Thursday 29 January 2009

Vienna's Naschmarket

Naschmarkt
Wienzeile
4th District

I haven't counted them, but there must
be more than a hundred stalls,
offering fresh vegetables,
fresh fruits and dried fruits,
nuts, seeds,
teasanes and teas,
bakery goods, meat, fish,
spices from all over the world,
pickles galore at one stand
and so many varieties of vinegars at another,
you may end up with such a bad case
of indecisiveness,
you'll spend the rest of the day
right there.
Put.
Gasping for air.

No problem,
parallel to the market
runs a miles long row
of food joints,
offering breakfast to night cap,
sushi to pizza
and anything in between
you could ever imagine
wanting to eat,
with Turkish coffee or cappuccino
to top it all off,
while pondering your vinegar choices
or your next move.


Go there early in the morning,
unless you want to seriously fleamarket
at the Kettenbrücke (Chain Bridge) end
of this Viennese bazaar happening
on Saturday mornings,
all the while
the river Wien
flowing right there
under your tired feet.

Autumn Bounty
"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace
as I have seen in one autumnal face
"
John Donne

Figs
"The proper way to eat a fig, in society,
Is to split it in four, holding it by the stump,
And open it, so that it is a glittering,
rosy, moist, honied,
heavy-petalled four-petalled flower.
"
*
D.H. Lawrence,
"Figs"

Parmiggiano Reggiano!
36 mesi di stagionatura!
Prodotto col latte della mungitura
della sera “affiorato e maturato”!

Chili! Peppers! Artichokes!
The artichoke
With a tender heart
Dressed up like a warrior
...
*
Pablo Neruda,
"Ode to the Artichoke"

"the tomato
invades
the kitchen,
it enters at lunchtime,
takes
its ease
on countertops,
among glasses,
butter dishes,
blue saltcellars
."

*
Pablo Neruda,
"Ode To Tomatoes"

Eggplants!
"Olive oil would simply be lost without you."
*
Persis M. Karim,
"Ode to the eggplant"

Grapes
"Bring me wine, but wine which never grew
In the belly of the grape,
Or grew on vine whose tap-roots, reaching through
Under the Andes to the Cape,
Suffer no savor of the earth to scape
."
*
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
"Bacchus"

Persimmons
"We were so young. The persimmons
hung just out of reach.
"
*
Jennifer Mackenzie,
"Persimmons"

*

To visit other Viennese markets
with Merisi,
click here,
please.

.


First published
October 2007


19 comments:

  1. I hope this inspires you all to eat something healthy. The next round of coffee with Merisi is coming up soon! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are lucky to have access to so much fresh produce..Here in the winter, it is all trucked in...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! Healthy! Yummy! These pictures are wonderful. I love fresh produce.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely, beautiful selection of fruits, veggies, and cheese. Although, is it me or do the tomatoes look a bit off?
    Maureen

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like the looks of that pickle barrel...but it's the figs that make me melt. Those figs!
    To me, they are the most visually beautiful fruit.
    ...and I'll have a turkish coffee right now, please!

    ReplyDelete
  6. RAMBLINGWOODS,
    the same happens here,
    this time of the year.
    The photos were taken in October.

    CHEFFIE-MOM,
    thank you! :-)

    CELESTIAL CHARMS,
    these are perfectly delicious heirloom tomatoes,
    they are way tastier than those perfectly round red "ripe" ones.

    ReplyDelete
  7. THE WANDERER's DAUGHTER:
    Oh yes, let's sit down and have Turkish Coffee! How about a grilled vegetable sandwich with goat cheese for lunch? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. So fresh and delicious-looking! And those figs sound divine. I've only had a fig once, and I was about 7, so I really don't remember it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love marketplaces. I tend to enjoy foods that are good for me anyway, but this has me drooling--yum!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yummy pictures. One these days I'll tried a fresh fig.

    www.thequietone.net

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's amazing how beautiful an arrangment of fresh vegetables can be. Those figs are gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your photos of the market with the varied colours of the vegetables and fruit are inspiring. They are reminding me to make that pot of soup I had planned, but not done.

    ReplyDelete
  13. > you may end up with such a bad case of indecisiveness

    What a totally delightful way of expressing it! Your words are always as charming as your pictures :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love markets. Every trip I have taken includes finding a good market and making a lunch (or two!). Plus it is a great place to people watch while you sip your coffee.

    ReplyDelete
  15. That produce looks amazing. I love marketplaces like that. I especially love the poems that you collated with them.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Such wonderful and amazing colors you paint with!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Heavenly place...bargain price schniztels the size of a plate, good wines,I recall the cheese shop bursting with every cheese imaginable..and the Persian bread was something else..

    Um, now I'm hungry. Thanks and best wishes Merisi

    ReplyDelete
  18. Only D.H. Lawrence would suggest one do such a suggestive thing...
    HUMPH
    Lovely post anyway...

    ReplyDelete
  19. Elizabeth Nordhausen27 November, 2010

    We went to Naschmarket when we were in Vienna. Such a wonderful place, with the smell of large cinnamon sticks and fresh vanilla. I love the way you use quotes with your pictures. Great intelligent photography!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave a note.