In all households in our part of the country, those who are preparing to celebrate the Resurrection of the Savior are making thorough preparations. There is a great bustle in the houses and in the yards.
Now the most thorough cleaning is done, which, otherwise, has no equal during the rest of the year. Everything must shine like a crystal glass (by Tomești, for those who still know what that means).
But it seems the bustle is even greater in the city’s markets. In most places you have nowhere to throw a needle. Lots of good merchandise for all tastes and budgets. The electronic ones are not taken into account because the customers waiting for them do not bargain in the market; the courier arrives at their door with products that look like plastic or polystyrene (nice) and taste like sawdust.
Those who are more frugal with money and haven’t retired at 45 go to Badea Cârțan Market where the goods have flavor and are brought directly from the gardens and solariums. The producers are from everywhere, from villages closer to the city or from further away. They came from Vizejdia, Tomnatic, Lovrin, Belinț or Chișoda. But there are also those who travel a longer way precisely from the mountains of Carășe (be they Almajeni or Gugulani) or precisely from the area called Podgoria Aradului.
The world is divided by interest. Traders say that the market is doing very well, especially on Thursday and Good Friday. Everything comes at a good price and he rubs his beaten hands with joy.
Some more experienced, or with more experience, say that the sale is indeed going well, but it is nowhere near what was happening four to six years ago.
“Good luck with the holidays, because we’re still taking out our expenses. The rest of the days I barely give two kilos of potatoes and two or three bundles of green onions!” confesses a lady with a stall full of trufandales.
Buyers have a different opinion. They think that the market is worth appreciating and the goods are of good quality, but the prices are also a bit high. “Well, with our pensions we can only afford what is strictly necessary. Calculate what you can buy for one hundred lei?!”
What else can we find… Oltenia tomatoes, (brought directly from Turkey), green, white or bruised onions, scallion, sorrel, petunjel leaves, leustea, horseradish to wake up the dead, carrots, parsnips (which the townspeople confuse with parsley ), red, white or black radishes. Apples like from Grădina Ursului but at a ridiculously low price. Watermelon like in the middle of summer, next to cantaloupe.
A lady who knows how to advertise herself urges the undecided to greens with payment in installments!
A young student helps his grandmother, who has a stall full of everything. He doesn’t run away from work, although the exact sciences still attract him more, but as a future engineer he will appreciate the work of the peasants. It is natural for him to think this way because he comes with products in the child market.
The meat hall, newly renovated, has an abundance like in much better times. People don’t really code here. Once a year it is worth buying a lamb, or at least a half or a quarter for those who do not have a large family. But the offer is much richer.
Keep admiring, maybe even buying: lamb meat, bigger or smaller, goat meat, but also golden hens or earlier chickens. Fresh or smoked pork sausages: spicy or fresh sausages, drumsticks, caltabosi, blood sausages, expensive sausages as if they were brought from Japan (about the only meat products that exceed an average of normal and decency) but also good smoked pastrami to put on the most delicious meals. For those who don’t know how to cook, here they can find their ready-made portion of drob.
A mucalit with his bag still empty is surprised when he sees pork loin: “For as long as I’ve known, loin has been made from lamb organs and not pork. But can you see that the world is changing? Don’t say at the wrong time, maybe we’ll buy a crocodile boot too!”
He leaves grumbling but still stops at the cheese stall.
There, likewise, abundance of products.
“World, world, let’s go to sweet cheese or mature sheep, goat or cow cheese, curd, real cream without a bit of aracet, sour or curdled milk, because others are full of the sweet one! We also have sweet cream, but also good smoked cheese. Take a taste of what we have today, you won’t find tomorrow!” As a matter of fact, as if all the merchants had understood each other, the ad with “slightly salty curd” appears in gallantry. Will it be a sign that salt is no longer in demand?
I’m one of those people who don’t look at money. An older gentleman asked his boss (consort?) “shall we take two more lambs or will these four be enough?” Better get a big ham! What are you doing?”
It’s just a small slice of a morning spent in a market in Timișoara, waiting for the holidays, which must be held with tables full of Banatians or whatever…
