Kuznechny Market

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Dostoyevsky probably strolled through the Kuznechny’s predecessor, the open air Vladimirsky market that occupied the site until around 70 years ago. The produce that you can get today also harks back to Russian colonial times with treats from the central Asia and Caucasus regions. Now that shortages are a thing of the past you really are in for a gourmand feast. The scent of dill and fresh greens used in so much Russian cuisine hits you as you gaze around at the huge bulbs of garlic, plump and intensely red tomatoes, enormous vats of honey and mountains of juicy cherries. The fish sections consists of tanks filled with carp, sterlet (a sort of sturgeon with a long, narrow, snout) and perch and elsewhere women wearing frilly white hats and aprons sell gorgeously fresh creamy homemade soft cheese that you have to eat it within twelve hours otherwise it goes rubbery. Other dairy delights include smetana, the crème fraîche-like cream that is sold by the ladle and spooned into borsch or cooked with fish and potatoes. There is an abundance of other things to try; dried fruits, pickled vegetables, nuts, fruits and the reddish coloured , a traditional Georgian sweet. The market is a place to graze for a morning, trying the samples that the vendors thrust in your face. Don’t forget to haggle!

1 / 5 Review by editor Alessia Horwich

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