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“Let bring you to the market manager” said the Lebanese nuts dealer. And I got a remarkable introduction to the Jiřák farmers’ market in Prague.

Getting there

So how did it all start? I had already visited Holesovice market, so I read a post on tasteofprague.com and off I went. Subway line A to “Jiřího z Poděbrad” station, up the stairs and across the street and there it is, this beautiful farmers’ market.

What makes it so beautiful? I saw a great mix of stalls: fresh local produce, delicacies from abroad, places to eat and drink including craft beer. Just browsing through I could feel the sense of quality the traders were eager to deliver. The rather well-off neighborhood catered for a good purchasing power making it easier to sell premium products.

Strolling around

I strolled through the alley which separates the two lines of stalls, looked at a nuts stall and the vendor gently and persistently asked me in English to try his Spanish almonds. For what ever reasons I feel uncomfortable to take samples when I have no intention to buy – a mistake. The almonds were great, we started a conversation and soon I found out that he was Lebanese and living in Prague since some years as his wife is Czech. We switched to French and continued our conversation. I got his business card to follow him on social media and went along.

The fish monger had only a few fish, but since 5 years he is preparing a fish & mussel soup on the spot in a large pot. Looks like good home cooking as he was chopping fresh ingredients in front of everybody under a tent. I took a picture and he was making fun of me, guessing loudly if I was a journalist from CNN, Newsweek, Die Welt or other news media. I still have to work hard to make my blog be known

I went further along, looking at the butchers, flowers, wines, pickles in big buckets, fresh vegetables and fruit, cookies, muesli, coffee, craft beer home made syrups and even a burger stall. Even though I am getting a bit annoyed by all the “hip” burger joints popping up in Europe, only the early hours prevented me to try it together with a craft beer, and beforehand the fish soup of course.

Chat with the market manager

Suddenly the Lebanese nut dealer saw me again and said: “let me bring you to the market manager“. Even though Mrs. Brabcová was in a conversation, she took quite some time to tell me more about the market. The 7 year old Jiřák farmers’ market was managed by a private company, but in February 2017 the city took over. Mrs. Brabcová worked in the private sector beforehand, and now she is running the show.

She gave me a closer look to the nice balance of local and international products at the market in more than 30 stalls. The need to have international products, Gouda cheese amongst others, is also driven by the European expats living in the neighborhood. Still local produce are at the soul of the market and are originated within a radius of 100km.

She sees more potential for this location and is eager to find more producers and traders and has more ideas to make it look better than at this stage. Yes the market is neatly line up along one alley, still it expresses a kind of an urban laissez-faire character with its own charm. Bringing in better equipment is one of her goals to make it look more professional.

At the end she pointed me to the cheese maker a few meters away who even caters for Michelin star restaurants in Prague. This was the perfect bait for me and she could continue her conversation with her friend.

The cheese maker

David Kolman is running with his wife a dairy where they produce cheese as well as yoghurt and kefir. The dairy is located halfway between Prague and Brno. It was his wife, a teacher at the time, who had the idea to start this endeavor. After several years of experiments they made a professional business out of it. Since 5 years he is at the market to sell their products from goat and other milk.

Even though I was still traveling I could not resist to buy some cheese to bring back home. As I had to fly back, he asked me if I was concerned about the cheese smell. Certainly not I answered, I would take the risk of being an unpleasant passenger for the sake of great taste at home. So I got  fresh cheese for immediate consumption and an older, more firm one for home. After this experience I give the following advice: do it the same way. I ate the fresh cheese soon after the purchase – delicious. With the older cheese in my luggage I did not get any dirty looks from my dear co-passengers, even after a couple days without fridge. It was worth the “risk” I was rewarded with a great cheese full of character. I have to thank the wife of David Kolman for pushing this idea and making it real and make me a happy gourmet!

Epilogue

Life goes on and unfortunately I had to leave. I had a great time also because I did not expect to see something as refined and diverse as this market in Prague – so much about my prejudices. The market had a very metropolitan touch but still exuded a down to earth, unpretentious feeling. I hope to see it from time to time over the years on how it is developing.

Next time I will eat the fish soup, independent of the day time.

All in all: a beautiful market to enjoy life in Prague and certainly worth more than a visit for all the local and international discoveries

A little link list:

• The official website & the Facebook account
• A nice site of food & farmers’ markets in Prague: tasteofprague.com – a clear recommendation
• Facebook page of the nuts dealer
• The website of David Kolman the cheese maker and a couple videos
• My post on the Holesovice market in Prague

The post Eager – Jiřák farmers’ market, Prague / Czech Republic appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

I love lists, all sorts of lists, no idea why. And I like good blog posts on food & farmers’ markets. An ideal combination to publish a list of the European capitals and their markets. Why European capitals? Well, I live on this continent and this way I get to know it a bit better.

