I’ll begin this post by noting that I am a Texan who doesn’t speak Spanish. To be fair, I took 5 years of German through high school, so I didn’t skip a foreign language completely. I do wish that I had taken some time to learn more than a few Spanish words before our trip, and hopefully I’ll learn more in the future. Despite the language barrier, Neil and I had an amazing time in Spain.
I’ve told several people that I loved the culture so much, that it was the first place I could see someday living and not just vacationing. The people were all friendly and worked with our poorly butchered attempt at the language (Neil did take Spanish in high school). The weather was amazing at the end of August; humid and hot, but barely any rain and the heat didn’t feel so bad since you were constantly moving in it all day long. The food was amazing; tapas style eating was made for someone like me who loves variety. A typical Spanish day starts with breakfast around 10am, lunch is around 2pm, and dinner doesn’t begin to really peak until 10pm. There were several days where we ate 6 times throughout the day. Yes, 6.
The Spanish word for market is mercado. Take a moment and follow along as I describe the sights and sounds of a typical mercado. Picture beautiful glass doors opening into a huge air conditioned space with anywhere from 100 to 1,000 stalls inside. Bright lights shine on the fresh fruit of so many varieties for sale alongside each other. Meats that appear to have just been alive this morning are along side prepared smoked jamon. Cheese vendors have entire stalls full of nothing but dozens of different quesos. Seafood of every variety are on ice-lined displays. There are pastry stalls with every kind of Spanish baked good you can imagine. Still more stalls offer olives and olive oils, in jars and for purchasing by the pound.
There are a few other stalls with local souvenirs and an occasional counter-service restaurant, but the idea of these markets is to grab and go. Every mercado we went to had prepared offerings at most of the stalls. A favorite was the jamon é queso: a paper cone filled with cubes of cheese and many thin slices of the local speciality smoked ham, served with a few crunchy breadsticks and a giant toothpick that serves as your eating utensil. Use the stick to poke some cheese or ham and eat while you walk around and debate where your next bite should come from.
I would suggest the wonderful pasties filled with delicious flavors such as pumpkin, chocolate, and apple. Churros are also popular in the early morning hours and let me stress: these churros are NOT the domestic theme-park fare you’ve tried. Even though the mercados do sometimes offer these, I’d suggest trying to find some quality ones. Spanish churros do not have any cinnamon or sugar on them and they are usually much smaller in width than what you’d expect. Sure, you can get them served with some chocolate dipping sauce for added flavor, but the warm fried dough is so good on it’s own, you don’t need it…though I’d still recommend getting it…because it’s also amazing quality chocolate.
Remember all that fresh fruit I mentioned? Mangoes, kiwis, papayas, apples, lemons, limes, and, of course, oranges. Spanish oranges, especially those from Valencia, are delicious. Treat yourself to some freshly squeezed juice wheel you stroll through the aisles of the market. You will notice the machines in nearly every fruit stall, which indicate that the juice has just been made.
Mercado Central de Valencia
There are 1,000 stalls in this giant market, so plan to spend some quality time here. As this was our first market experience in Spain, we were overwhelmed. I wanted to try everything in the first aisle, but resisted. Instead, at least making it to the back of the second aisle before I insisted on buying something. We started with the cheese and jamon in a paper cup, which was divine. The cheese was just flavored enough to offset the saltiness of the meat, while the few breadsticks added a nice palette cleansing crunch.
From that deliciousness, we tried some sweet pastries with fruit fillings that were much less sweet than my tastebuds are used to in a pastry
We then got some more cheese; this time, in a much more colorful variety. These were each different pesto cheeses and all sooooo good.
Then, for a bit of health, we tried some fresh juices which were also amazing. After that small walking feast, we felt we did a decent job of taking in this iconic Valencian market.
Mercado de San Miguel
While in Madrid, we were lucky enough to be directed to this market while listening to the Rick Steves Europe walking tour (which was super easy to use and follow along; download it!). Much smaller in size than the Mercado Central de Valencia, this market is over 100 years old. Walking in, Neil and I were prepared for the same fare as we had seen in Valencia, but we were wrong. Closer to a food hall in the U.S., every vendor in this mercado had prepared foods. Empanadas, bruschetta, wine, fresh fish dishes, sliders of every kind, and of course, dessert pastries.
We enjoyed a few selections for lunch while taking a quick break from the heat and while walking. Cool thing: the market actually has water misters above the tables to keep you extra cool indoors!
If you get the chance to visit Spain, be sure to visit at least one of the markets. Better yet, plan to visit them when you are nice and hungry from all the walking so you can enjoy all the flavors they have to offer.
This entry was posted in Europe
