Cosmopolite
Frankfurt am Main is by definition a very cosmopolite city. You only need to walk among the skyscrapers or into the commercial district to understand how worldly it is, with thousands of people around, speaking all the possible languages.
In terms of food, things are the same, as ethnic restaurants fill the city's streets and malls. The food markets in Frankfurt are pop-up markets. There is no permanent market, but rather local producers who showcase their merchandise in certain days of the week, in public designated grounds, during a fixed schedule.
I spent a week in the city and I managed to visit two of these markets. The offer is pretty generous, with the seasonal products (all kinds of fruit and vegetables) wonderfully presented. There are also products from different meat farms or fish farms in the area, and, most notably, products from the apple farms native to the Hessen land. What I loved most about the markets in Frankfurt was that all these producers who sell out of food trucks, usually bring tables, where the customer can eat on the spot. It's hard to describe how crowded it is, but in the sea of people, there are places where you can stop by, even sit and enjoy some fried trout or bagels with different sausages, and drink a glass of cider or wine.
The first market I found took place on Fridays, right next to the Frankfurt Stockmarket on Schiller Strasse. On the other side of the street, light poured discreetly from the windows of luxury brands. But the shops were empty and at 6 p.m., when all transactions were closed, most of the stock market agents would stop at the wine stand which stood strategically right in front of the building. Here, they stood around plastic tables, holding a glass of wine and unwinding after a long week at work. The little square in front of the Stockmarket building was packed with people, all chatting relaxed. Around the corner, among baskets full of apples, walnuts, and all kinds of vegetables, the deli meats seller where I stood in line for a second Bratwurst had a single wooden table near his grill, permanently packed with customers.
I found the second street market on Saturday, in Konstablerwache, in the middle of the most crowded commercial area of the city, the Zeil. Saturday on the Zeil is as crowded as a music festival. In all that turmoil and noise, people take a break from doing their shopping and quench their thirst or hunger. It took me 15 minutes to stand in the line and eat and, during that time, several people walked by, some of them looking as if they had climbed out of the pages of an Italian fashion magazine. Relaxed and calm, they kept returning to Bauer Lenz's deli food truck, buying sausages stuffed in buns and covered in mustard and/or ketchup. Although this resembles hotdogs, the food has nothing to do with them. These were German sausages, flavored with thyme or curry and made entirely from veal, grilled or boiled, depending on the sort.
The food markets in Frankfurt are not just places to buy food. They are also places of socializing, something obvious in the smaller, neighborhood markets. And when one faces the double side of the city, the inner turmoil inherent to such a large human settlement, but also the relaxed attitude of the shoppers in the market, one can't help but understand a little more about tolerance.
