A colleague’s foresight

“Let’s have a coffee at the market hall” my colleague Peter said. The coffee in the hotel wasn’t bad, but he is a market enthusiast and had the foresight to find the market hall some time ahead and squeeze it into our busy business schedule.

So we walked a few minutes through the city of Kecskemét, passing by beautiful buildings of the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city is located roughly one hour southeast of Budapest and was in the past, and probably still is a hub for agricultural trade. In recent times car manufacturing created many jobs.

The sky was announcing a hot day, and the shade of a market hall was welcomed.

First glimpse

The first sight of the market hall did not look promising, the structure reminded rather of the back side of a supermarket than something welcoming. Inside we first crossed a couple of coffee shops with people just getting ready for the day with a cup of caffeine.

The market hall is one which needs a second look to discover all the goodness. Many tables in the middle of the hall were empty and we later discovered that the action was outside on that day. But some great goodness was waiting for us.

The couple cheese stalls had true artisan cheeses, from fresh ones to slightly older ones. The fresh one was just a big white, depending on the customer the right size was just cut off with a big spoon. Despite the language barriers Peter was not shy at all to ask for some samples and I benefited greatly from it. The different cheeses were all rather mild but with a clear character, a wonderful discovery. Buy some for a snack if you come across them.

The butchers got Peters attention: “look at it: they have real big chicken, not as small as we have at home”. Indeed the whole meat section was wonderful with a slightly archaic touch – just the way I love it. Dried and smoked skins of pig heads, offals of all kinds and large cow rumen. Of course regular meat cuts and Hungarian salami were available as well. A well spiced one of the latter found space in our luggage, and I believe no smell bothered any other travel companions.

And yes there were pickles. I first saw the Hungarian version in the Budapest market hall. There was a tendency that those pickles in the jars were assorted in a neat way, and some seeds used to mark smileys on larger chunks of vegetables. I thought those were done for tourists only, but here in Kecskemét it was the normal way of doing it. Great marketing approach, makes not only kids look for them.

Outside

Before getting our coffee we went outside, as it was the day of the extended market. Under a larger covered structure we saw the bounty of summer time: it was full of ripe, juicy fruit and vegetables. Nothing looked evenly shaped as in the supermarkets, nothing was wrapped in plastic. All the produce looked like coming from real farms of the area. It had a touch of paradise: Watermelon in red and yellow, big juicy peaches, beautiful plums, peppers, fresh corn, cucumbers and more. It was just beautiful.

And it was busy. It looked like people wanted to make sure that they got the real, fresh stuff before going to work or back to their homes as in the case of the older people who were in the majority.

We bought some fruit to eat during the day and got some water melon samples. English skills were not abundant at the market but this was not a true barrier. At times German helped.

Finally, our coffee

Just before heading back, we finally got to get our coffee. A simple stall with a high table in front to sit down a bit. The specialty of this popular shop was espresso in a glass with very sweet whipped cream on top. Double shot here meant double portion of whipped cream, not coffee. It went down very well, and we headed out of the market to get our business day starting.

All in all: When in Kecskemét visit the market hall and have a coffee while watching the locals getting fresh produce for their home, don’t hesitate to try the goodness available.

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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!?

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Chemnitz, formerly known as Karl-Marx-Stadt, is one of the larger cities in Saxony / Germany with a bit more than 200k inhabitants. As quite a few cities in Eastern Germany the population has declined after the re-unification in 1990, as employment opportunities became more limited. Still the city centre does not look poor as many buildings have been renovated. A clean and neat city. And in the pedestrian zone there is a market place with maybe a couple dozen stands.

I would consider it a typical market for a provincial city, still it has some own accents as well, mainly about regional products. The typical market consists of stands for flowers, fruit, vegetable, cheese, meat, sausages, bakery and … a Bratwurst stand. We are in Germany aren’t we?. There is usually always a stand with Mediterranean specialities mainly antipasti type of products like olives, dried tomatoes etc.

So no surprise?

Not quite!

Some stands were managed by Vietnamese, which is not common in West Germany. But during the socialist times, there was a small Vietnamese population working in a variety of factories. Some of them remained after the fall of the Wall.

There were a couple stands with Hungarian specialties. A friend of mine had a nice hypothesis for that: after the war when West Germans could afford vacation, Italy became a popular destination, and West Germans wanted to savor their vacation memories back home as well, and therefore Italian food made its inroads there. East Germans had their mass tourism in socialist countries and Hungary was a popular destination. And of course people wanted to savor their memories as well. This sounds like a good story, maybe it is even true.

The other surprises were the local/regional products there: linseed oil which seems to be part of the Saxon cuisine, e.g. on top of cooked potatoes. Linseed oil has a slight diarrhea effect, but the vendor insisted that the effect should be called stomach hygienic.

