Markets of Frankfurt

Tuesday, May 5. 2009

Near the center of Frankfurt is the Kleinmarkthall, a charming little covered market with all sorts of food vendors. It's much smaller than the ones in Florence or Sao Paulo, of course, but has plenty for the food tourist. One warning, though: there's very little cooked food sold in the Kleinmarkthall, so unless you're renting an apartment, you'll be mainly looking and not buying.

One end of the hall is greengrocers, including one selling really unexpectedly good tomatoes. In general I think the tomatoes we ate while travelling (in Germany, Italy and Israel) were better than tomatoes we get in the US.

As I mentioned before, it was white asparagus season. For some reason, Frankfurters don't care much for green asparagus; they eat almost all of it white. If you're not familiar with it, white asparagus needs to be peeled.

I had some white asparagus soup at a cafe across from the Kleinmarkthall. White asparagus tastes like green, only milder.

Of course, it being Germany they had lots of meat vendors, and several wurstel shops, although surprisingly only one offered wurst on a bun.

But they also have an Italian antipasto shop, a chocolatier, a couple bakers and other foods.

Speaking of markets, at the Konstablerwache plaza, they had a major food market on Thursday. This was a great German gourmet affair with food vendors of all types, including:

An apple seller, offering afpelwine, cider, and several varieties of apples Kris hadn't seen before, which she bought.

A kartoffelpuffer stand (fried to order).

Wine tasting by three different German wine producers (yes, the Germans make wine).

Unfortunately, I failed to take pictures of the true glory of German food ... the bakeries ... this trip. Here's a picture from a previous trip to Munich. Having been to much of Europe, I think the Germans actually make the best and most varied breads in the West. Check out a town named "Bad Urach"; half the businesses there are bakeries.

Next time you're passing through Germany, take some time to enjoy the food.

Posted by The Fuzzy Chef in Food Tourism at 19:15 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)