Faces of Rakoczi ter

On Monday morning, bright and early, actually 10:30, which is bright and early for the construction industry here, construction officials, they were wearing red hard hats, barricaded the street in front of the market. The crew at Csiga Cafe was caught off guard and there was a flurry to move bicycles that were chained to a light pole that was now inside the construction barrier. There was alot of conversation about the project: how long the new barricades would effect business, basically blocking half of the sidewalk as well as restricting traffic on Rakoczi and Vasar utca. Weather this barricade was a new form of Berlin Wall dividing Rakoczi ter into East and West. But that's not what this blog is about.

The positioning of the new barricade created a sort of "cattle shoot" that forced people walking to the market to pass directly in front of the door where I sit for my morning coffee. These people are always visible. Making daily trips to the market is the common practice, freezers are rare and refrigerators are tiny and the markets are designed around selling small quantities of your daily provisions, one egg is 27 forints, about 14 cents, you can buy bread by the slice, freshly cut and what an aroma. There are small bags of salad mix. Our current favorite is grated tok with fresh dill. The "o" in tok should have two dots over it so the pronunciation is touk, sort of. Tok is a giant squash, light green in color and vaguely tastes like zucchini. You buy it freshly grated on an ancient wooden mandolin, the kitchen tool, not the instrument. It is sold my the kilo, 580 forints, about $3.00. The dill costs an additional 20 forints, about 11 cents. Where/when did the cent sign go away from the keyboards? Anyway, you can toss it with a bit of oil and vinegar even add a bit of paprika paste to liven it up. I sauteed an onion and a head of garlic in oil, added a bunch of the grated tok, a bit of water and cooked it down. I then pureed it and it was a wonderful soup, creamy and tasty. I got off the subject again...the people and the "cattle shoot."

I sat with my camera and shot these photos, the great faces of Budapest, everyday people going to the market, a trip most make everyday. My favorites are the couple; they have loud discussions as they walk and argue about each purchase in the market, the man with the ALDI bag, he is quite short but walks with strong determination, the young girl with the "New York Never Sleeps" shirt, check out the guy checking her out. You pick your favorite.