Tahini made by an old Bulgarian recipe – one of the attractions of the first Farmer’s Market at the Zhenski Pazar Market
The Farmer’s Market “Pendara”- supports starting up Bulgarian farmers and craftsmen
The 7th of October, 2019, Sofia
The tahini from the village of Plevun, Ivailovgrad will be one of the attractions of the first Farmer’s Market “Pendara” at the Zhenski Pazar Market, which starts on the 12th of October, 2019 from 10 AM to 6 PM and will be held every Saturday. The Farmer’s Market will support starting Bulgaria farmers and craftsmen, it will present new producers and products, as well as innovations based on our national gastronomic heritage. The organizers are Foundation “Localfoods.bg” and “Markets Vazrazhdane” and almost 50 participants – small starting Bulgarian farms and craftsmen are expected.
The tahini production base in the village of Plevun produces tahini by an authentic Bulgarian method, grounded in a stone mill and produced from an old local sort of red sesame. We are quite certain that Sofia’s residents will be able to taste this healthy elixir for the first time. Exactly that’s the aim – Farmer’s Market “Pendara” wants to support the young traditional Bulgarian producers and craftsmen, by giving them the opportunity to offer their products to the consumer and thus take their own market place. Through our culinary stalls and demonstrations, the guests of the market will be able to try Bulgarian cuisine from different parts of the country. “On the 12th of October we will start with the culinary project of Chef Rosen Chakarov, “Zhivodar,” as at 11 AM on a stage built for the purpose, he will show us how the farmer’s products can turn into culinary masterpieces from the bulgarian cuisine,” says Gergana Kabaivanova, manager of the Foundation “Localfood.bg”.
The platform of the Farmer’s Market “Pendara” has got a capacity beyond 100 participants, separated in two blocks and three product zones – “Fruit and vegetables,” “Dairy and meat,” and “Other foods and beverages,” which will be situated at the Zhenski Pazar Market in the space between the streets “Simeon” and “Kiril and Metodii.”
“The Zhenski Pazar Market is the oldest capital market, which by tradition supports Bulgarian production. It is not by chance that there are over 40 native producers, who exhibit their production the entire year in our trading areas. Therefore we decided to stand behind the Farmer’s Market “Pendara” and extend our hand to greet the starting Bulgarian farms and craftsmen. Residents of the capital and guests of Sofia will be able to come to the Zhenski Pazar Market on every Saturday and buy themselves fruit and vegetables, try delicious artisan food, but also submerge in a different experience for the senses. We start on the 12th of October, 2019,” explains Dragomir Dimitrov, an executive director of “Markets Vazrazhdane” – the communal organization which administers the Zhenski Pazar Market.
Up to this moment, among the recorded for participation in the Farmer’s Market “Pendara” are the two starting farms for fruit and vegetables. Six are the companies, which produce dairy and meat products – among them the Farm Brodilovo, the dairy Keffa, which presents sheep and cow milk products and Angus Catering – for veal and products based on it, which will be prepared in place and the guests of the Farmer’s Market will be able to try them. Fruit Chips Syr Nice will show dehydrated fruit and vegetable chips, and Home Candy and Fruit Chips will remind us of the taste of forgotten sweets. The small family farm Green Living Farm offers quail’s eggs and unique paste from them. The Rabbit’s House looks after its rabbits with food that does not contain GMO and the company will also offer us production by a traditional Bulgarian recipe. Tom Conserv is a family producer of liutenitsas and vegetable pastes by old village recipes, and the farm of Venets is a farm cooperative, which will offer fruit and juice to the citizens of the capital raised in their own permacultural gardens. In the farmer’s zons of the market will be included also producers of the traditional candies, artizan’s bread with kvas, honey and bee products, bio wines and vinegars and many other projects like Divata Shipka for example – a farm which looks after spelt and walnuts in the village of Nikolovo, Rousse, and will present its new and interesting products on the Farmer’s Market “Pendara.”
The platform of the Farmer’s Market includes a culinary zone as well, where restaurants, Street Food initiatives, and chefs will take part, and the aim is to focus on the recovery of the Bulgarian taste and the native production. The cooks will offer the visitors of the market foods and beverages prepared with Bulgarian ingredients but presented as a variety of cuisines – from the traditional Bulgarian, through the burgers in American style, to the tendencies in the meatless, glutenless, lactoseless, etc. kinds of diet nourishment. Among the leading participants in the culinary zone will be Andre Tokev with its project ORYZA and chef Rosen Chakarov with “Zhivodar – Culinary Stories on Two Wheels.”
The Farmer’s Market “Pendara” envisages a small, artistic zone, in which there will be presented works of art made by natural materials, but also natural, hand-made cosmetics. Among them is the company Beauty Professional, which looks after its own goji-berry, lavender, and aronia, from which it prepares natural cosmetics by patented formulas.
The three basic zones of the Farmer’s Market with priority are included startup small farms and craftsmen, which have registered their production not later than the last 3 years. This is the period, during which one of the organizers of the initiative Foundation “LocalFood.bg” with the support of Foundation “America for Bulgaria” develops its educational and mentor activity for the incubating of micro companies for local foods. Exactly for this reason, among the participants there will be involved plenty of business initiatives, whose beginning has been facilitated by the foundation. Except for startup producers, however, the Farmer’s Market “Pendara” will accept other small farms and craftsmen, who correspond to the conditions to be included – offering local foods produced in a natural and craftsy way. During the Farmer’s Market there will also be an Academy for Teaching Young Farmers.
You can follow the current information for the event on the Facebook page of Farmer’s Market Pendara.