The three sections of Dolac market

Dolac market is the most famous one in Zagreb and consists of three sections:

• the outdoor market – see post
• the fish market – see post
• and the “underground” market which is situated below the outdoor market and is basically a market hall

To my embarrassment I missed the “underground” section of the market which is indeed a market hall. I only got to know about it as I watched a documentary on Dolac. The entrance is indeed not obvious enough for me, but the many customers show that this is not a true barrier.

The market hall is a bit dark when you enter it giving it a slightly spooky touch. While the outdoor market above is more focused on fresh produce, in the market hall meat and cheese lovers will find here all the Croatian specialties. Still fresh produce and pickles are available as well.

The offering

The offering is focused on the local population but culinary tourists can make discoveries as well and bring back home some goodies.

The many butchers offer mainly pork cuts and adhere to the nose to tail philosophy. Besides traditional cuts whole pork heads are available, dried/smoked pig ears etc. Fat is not seen as unnecessary bi-product but is presented in many ways to be used for cooking. Popular is the Čvarci, basically pork fat crisps with a very pleasant taste – certainly not the healthiest food but good to bring back home. All the meat makes you feel that it is easy to survive a cold winter, with hearty tasteful dishes.

The cheeses are mainly fresh or harder cheeses, soft cheeses are not really available. There is a lot of sheep and cow milk cheeses available, I had not seen goat milk ones. One stall sells an award winning sheep cheese from the Island of Pag sold as Paški sir (see also photo gallery above). As this cheese is available vacuumed packages of different sizes, I can only recommend to bring it back home as a souvenir or to eat it on the go. Fortunately enough some vendors speak English and are willing to share their knowledge.

Next to the fresh produce were the pickles as they may be found elsewhere in central Europe, e.g. in Bratislava or Tirana. Those are always great to look at and it would have been worth to grab a portion and eat them on the spot. The pickles were made out of any kind of veggies: peppers, cauliflower, onion, cucumbers and more, often mixed all together. I was very much impressed by the fermented cabbage leaves which are put together to make them look almost like whole heads of cabbage.

All in all: A nice market hall to discover ingredients of the hearty part of the Croatian cuisine and to get culinary souvenirs.

A little link list:

• How to make Croatian Čvarci
• The markets in Zagreb – in Croatian but easy to grasp
• Comments welcome on Twitter

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Grey winter day

Is it a good idea on a grey winter day to visit the market? Not sure, but it is a good excuse to get some fresh air when in the office the whole day.

Surprising structures

The central market of Bratislava (Trhovisko Miletičova – Miletička) at Miletičova street is fairly large (see map below). It consists of many permanent structures for bakeries, butchers, cheese mongers etc., a roof structure covering the produce stalls and some random pop-up tables for people with small offerings.

The permanent structures, all wooden huts, usually had small windows where the customers could make their orders from the outside. This reminded me of shops in areas where theft is abundant. So I was wondering how customers were seen here. In some cases customers could enter the stall through narrow doors, which was more welcoming.

The slightly run down roof structure would give a very nice shade on a hot sunny day, but on a grey winter day it might somber you mood a bit. At least until you meet the friendly vendors. They had no problem letting me take pictures of their beautiful merchandise. And indeed they piled up vegetables with care and sense for beauty which looked a more inviting and more diverse than the one at the Nová Tržnica market hall. Indeed the merchandise under the roof was the most interesting one in the market and no small window separated the clientele from the vendor.

The pop-up dealers had a very limited offer, one product category only, be it pumpkin seeds, bread, bakery goods or so. Several of these vendors were old ladies who looked like they needed to add some Euros to their pensions.

The discoveries

It seemed that the market was in peak season for pumpkin seeds and pickles. The variety was impressive.

The pumpkin seeds came roasted, salted, unsalted, with paprika powder and more. The roasted ones are especially good for tourists, ready to  nibble, without the need to spit hulls. Strangely enough the vendor selling me those was from Hungary. No idea why he had to come to Bratislava for his small business. He made clear that he preferred the Budapest markets over this one. Make the comparison yourself when reading my post on the central market hall in Budapest.

