The Farmer’s Market in Zagreb
Posted on June 6, 2006
I come from a family of produce hucksters, so I love open air farmers’ markets. The sights, sounds and smells always remind me of visiting Soulard Market or Produce Row in St. Louis with my Gammy as a wee spud.
Zagreb’s farmers’ market is pretty incredible. The marketplaces I’ve seen in Croatia’s main cities can be a little overwhelming to foreigners at first; instead of stalls arranged on an aisle, you’ll usually find a seemingly endless grid of tables with fresh produce of every sort piled atop. If you enter Zagreb’s Dolac from above, you’ll be greeted by this sight:
Allright, this guy’s flowers are artificial…
…but I couldn’t resist capturing the colors.
I wasn’t here for fake flowers, so I continued down the stairs and into the melee. It’s not nearly as intimidating once you’re down in the bubbling stew of people, vegetables, fruits, herbs, local honey, homemade cheeses, wines and brandies.
Here in Zagreb, pretty much everything available is grown locally. Well, not the bananas.
Do try to purchase something from a little old lady, even if you don’t need what she’s pushing.
To tell the truth, I wasn’t even there for the fruits of the land…
I was on a mission to hand select some of the fruits of the sea for an afternoon snack of fresh, clean protein from the salty blue waters of the Adriatic. Again, there was the hypnotic grid configuration at the Ribarnica (fish shop) indoors. Order? Chaos? There’s no knowing which, but somehow it works.
If it swims in the Adriatic and can be eaten by humans, you will find it here.
My good friends, the Pilchard Family! This was what I came for. Finally, some fresh sardines. I nabbed a quarter of a kilo, then fished around for more bargains.
If you’re planning a fish picnic, don’t forget to grab an octopus for Salata od Hobnotnice. So far, this is my favorite Dalmatian dish. If you’ve had octopus as sushi, you’re familiar with its tendency toward a tough, tire-rubber texture when simply boiled. There are several techniques that can be employed to tenderize octopus to melt-in-the-mouth perfection. Most of the people I’ve spoken with in Dalmatia prefer to freeze the big-headed bastards overnight. This will definitely soften octopus, or just about anything anything else with a cellular structure that breaks down when freezing cold is applied: Apples, cheese, human thigh meat…
In the coastal areas of Africa where deep refrigeration is uncommon (I’m told there are many of these such areas), the method for tenderizing octopus consists of little more than handing the catch to one of the local boys who earn a living by slamming the eight-armed unfortunates against the stone wharf repeatedly. Sure, they could use a meat mallet, but that’d take forever. The photos I’ve seen of African ‘pus being pounded depict large creatures that look as if they could consume a man whole. Ghastly beasts o’the deep, but delicious nonetheless. I’m also told that despite the natural toughness of their cooked flesh after death, they have a very gentle disposition in life.
This recipe for Salata od Hobotnice from the isle of Hvar uses a trick with wine corks that I’ve never heard of before. Hmmm. However you decide to tenderize your ‘pus, DON’T leave out the onions and capers. I’ve eaten a lot of octopus and other mixed, marinated fish salads in Croatia, and the best of them involved onions and capers. I think the best one was at the charmingly rustic Konoba Ranč in Tučepi, just between Makarska and Podgora. As I mention their divine salata od miješne ribe (octopus, prawns and wee crabs!), I should also thank the Borić family for the accommodations they provided and apologize for forgetting to close the veranda door when we left. I am from the Midwestern USA, so I know very little about coastal winds shattering windows…
Anyway, I was tempted to buy an octopus for my first experiments with salata od hobotnice, but thought better of it. There are octopi available in the channel between Kućište and Korčula. Wild capers and artichokes are also abundant in the area, and the finest regional olive oil supposedly never leaves the Pelješac peninsula. I decided to wait and see what I could do with fresher, wilder ingredients. Then I went to explore the meat shops under the market square for grins and photos…
Bože moj! Suho meso!!!! Beef, pork, veal… Pršut, panceta, kobasica… It’s all here!!!
And of course you can find a whole lamb for your barbecue… only 59,90 kuna/kilo at this place. Cheap! And this baby below is a peach! Never frozen!
I did mention kobasica, didn’t I? Every variety of sausage known to Croatians can be found in the meat shops under the dolac… but every Croatian knows that the best sausage is made at home.
I hung around for a little while…
…then took my fresh sardines and my dead ass home.
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The pictures are just wonderful!!!!thanks