And yes I went back at the end of our trip to see Tarek, he recognized me, we both smiled and chatted again. I brought some nice food gifts back to Germany. It was green harissa, black tapenade and ras el hanout a spice mix and some pastry from another shop. I kept most of it.

All in all: A gem, discover what is part of the Marrakesh cuisine and chat with the friendly vendors – you will have a good time and find something to bring back home

A little link list:

• A blog post on the Marrakesh markets from Summer Tomato
• A short video giving first impressions
• My other posts on markets in Morocco

The post Local in a tourist area – Covered market in Marrakesh / Morocco appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Scroll down for the map including directions

“20 minutes before we continue” our guide told us. Well we just couldn’t respect it despite all our efforts, too much to see.

Coming from the Atlas mountains to Marrakesh the road passed a huge open field full of trucks, tents and people: market day galore in Azilal. The market or “souk” as it is called takes place every Thursday in this commercial hub. Rolling down the hill the view was just mesmerizing, the place exuded such a busy, chaotic ambiance. Coming closer the order became very clear.

The main alley went straight from the entrance for a couple hundred meters or so to the end no curve no nothing. The stalls were grouped by the products being sold. First came the area where everything second hand can be found. At the end the butchers and barbecue guys worked under their tents. In between home & beauty products, a healer, dates and popcorn. Yes, popcorn and plenty of it!

Piles of popcorn as I have never seen before, even in the US. Are they being eaten in front of the TV? I don’t know. But the display was amazing: one stall had them colored party balloon like and pressed in blocks. Looked almost like a cake or bread to be sliced. Another stall had popcorn piled up in a huge white mountain shining like diamonds in the bright sun. And the vendor still continued producing them. You have to see it to believe it, so check the picture gallery above.

Walking further we came by a quacksalver. A crowd formed a circle around a bold fifty year old man who talked loudly and fast to a lady with her child, touching its head. After a while they went out of the center but did not look much happier than before, but who knows. A few more people gave him some coins, but before continuing his job, he took a drum, talked even louder and soon I discovered that he had a fat snake at the ground as well. She was not moving, apparently having been fed beforehand. Somehow I felt like being part of a movie on medieval times, the show was great.

At the end of the souk, the butcher section was in full working mode. Unlike the other sections this area was covered with white sunshades to keep the open hanging meat fresh. The sights are definitely different from butchers or supermarkets in Europe or North America where things are presented in cuts often packaged in lots of plastic. Here often the whole animal can be seen, poultry anyway, but also sheep are hanging down from hooks, their fur having been taken off, but still the cut in the throat to be seen. Whole beef was a bit to heavy to be hung under those constructions. Strangely enough there were not so many flies sticking on the meat, maybe they do not like mountain areas? The whole scenery was very archaic, but gave me a clear reminder that an animal has to be killed when I eat meat. A clear contrast to my usual life.

We stumbled across the date guy on the main alley. He showed a great variety of them and with his elegant hat he looked almost like a professor. Here in the deep rural Berber areas, French is not widespread making communication a little bit difficult especially when wanting to know more about the produce. We tried it, but could not get the right explanations for all the different colors, shapes and consistencies of the dates. They ranged from light and firm to very dark and soft, all with distinct tastes. The were a very good snack as we continued the road.

I looked out for a souvenir, and I found something which seemed interesting enough without getting potentially to much attention by any airport customs. I could not really identify this thing at the beauty product stall which was just a cover on the ground with assorted products. I was about 25cm long consisting of some branches and “hay” in the middle wrapped with a 2 cm large bark strip of something. As it was explained to me later, that not the inside was the merchandise, but the wrapping was. This wrapping, bark is used to clean the gums and to give them a nice color. Not sure if I will try it, as the thing looks really unique.

We were much over the promised twenty minutes but there was so much to see …. Our guide forgave us for being late, his generosity will be remembered forever.

All in all: A must see when you are in the area. take your time, there is so much to discover, a great experience.

A little link list:

• Extensive geographic documentation of the Azilal province in French (PDF)

The post Order – Souk in Azilal / Morocco appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

When traveling I check my own database of markets around the world, check out blogs and read travel guides. For Dublin, the market in Moore Street, not far from the busy O’Connell Street, was recommended. I am not sure why, maybe because of lack of market alternatives in Dublin downtown. As you may see already, I was rather disappointed – but let’s try to be fair.

It was shortly after St. Patrick’s Day festivities, when only a few of the market stalls were present all lined up along Moore Street. And why should vendors not relax as well? The few vendors who were present all had an open standard stall of a few square meters on wheels covered by a white & blue marquee. Mostly fruits and vegetables were on sale, all clearly coming from the wholesale market, still in their (export) boxes. The produce were usually sold in larger quantities, e.g. 8 bananas for 1€. Customers were frequent and enjoyed buying these fairly cheap produce or flowers, seemingly enjoyed doing so on this hassle free market.

