yesterday i visited a farmers’ market at Winterfeldtplatz in Berlin. i love farmers’ markets and flea markets so much. you can really experience all types of foods with all your senses. the market at Winterfeldtplatz is quite well known i think, so i visited it on a wednesday to avoid the saturday crowds. it was quite small, but it wasn’t crowded at all so it was really comfortable to walk around in. there were a lot of vegetable and fruit stands, and some random craft booths, but my favorites were a small espresso stand and a bakery stand with fresh breads and rolls. the espresso stand was run by italians who greeted you with “Buon giorno”. it reminded me of being in italy and i would love to go back soon. they had different types of espresso drinks you could buy that were all very cheap, and were also selling slices of tiramisu. it looked so delicious. but the serving was so huge and i knew i could never eat it all by myself and felt bad wasting any of it which means i would have somehow eaten it all and then felt sick for the next few hours… eventually i decided on an espressino, which is basically espresso with foamy milk. i’ve grown to like espresso a lot over the last few years. it’s a lot more bitter than coffee, but i’ve also stopped drinking sugar in my normal coffee so for me the flavor of it is quite nice now.
i didn’t intend on buying anything from the bakery stand that i visited, but the man working there was very nice and friendly (=good salesman). he said something in german and i did my usual polite smile and nod because i didn’t hear/understand what he said. usually this trick works and people smile back. but there are moments, like this one, when what they said was actually a question and not a comment and you feel them waiting for a response and looking confused on why you answered with a smile and kept walking. well he then switched to english and was quite nice. he let me try this special type of dark german bread that had plums, walnuts, and chili in it. at first this combination sounds off somehow, but the flavors are kind of mild and together it makes for a really tasty bread. the shape of it is kind of weird, and it’s actually really heavy (as in physical weight not how it feels in your stomach) so it’s not really a sandwich bread, but more of a snack bread that you could also throw at someone in self-defense if needed bread. german breads are typically darker and denser like this one. the guy recommended to eat it with a soft french cheese like brie which i did try yesterday evening. it’s good, but i tried it again today with butter and tomato slices and prefer this way better.
katie baked 