Out in the market

Whenever I need fresh fruits and vegetables in Gdansk, I know where I can find it. For someone like me who was raised in the beatiful Ethiopia, fresh veggies and fruits are a daily food staple and easy to find almost anywhere from the densely populated cities to the beautiful countryside, the source. Enough talking about my mother Ethiopia, so whenever I move into a new city one of the things that I enjoy doing is visiting the local food market where you may find everything the place has to offer. This time around, before my arrival to Gdansk, I found out on a website that very near to my dormitory there was a market place.

Rynek, market in Polish

The first time I went to this market was with my neighbour, who was kind enough to show me around and give me some tips on how to get good deals. We walked for three minutes from the dormitory and after crossing a traffic light, there it stood the entrance to the market (there were also some people who where coming out so I guess it's just a gateway). This particular market is open three days a week: Tuesday, Friday and Sunday from early morning untill midday when the sellers start closing.

What I like about this market

The variety of fruits from the usual apples, pears and bananas to the seasonal grapes and oranges are all available at a good price in this place. One reason why I spend a lot of time walking around the vendors table is the smell of that magical fruit, which adds a nice color pop to the grey wintery atmosphere. On the other hand you have your well assorted fresh vegetables. This man is my potato supplier.

It is always nice when I visit him for my weekly shoppings. He usually brings two to three different kinds of potatoes with prices ranging from 1 zl to 1. 40 zl per kilo. I've made some dishes using his potatoes, here are just some: mashed potatoes, baked potatoes with garlic and origano, potatoes with scrambled egg and soia beans and a big vegetable soup with baby potatoes and they turned to be unbeatable with flavours that haven't yet left the back of my taste buds.

Besides the fresh fruit and vegetables with attractive price, one more reason to go frequently to the market is the chance it gives you to polish your Polish and I mean that literally: from the time I started going once a week to this market my knowledge of the very feared Polish language has been showing incouraging improvements, specially when it comes to counting numbers. In the beginning I had some funny incidents where I would give more money than what I was asked to pay or even less, but in most cases the vendors were nice and friendly to remind me to add some more money or give me my change. It is in the midst of this caos that I learned how to count in Polish: sometimes you have to make the best out of the difficulties you face and not let them get the best of you! I learned that the hard way but in the end it's alright, learn your lesson and move on.

My temporary fruit supplier is this lady, always there (even on Sunday New Year's Eve) with her pears and apples among many other good produces.

Market in Ethiopia

I was born and raised in Ethiopia, therefore when I first moved to Italy and now here in Poland I immediatly noticed the difference with the fruit vendors I grew up with. They are almost all the same all over Ethiopia and they look something like this:

Source

Apart from the irresistible colors and fruity smell that you will notice passing by, this is not a simple fruit vendor: you can go inside and ask for a freshly squeezed orange juice or any other fruit juice of your choice at a very reasonable price. It is one of those things that you have to try to know what it means to hide from the scorching sun in one of these fruit vendors and take the time to enjoy a fresh juice, cooling you from the inside. In some of this places it is also possible to ask for a freshly made salad: the one with lettuce, avocado, onions, bananas, ananas and tomatoes is an explosion in the mouth and a definite must try.

If you happen to be around Ethiopia, drop me a message and I'll show you around and maybe take you for a taste of this pure and fresh fruit juice.

Cheers everyone!

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