this is not self serve
I went to the market today; I could have walked, but decided to take public transit instead. This was not the wisest choice, as the green line subway has been replaced by a shuttle bus. Kind of defeats the purpose.
It is funny to compare markets in different cities: Northern California with its pristine markets and beautiful, overpriced produce; Kharkiv (when I knew it) with aisle and aisles of vendor selling everything--from fresh meat, to dried fruit and nuts, to fresh vegetables and fruit, to even, one day, kittens; Chinon with two well-behaved aisles, the requisite produce outshined by the olives, pates, sausages, cheeses, pastries and paella; Paris markets ten times as large as Chinon's respectable offering...
And then, there's Boston's Haymarket.
"Don't touch. This isn't self-service," grumble the vendors. This is a bit jarring, and it seems selfish on the part of the vendors: without the sensory and tactile experience of the market, what is the point?
And the produce, unlike the chichi markets in California, isn't organic. Instead, it comes from large area producers who sell on market what didn't get bought up by local grocery stores.
On the other hand, there are interesting things to be found: gooseberries, true vine-ripened tomatoes, and unexpectedly, fennel. Much less corn, summer squash, and basil, but plums and apricots by the dozen for a dollar, and an unrecognizable item, a kneopka.
The theme of the day, was trash... cartons outnumbered the produce displays, bad produce flew through the air behind the stalls, landing in graceful formations against the brick.
It is funny to compare markets in different cities: Northern California with its pristine markets and beautiful, overpriced produce; Kharkiv (when I knew it) with aisle and aisles of vendor selling everything--from fresh meat, to dried fruit and nuts, to fresh vegetables and fruit, to even, one day, kittens; Chinon with two well-behaved aisles, the requisite produce outshined by the olives, pates, sausages, cheeses, pastries and paella; Paris markets ten times as large as Chinon's respectable offering...
And then, there's Boston's Haymarket.
"Don't touch. This isn't self-service," grumble the vendors. This is a bit jarring, and it seems selfish on the part of the vendors: without the sensory and tactile experience of the market, what is the point?
And the produce, unlike the chichi markets in California, isn't organic. Instead, it comes from large area producers who sell on market what didn't get bought up by local grocery stores.
On the other hand, there are interesting things to be found: gooseberries, true vine-ripened tomatoes, and unexpectedly, fennel. Much less corn, summer squash, and basil, but plums and apricots by the dozen for a dollar, and an unrecognizable item, a kneopka.
The theme of the day, was trash... cartons outnumbered the produce displays, bad produce flew through the air behind the stalls, landing in graceful formations against the brick.
posted by aelis at 7:11 PM
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