More interesting were some shops along Moore Street. A couple butchers had beautiful displays and I am still amazed that they were working with shirt and real ties. It kind of shows respect towards the dead animals, doesn’t it? Coming from Germany, where I see less and less independent butchers, it is great to see this craft in such beauty: colorful shops, appetizing meat cuts and sausages and more. One butcher even had mosaics of a sheep and a bull on the pavement in front of his shop.

Another shop brought back memories of my visit to the market in The Hague: to see the exotic produce like yams, cassava, plantain, okra and much more was just beautiful. Looking at the people around I was wondering who was cooking them at home.

It was a short visit of the market without too many rewards and no clear insights in Irish food or cuisine. I was left puzzled even after having been in a nice coffee shop to get warm again on this cold day.

All in all: Good for cheap daily purchases of standard produce. Look out for the shops along this street.

A little link list:

• A list of food markets in Dublin
• A listing of markets in Dublin
• My post on the Irish food icon

The post Puzzled – Moore Street Market, Dublin / Ireland appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Following the Queen

In 2011 the Queen has visited the English Market in Cork, Ireland, so it was my time to do it as well with some respectful distance.

This covered market is in the middle of the shopping area along St. Patrick street and a bit hidden as it is not clearly separated from the surrounding buildings which have the same hight. So read the signs and look at the map, it is worth it.

First the meat …

The first thing you will notice is the amount of butchers, they are almost a dozen. The beautiful cuts are presented very nicely in the display cases. I have not seen so many (large) steaks, filets, lamb chops in one place like in the English Market in a long time. All parts of the animals are being sold, even more robust ones like corned crubeens (pig feet) or beef rumen. Other traditional products are a variety of sausages (e.g. pork with apple) at selected stalls and especially black & white pudding, sausages with pork and oatmeal being served as part of the Irish breakfast. Salami style of sausages were not common.

Pork seems to be mainly of free range origin, coming from Germany I am not used to that. The butchers get most of their animals from the slaughterhouse and process them further. One is still raising his own animals (farm to table).

To my surprise those who are selling poultry are not called butchers – honestly I do not even know how they are called. The offering is mainly about chicken in all variations: whole, parts, pre-cooked, ready-made, etc. Whole chicken was cheap: below 5€. I have no idea how to produce a tasty animal at this price. Free range? No idea, should have asked.

… then breakfast …

After having seen all this meat I took some breakfast. There are several opportunities, I chose Café Anraith which looked very simple and cozy and is managed by a lady since some years. More famous is probably the Farmgate café located at the gallery, providing a good view on traders and customers from the top. I had a full Irish breakfast which was of good quality and very Irish. Fried egg, sausage, black & white pudding (contains meat as well), bacon which looks like ham to me, a few grilled tomatoes, toast, butter, raspberry jelly and a generous pot of tea. I felt good afterwards, the quality was better than what I experienced before in Dublin.

… and more food

The food temptations in the English Market are everywhere: grilled sausages, cheeses, cakes, sandwiches, soups, salads, sushi rolls and more. I made my way through them, could not resist and I was nicely rewarded at this cold day. Grilled sausage being served on a stick was new experience to me, I managed to eat it without losing any piece – I was happy with this achievement. At noon it got busy, the crowds were taking some lunch back into the office or ate it on the spot, giving the traders a good run. It was good to see that there is a desire for quality food in a country where supermarkets offer a wide choice for meals as well.

A new kid on the block is the Maki sushi rolls stall, managed by a couple with some experience from Berlin. The sushi rolls were almost as long as wraps and looked nice, I had pleasure with a vegetarian one where the asparagus sticked out of the roll like a funny haircut. As I had not seen much sushi around I am curious how this stall will do.

Even with all these food temptations the market hall does not look like a food court, it still has the character of classic produce market.

Continuing  the discovery

The butchers dominate the picture of the market, but the offering goes far beyond this. Fruits & vegetables are including organic ones are available, the choice though was not very wide. The Alternative Bread Company had a large, diverse offering on breads, different to the everywhere dominant toast bread. Wine, chocolate, cakes, olives, canned and packaged specialty foods  were available as well. Still a few stalls caught my eyes.

The fishmongers had beautiful displays with a sense for real design (see picture gallery on top). Many fishes seemed to come from not so far shores, but the Atlantic is big. They were complemented by farmed ones and those from other seas. Oysters and other mussels were not prominent but available.

