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

The post Kvatric outdoor market, Zagreb / Croatia appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

The setting

The centre of the Bad Godesberg outdoor market is dominated by a modern style type of fountain where kids are playing around. The parents can easily watch them while having a coffee from the mobile stall or in a café next to the market. Bicycles can be seen all around where there is space, some of them with carts to take children along.

Everything is relaxed, people are meeting and talking with each other. A very picture book type of setting especially when the sun is shining. And the audience is fairly international.

No rush for shopping.

The shopping experience

You get everything when it comes to daily food. There is fresh fish, meat, sausages, game meat, bakery goods, vegetables, fruit, honey, organic food, Spanish delicacies, flowers etc. A large variety indeed. Is there a stall sticking out of the couple dozen or so? Not really, most of them have really friendly vendors who give good advice on their products. Not all the stalls sell own products, but the quest for quality is visible. And only a few stalls provide food ready to eat, like the one which offers fried Spanish snacks.

As it was pumpkin season, there were a lot spread across the market. Some were painted with smileys. A discovery was the new variety “microwave pumpkin” (see picture gallery above). The lady selling them indicated that she just named them like this as they are really good for microwave cooking. Still she prefers them out of the oven.

The Spanish delicacies guy

The owner of the Spanish delicacies stall had enough time for a chat. I knew him from the Bonn main outdoor market. As that market was started being managed by a private company (Marktgilde) instead of the city itself, he preferred to leave it, as he did not like is new location within the market.

For him being at a market gives him more flexibility than having an own shop with fixed opening hours. He has also reduced over time the number of staff and as an end result he has a better work life balance. Something market vendors will probably have hard times to actually find in their lives, as most of them work hard.

He sells a lot of cream cheese type based delicacies nicely mixed with other ingredients, but also Aioli, warm tapas, filled peperoni, wood oven bread and more. He is great at giving generous samples. Maybe this is the reason why even children come and spend their pocket money.

Distinguishing from the supermarkets

The Bad Godesberg market is rather focusing on quality than price. And this is how the vendors are trying to distinguish themselves from supermarkets, which they clearly see as competition.

The lady from one stall explained that she specializes on potatoes and onions only, as she can clearly provide quality through this focus. She has established relationships to some farmers in the area who are able to provide the right products. The stall is already handed by the 3rd generation of owners. Somehow they must have an idea on how to keep their business successful as both products are rather commodities.

Another vendor, purchases his vegetable & fruits on the wholesale market in Cologne at selected dealers (similar to the guy at the Porz market) to ensure quality. This is being done in the 4th generation. He offers a rather very wide choice instead of being specialized as the potato/onion lady. The larger main market in Bonn wants to gain him as a vendor in order to increase the overall quality, but so far he has resisted.

And there is again the Spanish delicacy guy who offers is own unique food selection, since around 10 years on this market. His selection is certainly not be found that easily in supermarkets, therefore attracting a crowd longing for something different.

These are three different strategies of vendors on how to stay successful. The mix of classic, if not traditional products and some innovations like Spanish specialities or “microwave pumpkin” will (hopefully) help to keep the loyal customers and attract new generations.

All in all: The Bad Godesberg market expresses a very relaxed ambiance where people have a coffee, meet friends and shop for good quality products.

A little link list:

• The vendor website managed by the fish monger with the listing of all the vendors: www.unser-wochenmarkt.de
• List of the markets in Bonn (pdf)
• More pictures on my photo site

The post Relaxing market in Bad Godesberg, Bonn / Germany appeared first on Food & Farmers' Markets.

A perfect, romantic setting for a market: a town square surrounded by Provencal buildings, cafes, restaurants and a church. Large enough sycamore trees to give decent shade while having a drink and watching the market scenery. Very relaxing and taking away all worries.

Manosque is a town in the middle of the Provence not so far away from well known Aix-en-Provence. Tourists do not come in large quantities which allows for a true local flavour. And the market offers it as well.

All the produce of the region are available: wonderful dried sausages, goat cheeses, colourful vegetables & fruit, artisan bread, and much more. The black radishes were rather new to me. Pumpkin were in season as well as some other vegetables like celery roots which announced the upcoming colder season.

And again I could not resist the oysters. And it was easy to eat them on site: the vendor opened them right away even before taking the money – relaxing market. And they tasted great, even better than those of the fish market in Marseille.

And we should not forget the organic stall handled by a very friendly lady, who also offered purslane, and explained how to use in salads or stir fry it etc.

Well as the market day is Saturday, we chose to have a coffee in the shade, overlooking the market and talking about life and other things. There was no envy anymore to look at our smartphones. Great time!

All in all: A very nice example of a Provencal market, not too big, not too small in perfect surroundings.

A little link list:

• What to do in Manosque

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