Some of the things I like best about the springtime in Germany are the farmers markets. To be sure, there are farmers markets all year long, but they seem to be tired and withdrawn in the cold of winter. The warm weather appears, with its fragrant rains, turning to sunny skies and suddenly the market places spring up like mushrooms. Seemingly every village throws up banners, smiles break out like rainbows, and the culinary world comes out of hibernation.
Every market I go to is new, even if I’ve been there before. Cheeses I haven’t tasted. Spicy wursts I haven’t smelled. The aroma of roasting nuts. And, most of all, bursts of red, yellow, deep purples, and bright greens covering every stand and every cart. For someone who likes to cook, the possibilities overwhelm the imagination. “Let’s see, I can make tomato chutney with those, some grilled eggplants might be nice. OH, check out those yellow squash and the zucchinis!” I effortlessly plan stews and salads, desserts and grilled vegetables. I grab several bunches of cut flowers to decorate the house.
Then my wife stomps into my reverie with her high-heeled jackboots. “That makes 16 meals so far. You that hungry or do you plan on feeding the French Army?”
“I’d never invite the French. They’d eat all the food and criticize my technique.” However, she has drawn my attention to the five shopping bags I’m lugging, all brimming with plump loaves of crusty bread, redolent fruits, fragrant cheeses, and vegetables in every available style and color. Well, it is kinda hard to know when to stop. Money in my pocket. Time on my hands. Mind in the kitchen.
My wife nods. “The boys will probably help you make a dent in the provisions.”
Boys indeed. They’re now men, with the kind of rapacious appetites that cause a school of piranhas to stare in awestruck wonder. Whole families of swine are known to wail in terror when one of my sons mentions barbeque.
Well, it is a match made in culinary heaven. I like to cook. I have people to cook for. With that bit of comfort, I stroll on, stopping to admire some tree ripened apricots and shiny skinned nectarines. I do have another empty shopping bag.
A few recommendations:
Kaiserslautern : farmers market, Tues and Sat, Stiffsplatz
Saarbrücken farmers market Sat 0900-1600, St Johanner Markt