The oriental food stall impressed me by having Nigerian beans, and everything else needed for Asian, Arab or African cuisine, including large bags of rice. Beans and cereals were presented in open large bags, thus reminding indeed of “oriental” food markets. The owner of the stall is of Moroccan origin  and to make it easier for customers he called his shop “Mr. Bell’s oriental food” as his last name “Belmajoub” is a bit more difficult to remember.

The deli stall “On the pigs back” had what I am always looking for: local artisan cheeses. I got myself a nice sampler and experienced that the Irish know cheese as well. In addition there was a truly good selection of French charcuterie, and cheeses including home made patés. No surprise: this stall is owned by a French lady. Not only that the Huguenots settled in Cork, there seems to be an active French community and a French cultural center “Alliance Francaise“. A good starting point for a loyal customer bases and probably the reason why I heard several traders speaking French.

Mary Rose and what I learned from her

For the after lunch coffee I stopped at Coffee Central. What I knew only afterwards: that was the decision of the day. Not only that I got a good coffee, but the owner Mary Rose, who began at the market in 1969, took time for an extensive chat. We did compare house prices in Ireland & Germany, energy efficient houses, Angela Merkel and also the impact of the German retail chains Aldi & Lidl in Ireland – not so good for small businesses and produce markets.

She told me the story of the market, how things changed within her market life time – she switched her business from meat to coffee. I got to understand how a part of the covered market was rebuilt after a fire incident, a reconstruction she approves.

She saw businesses leaving the market. And she saw new ones coming up, established by “outsiders”, like the oriental food stall (Moroccan gentleman), the olive one (Englishman) and the French/Irish delicacy stall (French lady). She showed a high respect for these entrepreneurs who truly enriched the English market and attracted new crowds with great, some times year long endurance. The owner of the olive stall started in the market but apparently manages now the import of olives to Ireland as well, a produce apparently not known here for so long. Mary Rose noticed also the new sushi roll stall, she did not seem being a fan of sushi itself, but she looks at every new business from an entrepreneurial perspective, observing the constant struggle for success.

She praises the English market traders of whom she knows all their little and big stories for their entrepreneurial spirit. She sees how difficult the business is, and appreciates the young butcher who recently finished his apprenticeship, the first one after many years, to continue shaping the future of the market. And the traders come to her place as well: for a tea, a coffee and a chat, it seems to be like a village: everybody knows the other.

Mary Rose impressed me on how she welcomes changes and innovation even though she can look back to a long life, usually a stage were people often want to keep things as they are. I learned that the future and attractiveness of market cannot rely only on existing traders as “product innovation” is necessary and often comes from “outsiders”.

Leaving the market

I left the market after a few hours with the feeling of having gotten an excellent introduction in Irish food, traditional and modern one. The friendly traders helped me a lot. And they are easy to follow in social media.

All in all: The English Market is an Irish food icon and worth more than one visit

A little link list:

• The official website of the English Market – recommended before visiting it
• English Market on Twitter
• Recommended book: “Serving a city – the story of Cork’s English Market” – available in Cork bookshops
• The market hall on Wikipedia
• A nice post of Pink Julep
• An introduction to the cuisine of Cork

The post Irish icon – English Market, Cork / Ireland appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Hipster next to Bratwurst, sophisticated spice stall next to filtered coffee, an award winning butcher – all this in a small place – leaves me surprised. A pleasant one, despite the rain.

The setting

The suspension railway, the zoo and internationally known, now closed, dance theatre Pina Bausch. Those are the highlights of the city of Wuppertal.

The market is framed by the old town hall and some other less interesting architecture. The market has maybe 20 stalls – count them on the picture in the gallery. The walking distance from the suspension railway is about 5 minutes.

When approaching the market it appears like a classic, standard one. Looking a bit closer there a few unusual stalls worth discovering.

The classic stuff

What do you want to buy? Fresh fruits & vegetables? Bread, Australian style banana bread (?!), cheese, fish, flowers? No problem!

Some street food? You like, Bratwurst, Currywurst, grilled chicken, Asian fast food, German style donuts, filtered coffee, fish rolls? You will not leave the place hungry!

So lets check the gems.

Gem I

The award winning butcher Sonnenschein (sunshine) seemed to be very popular as there were three sales ladies behind the counter. The Feinschmecker, a food & travel magazine considered him to be amongst the best ones in Germany. The fridge at home was full, I did not want to buy anything, but the sales ladies allowed me to take some pictures. The offering was not spectacular, so I expect that the basic product quality itself must be good. Next time a purchase is a must.

Gem II

The spice stall is owned by a Iranian who lives in the city for decades and runs the stall since 28 years! He gave me a brief tour of the history of Iranians in Germany during the time when the Shah was replaced by Khomeini. Politics plays an important role in his life. It was the first time at a market that I had such a political conversation.

