Szembeka Market was open in 1944. It is located in Grochów- district of Warsaw which is on the right side of Vistula River. People from many other places come to this place every Saturday for best quality vegetables, meat from local producers, eggs, bread, fish, but also clothing, second hand old products, Chinese products and actually whatever you could imagine.
You don’t see many queues nowadays, but not there- there are sellers with people queuing almost always.
Bazar Szembeka is open from Monday to Saturday from early morning till 4-5 p.m.
During PRL there was a shortage of goods in stores, but in Bazar Szembeka you could always buy vegetables, meat and milk from farmers, as well as contraband goods from under the counter:)
Actually you can still buy some goods only if you ask for them, of course only if you know which seller to ask:)
During those days you could also buy live hens, to take home and kill yourself..:) to get the freshest product possible;)
The best pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut is sold from barrels. There are always queues to this seller:)
I buy vegetables here:)
Bakery products is something we should be proud of – in Poland you can get high quality rye, spelt and wholemeal breads with variety of additions, like cranberry, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, nigella seeds and other.
If you care about environment, you can get products sold without fabric package. You can order whatever weight you wish.
Apples is polish product we are proud of. Also cider is getting more and more popular in Poland, it is even produced by individuals at home.. no no, not us (yet) – for now we are getting better in home wine production and fruit home liqueur, the best is: mirabelka (small yellow plum), black currant and bird cherry (czeremcha).
Chicken stomachs, turkey liver, this is a food for poor people, but this is our history. Poles had to use all the stuff, not only the best parts. In Warsaw people were always more wealthy, but Poland is not only Warsaw. There are villages, towns, where people had to do the most of they could get. Nowadays it is more like a respect to the animal, that gives his life for us, to use everything we can. We use tribes, livers, stomachs, hearts, lungs, cerebellum, beef tongues, duck blood. Wait for the recipes:)
Minimalism- why not go for it. If you need less, you could be more happy. If you don’t use some thing, you can sell it or give it to someone who will make a use of it.
