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An accident

I just finished my visit of the Noordermarkt, a famous market in Amsterdam, when I tumbled across the Lindengracht market, just a little block away. This outdoor market stretched along in the middle strip of the Lindengracht street. At the beginning the friendly Theo Thijssen monument welcomes the customers. Theo Thijssen was a famous Dutch teacher coming out of this neighborhood called Jordaan not far away from the city center.

Contrast

The first thing which stroke me was the contrast to the Noordermarkt. I just had left it a minute ago with some hipster, urban and organic memories. And now at the Lindengracht I entered a world which I would call “classic”. The offering was more “usual”, somehow between hipster and supermarket. Still it got my attention, and the narrow, long stretched walking strip with stalls on the left an right created its own pleasant buzz. The traders had also a more robust appearance, and were used to a clientèle which was probably more focused on a quick shopping for quality then on elaborate explanations of each product – but maybe this is just my own cliché.

Having such a contrast of two markets next to each other, the question of preference comes to mind. It is a similar question to: “what is your favorite market?“. I tried to give an answer in an interview conducted by the food & market blogger Marjorie R. Williams. Markets have so many aspects which make them likable or not. This might be the location, buzz, offering, customers, community building, traders, opportunities to sit down and relax with friends etc. At the Noordermarkt I liked the quality of the food, and at the Lindengracht market the down to earth buzz. Therefore my choice will depend on my mood on any given day.

Offering

Even though I had not the chance to visit many Dutch markets, I found two distinct, characteristic elements often not available elsewhere in this quantity: there is always a large selection of fish and dried or candied fruit of all kinds. This was also the case at the Lindengracht market. And I discovered that vegetables chips are great as well, in this case carrots, green beans, parsnip and kohlrabi.

Of course the market had a complete offering as well, including flowers, bread, meat vegetables, cheese and the like. There was also a little street food, I saw a stall which was only orange: oranges in bags, fresh orange juice in bottles and cups. Fresh fruit pieces in transparent plastic cups were served as well, a product which has spread across European markets and is now widely available. Simple salads were made on the spot and ready to eat.

All in all: Peak into the Lindengracht market to have a contrast to the more hipster and famous Noordermarkt around the corner – it is a nice one as well

A little link list:

• An introduction to the market with all relevant data by Amsterdam.info – they consider it to be the best food market in Amsterdam
• A great photo gallery from Scenes of a Public Market – Check the other galleries as well, it is worth it
• A little Amsterdam market guide

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