A workation in Liège

My company allows us to work remotely from any European Union country. When I chose Liège — a former coal and steel city — as my destination, I had the La Batte Sunday market in mind, a place I hadn’t visited in 10 years. The post I wrote about it back then was among my first. Liège had a few other advantages: I could practice my French, and the train ride there was not too long. So many reasons to go there.

My colleagues were puzzled by my choice, and many stated that the city wasn’t really beautiful.

I loved the city after my experience. There’s lots of art scattered throughout the city, plenty of street life, great beers, and some excellent food as well. Yes, the construction sites for the tram are annoying, but I felt great there.

And I had the chance to visit La Batte market a couple of times.

What has changed?

When I look back at the old pictures, I would say: not much.

Except for one important detail: no live animals for sale anymore! In the old days, people bought live chickens, birds, rabbits, and the like. No longer. I do not know the reason behind this decision, and I’m unsure how to feel about it. The live animals provided city dwellers with a tangible sense that what they eat comes from living creatures, at least in the case of the chicken. Now, this sense fades away.

Otherwise, it seems there’s more street food available nowadays, a pattern I observe at many farmers’ markets.

A long stretch

La Batte market follows the Meuse River along the new tram line, which will be operational one day. I guess strolling without too many stops took me around 20 minutes. The stalls are lined up in two rows, making it convenient not to miss a single one.

My observations

The ambiance

La Batte market is a popular market in the best sense of the word. People come from a variety of cultural backgrounds. There is no snobbish attitude; people are dressed in whatever they want, from cheap to not-so-cheap outfits. Since the market takes place on Sundays, I saw many couples and families walking and shopping together, almost like a family visit to a mall — just that it’s outside and mainly about groceries and food.

Even if you don’t plan on buying or eating anything, La Batte market is a pleasant addition to a city stroll.

Chicken everywhere

I have never seen a farmers’ market with so many large, truck-sized roasted chicken stalls. They were being sold out quickly, as I noticed when returning from the other end of the market. I have no idea where this craving for roasted chicken comes from, especially in a city where you can find fries, kebabs, or other fast food — often quite good — on every corner.

Italian & North African

The next dominant type of stalls featured Italian delicacies. There were lots of salamis, salsiccias, and other sausages, accompanied by a fairly wide range of cheeses, some not so common. The antipasti section was less prevalent. Beautiful olives were predominantly offered at stalls with likely North African origins. Considering that Liège is celebrating 60 years of Turkish and Moroccan immigration, this makes sense.

The produce

La Batte provides its customers with every kind of produce needed for daily life, with milk being the only exception. There’s bread from bakeries located in the German-speaking part of Belgium, along with fish, and all the seasonal fruits and vegetables independent of their origin. Due to the diverse cultural and financial backgrounds of customers, it’s easy to buy in bulk and affordably. I didn’t see fruit or vegetable farmers selling at the market; I assume everything has been sourced from wholesale markets.

Streetfood

Waffles, of course — waffles. It wouldn’t be Belgium without them, and the ones I had were better than those in the city center itself.

Then there was the Moroccan stall. It looked very authentic with jolly, friendly, slightly chaotic owners who served really good food and Moroccan tea. It was a joy to lunch there.

Need other food? No problem. There were sausages in buns with lots of onions, meat skewers, burgers, hot dogs, coffee, and certainly a few more things I might have forgotten. To make one thing clear: La Batte is not a market that has transformed from a produce to a street food market; produce is still dominant. I like this mix.

The other stuff

Besides produce and street food, La Batte also features a flea market-style section. Vendors sell cheap fashion with designs I haven’t seen before. Colorful plastic toys help parents keep their little kids happy and quiet. I guess for the older kids, certainly, the street food might be more interesting.

For reasons unknown to me, detergents also had their spot at the market — something I have never seen at other European markets. Or maybe I just need to travel more?

Live animals

During my visit 10 years ago, live chickens, rabbits, and birds were available for purchase at La Batte. This is no longer allowed, but one vendor couldn’t resist showcasing cute fake rabbits in cages. I had to look twice to realize they were fake. I wasn’t the only one; kids were pulling their parents to see the cute animals until their parents started laughing and explaining the hard truth.

So what?

La Batte is a market that should be part of a Sunday city walk. It stretches along the Meuse River, which is already picturesque, and is part of the city center. Just walking through this market gives your legs a nice exercise. The ambiance of the market lets you dive into the city’s diversity. It is not a posh market but a very lively one. If you do not like crowds, try to visit around 10 o’clock, as it becomes quite crowded later without feeling too cramped.

All in all

La Batte is a lively Sunday market you must visit when in Liège, if only as part of your city stroll. Afterwards, take advantage of the nearby cafés.

A little link list:

• My 10 year old blog post on the La Batte Sunday Market
• La Batte on the city council website

The post A Sunday city stroll – La Batte market, Liège / Belgium appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

Louhans? Where? What?

How did I end up in Louhans, Burgundy? When I was visiting the Manosque market last year, a vendor recommended me to visit this special one in Louhans, as it is known for also selling a large variety of live animals. This caught my interest, especially since it was not a classic tourist area I thought.

Louhans is in the heart of the Bresse region in Burgundy, famous for its delicious Bresse chicken, only produced in the area. It has a very rural touch and so is the market. And it is a huge market. Spread all over the city having three sections: the flea market type one, produce stalls and the live animal section.