There were lots of different pickles: cucumbers, cauliflower, peppers etc. all nicely put together.

Furthermore there was a stand with products from water buffalo as we know them from Asia. There are only a few breeders in Germany and luckily I could see the end result. I tasted the water buffalo yogurt, it had kind of a taste of game, not something for the sensitive tongue, but I enjoyed the strong taste.

A nice little highlight was a Bratwurst stand which had a charcoal barbecue! It is really hard to find charcoal grills on German markets, but this one went even a step further and had it on a bike! A mobile barbecue, cool. According to the vendor it was economically successful. And I was not the first one who took a picture of this stand …

All in all: a typical mid town market with some nice surprises like the charcoal barbecue on a bike and some nice regional products.

A little link list:

• More on the city of Chemnitz in English

The post Market in Chemnitz, Saxony / Germany appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Budapest, capital of Hungary is a jewel from a touristic perspective. The architecture of the old city is beautiful and find its expression also in the Central Market Hall (Központi Vásárcsarnok), which was opened in 1897. Just the building in itself is worth visiting it, the steel construction inside is beautiful. And the market is very spacious, none of the alleys is narrow, there is enough space to stroll without being disturbed too much. Since the location is in the inner city close to the Danube river, I would have expected a rather cramped feeling as space might be expensive.

The main floor is occupied by fixed stands which have all a similar appearance. Many signs are in English or German, so that the many tourists have an easy orientation. And this market caters a lot for tourists, serving all the Hungarian cliches: Hungarian salami, paprika, goose liver and the sweet Tokay wine. And there are stands, especially in the mezzanine which have Budapest mugs, T-Shirts etc.

There are still many stands serving daily needs of vegetables, fruit, meat, cheese etc. Often these seasonal products are presented in a lush, appealing way, generating some craving. It is also very nice how garlic and dried paprika are celebrated by hanging them in large, neat bundles in front of the stands instead of advertisement panels.

When it comes to Hungarian salami or other sausages one may find mainly brands like Pick or Temesvari Hus. But there are still butchers who offer fresh unbranded meat. The goose liver is mainly available in branded tin boxes, maybe there is some fresh one somewhere in this market.

If your luggage is already to heavy, you may still try Hungarian Food in some of the food stands in the mezzanine.

I did not have a lot of time to visit the whole market hall. In the basement there is supposed to be e.g. fish and game which was not available on the ground floor. But the market hall left me puzzled: the architecture is gorgeous and would support the celebration of special, creative, unique products with character. But this is only available in a limited way. Will I visit the market another time? Sure, because there must be some special treasures still to be discovered.

All in all: A must visit from an architectural perspective, from a gourmet perspective less impressive. But it is great for a quick shopping on Hungarian souvenirs, culinary and non-culinary ones.

A little link list:

• Official site in English with the history of the hall
• Another site in English, unfortunately not updated
• A nice, descriptive article from “On the run“
• A post with many pictures from alwaystravelicious.com
• Photos on Flickr

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The market hall  in Stuttgart / Germany reminds rather a gourmet department store than a classic farmers market. It is certainly due that Stuttgart is a rich city where people (despite their reputation) are willing in that place to spend money for good food. The market hall is located in downtown Stuttgart in the pedestrian zone and constitutes an own block in this area.

The market hall has a strong section of international food from Italy, Greece, Spain & Hungary for example. Still local products play an important role often in a very refined way. Be it Swabian (that’s the “tribe” of the area) ravioli called Maultaschen, regional whisky, meat from local pig breeds etc. This mix of international and local products produces nice contrasts.

It is also easy to find some little treasures: superb filled dates, Kobe beef, dried berberis, whisky based on spelt. And all the other products are usually of high quality so it becomes easy to do shopping when you want to surprise your guest with a gourmet meal full of surprises. Well not all choices are great I have to admit, the cheese selection is nice but not particular.

The stands present their products in a very appealing way, and the very friendly service leads you to spend more than you had anticipated. Well, the reward at home is usually great.

The whole setup of the market hall is focused towards a well-off crowd with a high willingness to pay for good to excellent quality. And some stands have transformed themselves from rustic stands to structures which are much more speciality shop like with a lot of “bling bling”. And therefore the market hall detaches itself from the weekly market outside the building in a drastic way. Not everybody welcomes that move.

The highlights: the stand with the dates, Swabian Whisky, international specialities, local Swabian products of high quality

All in all: a great place for buying food and a feast for the eyes. Worth more than one visit.

A little link list:

• The official site – in German
• A blog entry from the US Army in Stuttgart – obviously in English
• Beautiful pictures from “a cook’s canvas” blog
• A nice panoramic 360 degree photo

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