The pickles were really amazing to look at. Besides the sauerkraut, all kinds of vegetables were pickled the home made way. They were sold out of large buckets, like the stuffed cucumbers and peppers or in little plastic jars. Those were layered with care and a sense of colourful beauty (see the picture gallery). The home made horseradish and other preserves gave an impression on what the local cuisine likes.

The vegetables, more or less of the season, were arranged beautifully, lush but without wasteful presentation. Cabbages, cauliflower, peppers, tomatoes, zucchinis, broccoli, radishes in different varieties, beans … all were there, enough to create a nice variety of winter dishes. Inspiring.

A few things I did not figure out. What do you need 15 cm large paper thin wafers for? They break so easily. Then there is this long bread dumpling which is so light, without real taste. I ate it once, basically it is good for dipping into rich sauces, but …

The butchers had simple choices of meat and especially dried sausages (good to bring home). I was most impressed by the variety of fatback offered, clearly abundant – looks like hearty cooking in the region. The typical Slovak smoked cheese was also available, unfortunately it has never been one of my favourites, despite being offered with nice patterns on the thin rind.

When you are hungry on the spot

Some stalls offer ready made food like Lángos (a deep fried flat bread), potato pancake, and local hearty dishes with or without meat. Even though I am addicted to Lángos, I did not eat anything, so no possibility to give a recommendation.

All in all: When looking for what Slovaks buy for cooking and for local discoveries, probably the place to be in Bratislava.

A little link list:

• The facebook page of the market with pictures, videos and other information
• Small post at spottedbylocals.com
• A post with many pictures from 52 weeks in Slovakia
• Different: a fashion shooting at the market from Donna Iveh Fashion Blog
• More pictures on my photo site

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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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The setting

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

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

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

What to get there

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

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

Anything special?

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

What do the vendors say?

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

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

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

A little link list:

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

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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

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The new bazaar in Tirana the capital of Albania is an open market surrounded by shops selling produces as well. It is located fairly in the centre of the city not so far from the opera. It is easily accessible also by car, could almost be transferred into a drive-in market.

The market has a Mediterranean touch with its focus on fruits & vegetables, still one will find pickles as well which I believe is not so typical for the region. Some shops for fish or cheese surround this market. It was rare to find meat and if so it was rather roasted chicken as a ready-made dish for home.

The market is not a beauty by definition, but the vendors always showed nice ways to present their produces: colorful arrangements of their vegetables instead of piles. The colors of the carrots were vivid at one stand as the vendor poured water over them.

A unique experience were the stands which sold cut tobacco piled up in nice shapes and with bags of cigarette filters next to it. I had never seen something like this before. Who ever stopped smoking regrets it in this moment …

The pickles were another nice discovery: appealing filled eggplants which looked like a carb free version of a veggie burger and cheese filled peppers.

All in all: a nice market on the rougher side of life which caters for daily shopping and offers some nice discoveries through friendly vendors.

A little link list:

• Small post from an Albania Travel Guide Online

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The Piata Domenii open market in Bucharest is located next to the busy street Bulevardul Ion Mihalache in the middle of this large city. It is not huge, but large enough to cover all needs in food and flowers. It is these flowers which greet you when entering the market, lifting the mood when the weather is rather unpleasantly cold and wet.

The stands are very standardized. They look like turn over plastic containers in different colours. The products, mainly vegetables are presented in a very lush way. There is no mix of vegetables from different seasons, they fit to the outgoing winter.

Pickles, often seen in Romanian cuisine were available as well, in non branded glasses, looking like home made.

Next to the temporary structures for vegetables, fruit etc. there are fixed structures as well for butchers, cheese and other animal products. The cheeses are rather simple and can be found this way in many other Eastern European countries. This also valid for the sausages. And they still look very home made. It is pleasant to see some non-branded stuff.

All in all: A lush market, very good for daily purchases.

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