This list will grow and get better over time. I am happy about any suggestion or hint – contact me on Twitter: @askans

Enjoy!

The European countries, their capitals & markets

Albania – Tirana

• I did not find a lot, therefore I have to promote my own post: the new Bazaar in Tirana – I was impressed that they were selling open tobacco just like any veggie

Andorra – Andorra la Vella

• Not yet

Austria – Vienna

• The Naschmarkt on this site during daytime & nighttime – during the day for shopping at night for entertainment and dining – a cool combination
• The Naschmarkt by epicures with lots of pictures- a little bit of history and a wide choice of produce and artisan products – from exotic to local
• The official English website
• The Rochus Market which has a great wine pub at night

Belarus – Minsk

• The Komarovski – market hall seems to be the place of attraction. The post from food.artkopilka.ru is in Cyrillic but has many good pictures. Like in many Eastern European countries there is clear structure and order in this market hall.

Belgium – Brussels

• Why waste annual leave, the blog with an overview on the Brussels weekend markets
• ottsworld.com gives a portrait of the Midi market, which has lots of Arabic influences – incl. a video

Bosnia & Herzegovina – Sarajevo

• From adventures in Bosnia an overview on food & markets in Sarajevo
• And here a short post on the Markale market & market hall from greengopost.com

Bulgaria – Sofia

• A panaroma picture from 360cities.net
• The Women’s market (Jenski Pazar) by Sofia Travel Guide

Croatia – Zagreb

• The markets of Zagreb are very well organized and have almost a “branded” appearance as they all use standardized umbrellas etc. The Dolac market is the most known one and has also a great fish market.
• Dolac market, the Dolac fish market, Kvatric market and the Trešnjevka one on this site
• Dutched Pinay travels a lot and takes nice pictures from markets – in this case Dolac market
• tatjanapasalic.com is a well known personality in Croatia: model, TV presenter & more – here she blogged on Kvatric market

Cyprus – Nicosia

• An overview with nice pictures on farmers’ markets in Cyprus incl. Nicosia by Afrodites kitchen

Czech Republic – Prague

• In the the touristic city of Prague farmers’ markets are supposed to be on the rise.
• An overview of the markets from prague.tv
• Past, present & future of the big Holešovice market from expats.cz
• My own post

Denmark – Copenhagen

• From eatyourcity.ca an introduction & pictures on the Torvehallerne & Israels Plads markets
• An introduction for tourists to the Torvehallerne food market by a food awakening
• The official site of the Tervehallerne market

Estonia – Talinn

• A list of the markets in the city from @VisitTallinn

Finland – Helsinki

• Pearlspotting describes the Market Square by the sea and the old Market Hall
• Dutched Pinay is always a good source – Kauppatori Market Square – Hietalahti Market Square – Hakaniemi Market Square

France – Paris

• There is one favourite source for me: Marjorie R. Williams, who wrote a book on the Paris markets and blogs about them
• A nice post on the famous wholesale market Rungis International Market by Cody C. Delistraty

Germany – Berlin

• The past, current status and future of the Berlin Market Halls by @slowberlin. They also posted on the very popular Markthalle IX
• A listing of the Berlin markets by angloinfo.com

Greece – Athens

• As an introduction my post on the Central Market – A must see for meat & fish lovers
• Matt Barrett has written several picture intense posts – The Central Market – an overview on some markets

Hungary – Budapest

• My post on the Central Market Hall, which has a splendid architecture
• A post on the Central Market Hall with many pictures from alwaystravelicious.com

Iceland – Reykjavík

• Not yet

Ireland – Dublin

• The Dublin Diary has a post on the Honest 2 Goodness Farmers Market
• And here my post on the Moore Street Market

Italy – Rome

• A blog specialized on the markets of Rome alone: marketsofrome.com
• The post yourguidetoitaly.com gives an overview in pictures of the markets in Rome
• Forbestravelguide.com is more decriptive

Kosovo – Pristina

• Not yet

Latvia – Riga

•  From Paris Paysanne a nice little post on the Riga Central Market
• And here a big fan of the Riga central market on Pinterest

Lichtenstein – Vaduz

• Not yet

Lithuania – Vilnius

• A little post with pictures on the Kalvarijų turgus market from Ravinder Sehgal

Luxembourg – Luxembourg

• My post
• A list of farmers’ markets

Macedonia – Skopje

• From Macedonia in 91 days a post with tons of pictures and a video giving great insights on the Bit Pazar

Malta – Valletta

•  The Ta’ Qali farmer’s market by Kristin Winet

Moldova – Chișinău

• Moldovan Life describes the Piata Centrala – the main market
• Foodperestroika, a great blog with focus on Central and Eastern European food & cuisine is highly recommended – also the post on Moldovan food

