Market Mail #5
It's August, go out while you can!
It’s August so enjoy this song from a super niche Dutch band that I discovered on Myspace(!!!) in 2010. The band and Myspace no longer exists, but luckily the songs are still on Spotify. You’re welcome :P
I spent most of July at home working, uploading markets to the website, playing Sudoku in an effort to curb my screen time, cooking, baking, watching series and of course, going to the market. I finished the third season of The Bear as soon as it became available in the Netherlands and it made me think about my relationship with cooking.
I often say I love cooking, but it’s not the whole truth. While I enjoy spending hours preparing a dish on weekends or for special occasions, on most weekdays it still feels like a chore. What I actually love is eating delicious food, and making said delicious food is sometimes the only mean to an end.
And my food tastes great, if I do say so myself. But it’s not because I’m such a great chef. Despite growing up with a mother who’s an actual restaurant chef, I seriously lack some kitchen skills. I’m not great with a knife, I’m slow and most of the time I cannot chop things in equal-sized pieces. I hate it when my hands get wet or dirty, so I spend valuable time washing and wiping them.
I also don’t have all the cool kitchen tools. Instead of a fancy stand mixer, I have a handheld device that I got for €10 at the HEMA over a decade ago. I don’t have any of the special knives included on lists like “The Essential Knives Every Home Cook Needs”. I have a big knife and a small knife. 😁 They are probably not the sharpest, although I do own a knife sharpener.
But my food, my food (mostly) turns out great! Despite what food influencers will have you believe, it's not the tools or the skills that make a great home cook. They can certainly help, but to me personally, it's curiosity and the great pursuit of FLAVOURS that help to make constantly delicious food. Food always has to taste good; eating solely for sustenance and nutrition just doesn't work for me.
This pursuit of flavour is what takes me to the market. Unfortunately in the Netherlands, unless you go to an organic market, you will most likely not buy straight from the farmer, but that’s a topic for another time.
That’s not to say you can’t find great seasonal produce and snacks at Dutch markets. At my local market, there's a potato farmer who sells potatoes still covered in dirt. I love to visit the fishmonger to throw my head back for a haring or slurp down an oyster. The cheese stall has a specific boerenkaas that I cannot find anywhere else.
And for some reason it feels so much more special to pick up fruit and vegetables at the market than at the store. I saw a quote on Instagram that says “Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living WITHIN that way of life.” I can’t imagine a better way to live than going to the market on a Saturday morning and then cooking with the ingredients for the people I love. In my imperfect kitchen, with my unsharpened knives, I made that my reality.
In today’s MarketMail:
What’s new on Where is the market?
Seasonal produce to look out for now
The markets I’m most excited about in August
Links you might like
A selection of the best flea markets happening in the Netherlands in August
See you at the market!
Hajni, Founder of Where is the market?
New on whereisthemarket.com
With the start of the Olympics in Paris I am doing a Paris-themed month on the site:
I finally finished uploading ALL (well, almost) Paris food markets to the website. Paris has over 80 food markets, and I’ve only been to a handful of them so far, so I spent hours with research, looking at Paris on Google Maps and reading reviews about each market.
I also put together a handy guide that organises Paris markets by day of the week. The guide includes special icons to highlight organic markets, indoor venues, afternoon markets, and those I consider the best in the city.
I enjoy Emily Monaco's "Emily in France" newsletter and featured it in my article about newsletters for market lovers. Emily, who lives in Paris, wrote a great essay about Parisian markets, a love letter to the marché, and she kindly agreed to republishing it on Where is the market? I've always wanted to share work from excellent food and travel writers on the site. Are you a writer? Feel free to pitch a market-related story!
Stay tuned for more Paris content! There are two more book reviews coming, a story about flea markets in Paris and who knows what else I come up with!