The offering is quite sophisticated and huge. Good olive oil next to all kinds of spices, soap, rice, caviar – all very nicely displayed. Hard not to buy something. And so I did: a Wuppertal fruit bread with spelt based dough.

Gem III

A new kid on the block. Workeat – the name of the stall which adds to the market a hipster flair. Established since a few weeks by 4 sports guys who came up with the idea of creating some healthy food out of pure self interest: they always had hard times to find decent food after all their work-outs. So they decided to create something new and healthy with other sport guys in mind – always with a touch of protein on top. And what happened: the majority of the customers are women. Probably not a big surprise when the vegetarian or vegan items like currys, wraps, salads and chocolate bars are part of the offering. Still the curry is available with meat and the smoothies are protein rich as well.

I had the chance to eat a curry with mango and snow pea based on whole-grain rice. Helped me to get over the cold in style and joy. The unsweetened apple muffin was great, worth the money. The guys worked for very long on the recipe and now a friendly baker is preparing them.

Besides the food, the drinks had hipster quality as well, be it fruit juices or unsweetened ice tea (not common in Germany), etc. all with fancy labels.

I wish those guys good luck, as they take their experience on the market as a test field for a possible further expansion.

All in all: when you are in Wuppertal and have some spare time go for the market gems.

A little link list:

• The official website of the market
• The award winning butcher Sonnenschein
• The hipsters with their stall Workeat
• More pictures on my photo site

The post Small & eclectic – Wuppertal outdoor market / Germany appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

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

The post A bit of luxury – Carlsplatz market, Düsseldorf / Germany appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

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

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Prologue

Me: “May I take a picture of your stall?”

Vendor: “What is it for?”

Me: “I love markets so I take pictures”

Vendor: “Ok, but don’t publish them on the Internet”

Me: “I want to publish them on my blog”

Vendor with a smile: “Ok, but only if you write nicely about us”

So do I write nicely in this post? Well, I like food markets and I try to rather understand why they are as they are. Some are exciting, some are probably just deeply rooted in their community. And so is the Saturday market in Porz.

The setting

Porz, is a city district of Cologne, latter being  famous for its cathedral, Kölsch beer and of course carnival. It is an industrial city, neat, but not a tourist attraction. I found quite many vegetable and fruits shops in the city centre mainly managed by people of Turkish background. The Saturday market seems to find its niche despite similar offerings.

There are about a dozen stalls, some selling clothes, but the majority selling produce. It is a little bit squeezed in between rails, a pedestrian zone and a parking garage. Not the nicest surroundings, but the humor of the vendors and some of the clientele made up for it.

So why are people coming?

Well, it really looked like that the customers and the vendors knew each other.

A customer got a credit from his vendor as he would come back as usual in 2 to 3 weeks and pay without being reminded.

One lady is coming every week since 1985 at the very large fruit and vegetable stall. Her and the vendor were joking the whole time about silly things, a joy to watch. The reason why the lady comes every week is the good relationship to the vendor but also his merchandise which offers superior quality to a supermarket. The produce just stays fresh much longer she claimed. Even though the source was the wholesale market, the market vendor has then the role to chose the best produce there.

What about the young generation?

As on most open markets I visited, the customers are rather middle aged or older. Not too many twenty-something around. A vendor claimed that the young generation does not know how to cook anymore, therefore not having the urge to buy fresh produce. Another one stated that in today’s families both parents have to work to make a living, therefore making it difficult to visit the open market, especially during the week. I don’t know if those are realistic explanations… Probably it would be interesting to experiment a bit more on how to attract a younger customer base.

This leads to the question:

What to find on this market?

Lots of eggs, really lots of eggs. At least 3 stall had a large selection of chicken eggs: small, large, jumbo, brown, white, you name it.

One butcher (the friendly one in the picture gallery) had a stall which was really shiny, pretty and modern, thus making all the sausages, meats and so on very appetizing. He does not own an own shop, but serves several markets. Another butcher had rabbit legs, something I do not see everywhere. The lady selling knew very much about the Mediterranean and German style of cooking them, so must be the clientele then.

The vegetable & fruit stall mentioned above had an incredible variety of produce spread over probably 10 meter or so. I have no idea how somebody can manage that many produce from a business perspective. Well he does the job since decades in second generation, that might explain it.

Only one farmer was present a the market, a fairly old guy selling organic produce more adapted to the season: potatoes, beets, carrots and the like.

Besides this offering: honey, vodka-honey-liquor, flowers and baking good where available as well.

The cheese selection was noteworthy, with fairly high quality of French cheeses and a nice selection of German ones. Something not be found easily even in supermarkets.

All in all: A small market with vendors and clients who know each other and have humor, giving a sense of community.

A little link list:

• Porz on Wikipedia

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