Street Food Market

While Juliette Gréco once sang, “Je hais les dimanches,” Red Baron visited the 7th Freiburg Street Food Market last Sunday. Probably because of the pandemic, this had been located far out at the fairgrounds.

So Red Baron took the streetcar along Madisonallee to the terminus at Messe Freiburg. 

Vaccine fatigue. Daily vaccinations in Germany.
Yellow: first jab; green fully vaccinated
©Deutsche Telekom

I had to walk nearly two kilometers along the exhibition halls to get to the Street Food Market. I passed a line of people who wanted to get vaccinated. Another line of people stood there for a quick test.

Vaccination on a Sunday? Yes, there was a good reason. Every vaccinated person got a voucher for the Street Food Market, which significantly boosted the languishing vaccination rate.

The carts formed a large fenced-off circular wagon castle at the Street Food Market. The entrance control to the area was rigorous.

First of all, everyone had to register by name. I hate signing my name, so thankfully, I keep the so-called Luca app on my iPhone and had just to scan a barcode.

After that, one of the 3Gs was required geimpft, genesen, getestet. Here I showed my vaccination certificate stored on my smartphone. I finally passed the entrance control.

It was an early 11:30 a.m. At this time, only a few people populated the Street Food Market. I first walked along all the carts to find the most attractive dish for me. 

The barman serving my glass

However, I got stuck at a bar right at the entrance and decided to have an aperitif first. I chose a rosé sparkling wine and, glass in hand, walked the round of food carts.

Strolling past a beer stand reminded me of the Craftival (Freiburger Bier Festival) on the Decker grounds. That had to be canceled last year and also this year. I shed hot tears.

Finally, remembering Katz Delicatessen in New York, I decided on a pastrami sandwich. How disappointed I was when the food cart owner could not fulfill my request for a Pastrami New York Style. He was simply missing the pickles.

So I took his standard version sandwiched between two slices of white bread in a bag and sat at the proper distance from other eaters on one of the chairs provided. While eating, tears again ran down my cheeks in memory of the Katz Pastrami.

I looked for a dessert and saw a stand with the Dutch specialty poffertjes to console me. These are small pancakes, a festive holiday treat in the Netherlands, popular at summer festivals and Christmas markets.

You could choose from many servings at the food cart, nearly all with Nutella. Red Baron hates this stuff and opted for the classical variant with applesauce and cinnamon. Still, as a compromise, I had to accept the addition of whipped cream running from a cartridge.

©Thomas Kunz/BZ

When I left at 1 p.m., the place became crowded.

In conclusion, eating in my hand is not my thing.

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