Thursday 15 November 2007

Noordermarkt - Amsterdam








The Noordmarkt in Amsterdam has to be one of the best food markets I have possibly even been to. After weaving around many streets in the Jordaan quarter
you get to a square nestled between the Westerstraat and Prinsengracht. The first part of the market is actually antiques, bric-a-brac, vintage clothes, records, plants and other curios. To be honest I would have been content with that, as along with food markets, my other passion is fleamarkets - I just can't get enough of them..., not to be confused with car-boot sales, or market stalls selling old tat or grey goods, these are stalls selling unique and authentic vintage items, antiques, and other objet. So, past all of these stalls lies the food market - and wow, what a market!!!!

The produce as you would expect would look good, but for some incredible reason it all looked amazing, as if it had all been airbrushed. The colours of the produce were so deep and pure, and everything had an aroma, an aura of freshness, smell of the earth, rain, woodlands, all the smells of what you imagine a vegetable garden would smell like. And indeed what a vegetable garden it was; Peruvian Black Truffle potatoes, lengths of ruby rhubarb, the freshest herbs, white asparagus, all many of fruit and vegetable in every shade under the sun.

How to get there
Walking: 10 minutes from the Westerkerk and Anne Frank House
Tram: tram 3 & 10, stop Marnixbad.

1 comment:

Vida said...

What a fantastic market... I too would have loved the vintage part as well as the food. The market in Adelaide is like this that you have described, the produce smelled "RIPE", as though it was still on the tree and warmed by the sun, allowing it's frangrance to come through... memories... Vida x