Pijaca Skadarlija

When you stroll down Skadarlija with all her restaurants and gipsy orchestras you will find this market at the bottom of the Bohemian quarter - and over the heavily trafficked Tsara Dusana. First and foremost it is a vegetable market, but it also features all kinds of bricka brack. They used to have this cool tank with alive fish waiting for the hungry housewife to come and choose for todays meal, but no longer. They still sell fish, but they are all dead as a herring…

The vendors are offering paradajz (BIG tomatoes), krastevac (cucumber), paprika (peppers), luk (onion), tikvice (immature squash), sljiva (plum), pecurke (mushrooms) and whatever the stomach desires. Many of them are old babe (grandmas) in whos faces you can see traces of the Yugoslavian Kingdom, the Tito-era and the wars of the Nineties. Maybe you need a bit imagination and a very sharp eye, but I think it is possible.

I asked at the salestands - in a very humble way and pointing with my camera - if I could picture their vegetables. Should had the guts to portray the babe also, but I don’t want to push my luck too much. After a few shots I went shopping and now I got what is needed for a few dinners; Pileci medaljoni sa pecurkama and my own recipe for cured beef, with fried potatoes- and tomatoes. Are you coming over?