{"id":17973,"date":"2017-01-06T09:12:48","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T08:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.tui-blue.com\/?p=17973\/"},"modified":"2022-04-07T13:55:33","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T11:55:33","slug":"farmers-market-zadvarje","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tui-blue.com\/en\/farmers-market-zadvarje\/","title":{"rendered":"Quirky, quaint, gorgeous: Farmers’ Market in Zadvarje"},"content":{"rendered":"

The real Croatia is waiting away from the coast. How is Croatia not genuine on the coast? The Dalmatian Adriatic coast, with its Venetian architecture, eventually starts to feel more like Italy. If, however, you’re looking that Balkan feeling, you can find it in the hinterland at the farmers’ market in Zadvarje. 10 kilometres from the Adriatic coast, on a karst plateau between Omi\u0161 and Makarska, lies the town of Zadvarje. On Tuesdays, a market is held in the village that is definitely not geared toward tourists, where overzealous vendors call out, “Hello, my friend, good price, cheap cheap.” The people from the Makarska Riviera and the hinterland meet, negotiate by gesticulating wildly, and exchange the latest gossip. There aren’t any fake brand name sweaters, but plenty of everyday goods for the average local. Doesn’t sound exciting? On the contrary, my social media colleague Dirk and I found the market in Zadvarje lovable, quirky, and amazing at times.<\/p>\n

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An old VW Golf is quickly converted to the market stand.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Zadvarje – handmade, homemade, canned<\/h2>\n

Along the main road and in small nooks, the merchants of Zadvarje had set up their stands. Or something that was supposed to represent a stand – one woman had covered her car with mandarin oranges. It was practical and looked great!<\/p>\n

There were fruits and vegetables coming out of the region, like fresh watermelons, citrus fruits, plums, grapes, pointed peppers, and more during our visit in September. Usually in quantities so huge that one wonders how big the average family actually is. Some of the items at the farmers’ market in Zadvarje are preserved for the winter in the form of jams, pickled vegetables, ajvar (a required accompaniment to \u0107evap\u010di\u0107i), honey, and dried herbs. One man even sold homemade herbal tinctures that could help, for example, against hair loss, bronchitis, or a lack of virility.<\/p>\n

Even more fascinating than the organic viagra: we found a device that looked home-built and did nothing but shred cabbage. You put raw cabbage in the top and shredded cabbage comes out below. You could shred it yourself for the winter, or buy ready-made sauerkraut in buckets. “You want to take a bucket? Sauerkraut is healthy.” The dealer said to me as I photographed this fascinating sight. I just imagined myself at the Split Airport, taking a bucket of sauerkraut through security… “Uh, no, thank you. Next time, love.”<\/p>\n