Monaco – Monaco

• Not yet

Montenegro – Podgorica

• A tiny friendly post on Podgorica’s Green Market from Wandering Educators

Netherlands – The Hague

• My own post on the Haagse Markt
• It is supposed to be the largest outdoor market in Europe with 500 stalls: the Haagse Markt as per Theleidener.com
• Local Heart, Global Soul finds the Haagse Markt impressive as well

Norway – Oslo

• From Nordic Nibbler a friendly introduction into the Bondens Marked
• And Oslo has also a market hall – Mathallen – the post from soldrom.com

Poland – Warsaw

• Warsaw’s Saturday Market in Zoliborz by My Travelling Joys
• A short overview on the Hale Mirowskie – the central market hall – from polandculinaryvacations.com

Portugal – Lisbon

• travel.sketch.write posts about the Mercado da Ribeira, which seems to be the most famous market in Lisbon
• The Mercado de Campo de Ourique is described by Portugal confidential as hip and urban

Romania – Bucharest

• My post on the Piata Domenii market
• Beautiful pictures from Oana Hogrefe on a unknown market

Russia – Moscow

• A nice introduction into the Moscow markets by The Moscovore
• A photo essay in Russian on Preobrazhensky Rynok farmers market by DaryaDarya – courtesy of where.cheap-moscow.com

San Marino – San Marino

• Not yet

Serbia – Belgrade

• A small post with nice pictures on a farmer’s market from Stellar Perspectives
• The Belgrade Green Market by Serbian Culture Shock
• Nataša von Wunderland made an extensive photo tour of the markets in Belgrade

Slovakia – Bratislava

• I had the chance to visit 2 markets: the Trhovisko Miletičova central market & the Nová Tržnica market hall
• Basic information about the markets in Bratislava from bratislava.info
• A post from daytripper.sk which characterizes the market hall very well
• A post with many pictures from 52 weeks in Slovakia
• Different: a fashion shooting at the market from Donna Iveh Fashion Blog

Slovenia – Ljubljana

• The Farmers Market on the Vodnik Square by photojoseph.com
• Meet the Ljubljana market enthusiast on Twitter: @JanaSvenska

Spain – Madrid

• Mercamadrid is the second largest fish market in the world and the largest and the biggest perishable foods market in Europe according to spanishsabores.com She writes also on the Cámera Agraria farmer’s market
• From Citylife Madrid a quick overview on the markets in Madrid
• Wanderwings has some nice pictures on the known Mercado de San Miguel

Sweden – Stockholm

• An overview on the market halls in Stockholm by Real Scandinavia
• A small post on a farmer’s market by Bunny in Stockholm

Switzerland – Bern

• The markets and their opening times by the City of Bern
• From Swiss Mirabelle an overview and some pictures

UK – London

• Of course: Borough market is leading the pack and there is a fairly large number of posts on this market. My current favourite is kind of a love letter to the market from Eat Out of the Box
• A good overview on the London farmers’ markets from the organization called London farmers’ markets
• An overview on the markets in general by the Londonist
• From WhatAWonderfulWorld a nice one on a small market: Maltby Street Market
• Westminster News Online promotes the Food Market at Southbank

Ukraine – Kiev

• From Life in Kiev a nice post on the Besarabsky Market Hall
• From akihart an extensive photo post on Besarabsky market hall
• An extensive overview on the markets by BestOfUkraine

That should be it Europe!?

The post Food & farmers’ markets of the European capitals appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

The Holešovice market in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic is basically a large area covered by different halls. The hall 22 is the one we are looking for, as it is the one which is the closest to a farmers’ market. The other halls contain partly shops, flea markets and basically all sorts of stuff you might need or not in your daily life.

When I entered hall 22 at in the later afternoon, it was fairly empty, some stalls were already closed. Still enough to get an impression. The hall in itself is fairly large, quite larger than e.g. the Eastern Market in Washington DC. What is there to be found: vegetables of all sorts in rather large quantities if we add up all the stands. Fruit as well. Flowers, herbs were also available. But there was not so much meat, fish or cheese stands. Most of the produce seem to come from the Czech Republic, but I also saw produce from other Eastern European countries.

There were a few things which caught my eyes: the tons of banners across the hall, the one stand which sold whole sunflower seed heads, and a stand which had really nice looking dried sausages in really dark colors. I still do not know why I did not buy some. Maybe because the market was not very lively at the time, I did not feel so much the urge to buy something, despite the friendly sausage vendor.

All in all: Caters for daily life with a large selection of goods in a rather unusual setting.

A little link list:

• The official website of the market – here the English version
• Brief description on markets in Prague and how to get there from prague.tv
• A post on the market including its history from expats.cz
• A nice post on the rise of the Czech farmers’ markets by Radio Prague

The post Holesovice market in Prague / Czech Republic appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.