tea gardens

tea gardens

Friday, September 13, 2013

The food and wine market

The Italians and the French have arrived in tubingen.From the morning the town has been buzzing with excitement.Stalls have been put up,stall owners are busy decorating their tents and long benches and tables are  being laid out for the start of a wine,cheese and meat festival which is an annual event showcasing all produce from these countries.

By the time we arrive the place is full despite the rain.Every stall allows us to taste bits and bobs of all things available.Being a big cheese fan I am ready to sample everything but nothing prepares me for the variety of flavor that assaults my taste buds.I can taste wine,mushrooms,wild herbs,spices and sweet .Nothing prepares me for this.How does one buy anything in this place.Move over to the wine stall and we get some red wine without too much fuss thanks to our friends who are veterans of this festival.Sausage stall is next and I don't know where to start.I am given a choice of dried,smoked sausage with wild mushrooms herbs garlic and cheese.I try everything very happy that tasting is a done thing in this place.I eat a variety of hams,bacon and sausage and move on to olive oil.Now in India I have been using olive oil for years now but again the texture here is so different.To begin with the color is a typical olive green.Not too deep but more on green than yellow like the stuff we get back home.The taste us also different.Its tastes of fresh fields and meadows.It can be tasted like wine .The stall owner gives us some toast that is soaked in this oil and one taste of it and the husband is sold so one large bottle is going back home.

Out last stop is the cheese stall so we stop to taste some Parmesan cheese.The last time I bought some of this was from a supermarket and I thought it tasted fantastic but when I was giving a sample of this  I realized why people rave so much of hand made far fresh farm cheese.The cheese is so sweet,it's almost sugary with just a hint of brine.We realize finally why this cheese is far more expensive than the supermarket variety and a small slice is bought.

We come home with a variety of cheeses and oils and its back to the market for dinner.I am ready to eat mussels or oysters but by the time we finish our wine the stall closed so we settle for pasta and some pizza.All of these flavors are new to us and we mull over the taste and eat to our hearts content.The walk back home is temperature of ten degrees is also a new experience and we come home happy to have got a taste of local life in a small town in Germany.It is one more experience in my file.

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