In addition to the big box stores, I made several stops at the Marqt markets. They are all over Amsterdam and I would liken them to either Fresh Market from back in Indiana. First, I will say the Marqt was much more expensive than Albert Heijn. I did, however, really love wandering around and looking. Like at Fresh Market, they had a ton of little samples out; bread, cheese, meats, etc. One of my favorite meals I made in Amsterdam was fish and veggies. I always bought the fish from the Marqt. I also found the employees at the Marqt a bit more willing to help me find things.
Here’s my research data on local market:
- 4 apple varieties
- No pre-packaged bread. Everything was pretty baked and sliced.
- 8 milk varieties
- 4 aisles
Finally, one thing I wanted to work on in Amsterdam was cooking again. In London, I didn’t really cook much and I didn’t really like it much for a couple reasons; first, I really like cooking, so I genuinely missed cooking, second, dinner has always been family time, which I also missed our time together at the dinner table in London, and third, we generally eat better when I cook, so I can’t say we had many good meals in London. I am very proud to report that I knocked it out of the park in Amsterdam. I cooked Monday through Friday and we had Friday Night Pizza Nights. I made a weekly meal plan on the whiteboard, Jim and I coordinated dinner times with work, and we were able to actually have dinner together most weekday nights in Amsterdam. I think that had a lot to do with how “at home” we felt.
Here are a few pictures from the Marqt.
^I had to include a picture of the cheese. So much amazing cheese!