Going to Market: food stalls part 1
There are quite a few markets around Eindhoven; the ones I've been to are the Tuesday market in town center, the Wednesday market in the parking lot of Winkelcentrum Woensel, and the Saturday Woenselse Markt. They're quite fun for me because it's a chance to indulge in snack-y food, my favorite. This post is about the more "Dutch" type foods, whereas the next post will be about the less "Dutch" type foods.
The first time I ate at the markets was the Tuesday market when I first moved to the Netherlands. We came across a fish seller, and at one end of the stall was the prepared food section. We tried 500g of "kibbeling" not knowing what it was, for €5 (including free sauce). It turns out that half a kilo fills up an entire paper bag, enough for two people for two meals! Kibbeling is breaded and fried pieces of cod, sprinkled with savory seasonings (you can see red and white flecks). They fry up a fresh batch for you when you say you will eat it on the spot, even if they've just taken another batch out of the fryer a second ago.
The kibbeling was quite good, though could be a bit greasy. Though that's what you crave sometimes isn't it? So I went back to the friendly fish mongers when they were at the Wednesday market and tried the "lekkerbekjes," which is a whole piece of fried fish. It's not specified which fish it is, but can be cod or whiting. This was also greasy, but the whole fish turned out to be so juicy and tender on the inside. I now crave this!
Of course there's always frites, thick cut and freshly fried. Most people get it with fritesaus (aka mayonnaise) on top. In total this costs €2 for the cone, the smallest portion you can get. Note that it's basically a meal in itself, not a side order to something else (which is a mistake I made once!).
There will always be a stroopwafel seller, with freshly made stroopwafels. They're basically a buttery waffle cookie with caramel in between. I became a bit less enamored of these when I noticed a stroopwafel seller with boxes upon boxes of commercially made cookie dough next to the stand. He would reach in for a pre-measured round of dough to then press into the waffle press. There must be a Sysco of stroopwafels.
There is also always a rotisserie chicken seller. I haven't tried the rotisserie chicken yet, but I've had the hot wings which are great - crunchy and truly spicy. I observed a rotisserie chicken seller setting up one day, and he basically put par-roasted chickens on a spit onto the rotisserie in the morning. I wonder if there's a Sysco for chicken too.
