HIKING AROUND THE AUTUMN FAIR

Could there be anything more pleasing to the eye, than the sight of a city market like this, October days overexposed by the sun, when the stalls bend under heaps of vegetables and fruits of all colors and shapes?
Heavy, honey grapes, huge pods of red pepper, garlands of good garlic, green-purple panties, smooth, black and shiny eggplants - all this creates an excellent color composition, which is complemented by an equally perfect fragrance. The aroma of parsley, celery, mint and czubricy combine with the wave of smell coming from the stands with fried fish and kettles with boiled corn, making one, whole thing that stimulates the appetite.
Wandering around the autumn market was our favorite form of spending free time. More than once we got carried away by madness and then we carried heavy nets of not very sensible purchases to the hotel, because when we moved along the stalls, everything seemed extremely attractive. Unable to resist the beauty of the proposed goods, we bought everything, which attracted our eyes - even things completely unnecessary in our Bulgarian existence. So amber honey in huge jars and bundles of aromatic Balkan herbs, and even bunches of grape leaves for "lovebirds."”. We also watched with interest, how Bulgarians buy. Already from such cursory observations one could draw many conclusions and many generalizations about the properties of the local cuisine. Thus, full of peppers are brought home, tomatoes, eggplants, plus only a kilo or two of potatoes, because these are the proportions here. We looked enviously at the variety of vegetables and vegetables, what the Bulgarian hostess has at her disposal. The pepper itself has several varieties - and large, smooth, trójkątne strąki, gentle, with a sweet taste, called “gate”, and "Cadmium” - red balls of tomato pepper, and spicy, little hummingbirds”. Usually, a lot of nuts were bought at the market, which are a very important addition to many dishes. In how many recipes we have come across the phrase - “add a handful of crushed nuts” and in situations that are completely surprising for the Polish palate, because e.g.. for soups or meats. Therefore, villages and towns near Balkan are simply drowning in nut orchards, for example Tetewen, where we spent our vacation.
We also liked very much to observe the purchase of watermelons. It was the entire ceremony. These huge ones, green spheres stacked directly on the ground, they seemed to us, ignorant woman, completely the same. However, the buyers were of a different opinion. Often a dozen or so fruits were thrown, finally - after careful and very mysterious tapping - choose the right one. And that was not the end of rehearsals either. The seller was cutting a conical piece of red flesh with a sharp knife and only after examining it a decision was made - to buy or not.
Bulgarian autumn revives and cheers up even stereotypical city apartment blocks. On the balconies, long wreaths or strings tied with a thread of red pepper appear directly on the windows. How would it not be possible to prepare a dry hat for the winter at home?. After all, it's time to make preserves, and in every family it is of great importance.