‘tis the season
If you ever find yourself driving through the Hungarian countryside on a summer day, there’s a good chance you’ll spot stalls selling watermelons on the side of the road. It’s such a quintessential part of Hungarian summers. People get into discussions about where you can find the best watermelon, where the watermelons are *shock horror* imported from abroad, and where they’re more expensive than in the store (the audacity!).
Besides watermelon, it's also time for cantaloupes. Pair it with Serrano ham, and you've got the perfect hot-weather appetiser. Corn is another newcomer, and it’s also a core memory from my Hungarian childhood, eating corn on the cob at the fürdő (public bath). Pie lovers rejoice: plums are also coming into season.
My favourite markets in August
I heard about this monthly brocante market in Amsterdam that I have to add to my collection of Dutch brocante markets. I’ll be visiting at the end of August.
Talking about Dutch brocante markets, some regular ones are slowly coming to an end. If you haven’t yet been, it might be time to plan a visit. The Wednesday brocante in Gouda runs until 28 August. The ones in The Hague, Haarlem and Delft end in September. Winter is coming!
Sharing is caring
💖 This hazelnut, peach, and raspberry cake by Ottolenghi is simple to make, but oh-so-delicious. And it has fruit, so it’s basically a salad. I don’t make the rules.
💖 As I mentioned before I’ve been staring at the map of Paris a lot this past month. Luckily, I’ve always loved looking at maps. If you are a fellow map-aficionado, you might enjoy these Instagram accounts:
TasteAtlas has maps and rankings of food from all over the world. Reading the comments is always amusing. There are always some Turks claiming that a single dish is in fact of Turkish origin, and not whatever is stated in the post. The Italians get mad when it's suggested that coffee in other countries might taste good as well.
GeoVino is a new account with simple wine explanations with the help of a map.
Français De Nos Régions is about words that differ by French region. As I am not a French speaker, I don't always get it, but I'm a huge fan regardless.
💖 I shared about this restaurant in Leiden on Instagram and it got a lot of interest, so I’m sharing it here as well: Goeswijn is a small plate restaurant with natural wines. It also looks super cute. They are back from summer holiday this week (opening on 9 August).
💖 I’ve been enjoying the The Fringe of It podcast by two British content creators, Charlotte Jacklin and Liv Purvis. They talk about fun and light topics like delicious snacks, clothes, movies and TV series, a little bit of gardening and home decor. It’s like a chat with your girlfriends, with new episodes out every Tuesday.
A selection of flea markets in August
Diepenheim, Overijssel
Diepenheim Brocante Parade with over 100 sellers
10 August (Saturday), 9:00-16:30
Free entrance
More info here
Breda
Over 100 stalls
11 August (Sunday), 10:00-17:00
Entrance fee: €3
More info here
Deventer
250 stalls
11 August (Sunday), 9:00-16:00
Entrance fee: €3
More info here
Groningen
Around 100 stalls
18 August (Sunday), 9:00-17:00
Free entrance
More info here
Landgraaf, Limburg
400 stalls
18 August (Sunday), 9:00-16:00
Entrance fee: €3,50
More info here
Gorinchem, Zuid-Holland
Over 250 stalls
18 August (Sunday), 9:00-16:30
Entrance fee: €5
More info here
Helmond, Noord-Brabant
“Kasteeltuin Markt” (Castle Garden Market)
Around 160 stalls
25 August (Sunday), 9:00-16:30
Entrance fee: €3,50
More info here
Zutphen, Gelderland
Brocante market with around 90 stalls
25 August (Sunday), 10:00-17:00
Free entrance
More info here
Dordrecht
Art and antique market
It’s smaller with around 40 stalls, but Dordrecht is so cute, I’d love to visit again
1 September (Sunday), 10:00-17:00
Free entrance
More info here
Ravenstein, Noord-Brabant
Yearly flea market also known as “Op naar Ravenstein”
Around 250 stalls
1 September (Sunday), 8:00-16:30pm
Entrance fee: €3,50
More info here
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