The live animal section

The live animal section reflects a region where people still have a strong connection to food production. All kinds of live poultry, rabbits and a like were at sale. And customers do buy those animals to fatten and slaughter them or for producing eggs. It amazes me to see such a deeply embedded tradition to produce your own food. It indicates how strongly people put focus on a cuisine based on good and fresh products. Or that backyards are still large enough.

The handling of the animals is robust, not for the feint hearted. It is about trade, not every animal has really space like in a zoo. When a customer has selected hens or ducks and the like, they are put in a cardboard box, slits are being cut in, so it becomes easier to carry them and leaving some air for the animals to breathe or stick out their neck. Feathers of the duck wings maybe trimmed – in front of everybody – to avoid them from flying away when unloaded, which happens from time to time.

The variety of poultry is very diverse: chicken of all kinds, pigeons, turkeys, wild and domestic ducks, geese, guinea fowl, quail and probably more. It seems that everything which flies and can be eaten is available there. Most of the vendors had a similar range of chicken with prices for the live animal around the 10€. What I did not see were other farm animals like calves and sheep which are being sold as well.

A special breeder

One vendor – La Ferme de Quain in Devrouze (picture) – was specialized in rare chicken breeds. He cannot make a living out of it, as the prices for those animals cannot be afforded by everybody. Still as a passionate amateur he joins the market every Monday. He did not have a lot of respect for the low end poultry offering as he considered the meat as tasteless. His favourite breed from a meat quality perspective is the Le Merlerault a very rare black chicken from Normandy which needs more than a year to gain its full weight. As the end price would be more than 50€ a chicken, it is only something for enthusiasts. Would like to taste it though, just to get an idea if it is worth it. His customers do not only come from the area, but also from neighbouring countries like Switzerland, Germany & the Netherlands. Much to the excitement of the market visitors he also showed a couple peacocks. It always makes me happy to see passionate people like this vendor who contribute to preservation and diversity leaving the world a little less streamlined.

Street food

As it was cold that day there was a need to get some warm street food. Well here we are in the rural world, classic French inland cuisine was served. This included all kind of boiled meats, sauerkraut, sausages but also more sophisticated food. The butcher “La Sornaysienne” offered pure beef tripe sausage (Andouillette) with potatoes boiled together in a mustard sauce. The portion served was immediately empty as it was so satidfying, simple but well put together.

The other sections of the market

Spread across the city the market delivers everything which is needed for the daily cuisine: vegetables, fruit, artisan cheese, meat, sausages, oysters, nougat, herbs and much more.

The Bresse chicken gets of course special attention. They have to be presented by the butcher as a whole with the blue feet, white feathers around the neck & head as well as the red comb. This way can it is assured that the customer gets the real thing. And the Bresse chicken colours also represent the ones of the French flag. Of course the butcher prepares the chicken if wanted ready for cooking.

The artisan cheeses were just gorgeous, especially if you like the goat and sheep milk ones. A young vendor who had piles of his own sheep cheeses of different ages did not have his origin in the rural world. His father decided eight years ago to leave his engineering job in Paris and to start producing cheese in the Larzac, a rather remote area quite far away. Now the family serves several markets with their products and the young son has no intention to go back urban, as he believes – despite the hard work – to have found his passion.

The little things

The typical French dried sausages came in many “flavours” with duck meat, nuts, pepper, smoked and many more. A perfect purchase for eating on the road with a baguette, just don’t forget your pocket knife.

And for the first time I saw organic purple “green” beans (see gallery). Unfortunately they turn green when cooked – of course still having a remarkable taste.

A few craftsmen: bring your knife to get it sharpened or buy an original clock from the 18th century – still working.

All in all: A great market – the mix of live animals, good products and rural traditions is impressive – also good for kids.

A little link list:

• The official website of Louhans (French)
• The markets of the area (French)
• A video report on the market (French)
• A blog post “The Madhouse Market City of Louhans”
• And to get the directions, just use the map below

The post Live animals – Monday market, Louhans, Burgundy / France appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

This market in Liège / Belgium happens on Sundays for which a good stretch of the La Batte street along the Meuse river is blocked. And it is really fun to visit this open market. Liège was once a city in a coal mining region having contributed to the post war wealth in Europe. And the city, despite its very beauty, is certainly not a rich one. And this leads back to the market. This market provides goods to not so wealthy people, but is still full of little surprises.

The market hosts almost everything between live animals (chicken, rabbits, birds etc.), meat, cheese, vegetables etc. But it also offers great plastic junk – spend only a couple Euros and the kids are happy – and clothes as well, which are not related to the Armanis. There are also small stands offering nice food like hotdogs with sauerkraut, Vietnamese spring rolls and all sorts of stuff.

As the market stretches quite long, a couple hours goes by so fast and even than not all stands would have received their adequate attention. But it is fun! And so much to discover. And it has a little rough edge. This is visible for example when live hens are packed in used cardboard boxes when bought by a new owner who wants to produce his/her own eggs for a Sunday breakfast or whatever.

What is sometimes overseen are the stands which offer little delicacies, it is worth to keep an eye open for new discoveries. This is in contrast to quite a few stands which seem to be rather the extension of wholesale suppliers, but all with charm.

The highlights: the live animals, and the little discoveries of nice local food.

All in all: not a market of the first league from the food perspective, but certainly worth a visit for its special character.

A little link list:

• Reviews in Trip Advisor
• Location in Belgian market directory
• La Batte market in city council web site (French)
• A beautiful blog article from theFlippingFish

The post Sunday market La Batte in Liège / Belgium appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.