This is the final post on our visit to the Central Market in the Slovenian capitol of Ljubljana. Part one focused on the produce available at this fall market, which you can read about at this link if you’re interested. This installment looks at some of the other merchandise available. Of note, surprising little in the way of cheese, fish and meat were spotted (though some was available).
Flowers were very popular at the market. This included small live flowers that you could plant in your home or garden, fresh cut flowers and boquets, and interesting arrangements of dried flowers. It being fall, the template of these arrangements was definitely harvest oriented.
There were a lot of handicrafts for sale, including lovely handmade jewelry, glass and ceramic items, and products made of wood. I was a little surprised to find that Slovenia is a nation still richly forested, and timbering and making wood-related items are a significant industry here.
An item of interest was pumpkin seed oil. This seems the most popular oil used in food preparation in Slovenia, not unlike olive oil is in Italy (olives are also grown in Slovenia and they make a tasty olive oil, but it did not seem as popular as the pumpkin seed oil). When served fresh bread in a restaurant, there is always pumpkin seed oil available to dip it into and it is good. Dark in color, like balsamic vinegar, it has a rich nutty taste.
Honey is extremely popular and the Slovenians are masters of it. They have many varieties of honey (eg. honey from a chestnut orchard, honey from a meadow with wildflowers, etc), and these varieties do indeed have different colors and tastes. The honey was excellent and we in the Americas could do a lot to improve our selections. Products made from beeswax and fermented honey beverages were popular.
Some of the vendors sold home made preserves, like truffles, truffle oil, jams and dried wild mushrooms. There were also home made remedies available of the type snake-oil salesmen sold here a century ago, which I didn’t spend much time with.
A large area in the market was dedicated to selling very reasonably priced clothes and shoes.
The Central Market had an area of street food kiosks and many tables at which you sit down and eat or rest. The weekend we were there, burgers seemed to be the culinary theme. Burgers are surprisingly popular in the country and there were at least 10 different vendors serving up a variety of grilled burgers and pulled meat sandwiches. Many of these are made with a Slovenian touch — for example, I tried a burger with truffles and blue cheese, which was excellent, although standard hamburgers and cheeseburgers are also available.
Be sure you visit the Central Market if your travels take you to Ljublana. It has something for everyone.
