Spanish Food Epiphany

One food that I have hated all my life are olives. I have always found them to be just salty and sour, especially my dad’s favorite, dried. Yuck! Spain is one of the biggest exporters of olive oil and olives are served with everything here. When I first arrived I avoided them like the plague. They were tossed into salads, on sandwiches and sitting there menacingly on my plate trying to contaminate my tapa with its salty juices.

My first year in Almeria I lived with an American girl and her boyfriend was at our house a lot. The only plus about that was he was from a small town outside of Almeria where his family had a lot of orange, lemon and olive trees. So, one weekend after they got back with bags and bags of free oranges they also brought some home pressed olive oil and a few jars of Manzanilla olives. Everyone was raging about how good they were. I wasn’t convinced. During a dinner party (a few drinks may have been involved) they convinced me to try one. And you know what? It was pretty darn good!

A night out with my roommates in Almeria

That was my one and only olive for awhile until I went out tapeando with a friend one night. During a lull in the conversation she looked down and said: “I thought you hated olives…” I didn’t even realize I had eaten the ones on my plate! After that I could not be stopped. I was buying olives at the markets and going through about a jar a week by myself! I have since calmed down and enjoy olives in more reasonable quantities…and I consider myself very lucky to be living in a country with such fresh and delicious olives!

yum :)

Tourist in My Own City: Mercado Central

As many of you may know, one of my favorite things to do is go to the city food markets and window shop. Most Mondays and Wednesdays after my Arabic class, I will go to Valencia’s Mercado Central to wander around and get some inspiration for meals for the week.

This market is right in the center of the city, just a few minutes walk from the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. It is a huge building with a lot of space to walk around in. So, instead of fighting through huge crowds, like in Barcelona’s La Boqueria, you can actually take your time and enjoy looking at all the delicious food. The market is divided into two parts. The meat and vegetables are in the front and all the fish and seafood are in the back.

Right in the middle of the market is a big open space. Look up when you get here and you will see a beautifully painted dome which reaches up 30 meters. This open space is sometimes used for events. Even Spain’s first season of Master Chef has filmed here!

Top Chef

This market has a long history similar to La Boqueria. It began as an outdoor traveling market, in 1839 it became a permanent market called Mercado Nuevo (New Market). Some years later, it started to become too small for the expanding city. After seeing many architectural plans for a building the government decided on a design form architects Alejandro Soler March and Francisco Guardia Vial. Construction began in 1910 and finished in 1928. King Alfonso XIII was the leader at the ground breaking ceremony.

Both tourists and locals frequent this market every day. It is one of the highlights of a trip to Valencia! But, make sure you go in the morning. It is open Monday to Saturday from 8:00-2:30. But most of the stalls start packing up around 2.

Foodie Paradise in Barcelona

I have been lucky enough to be able to visit Barcelona four times, and each time one of the first stops I make after dropping off my bags is La Boqueria market.

 

This market dates back to the early 13^th century when meat stalls were set up near the old gate to the city. Starting in 1470 pigs were sold at this site and the market was known as Mercat de la Palla (Straw Market) until 1794.

 

 

 

La Boqueria began as an extension of another market between two plazas. In 1826 the market became legally recognized and a convention was held which decided to build an official place for the market.

Construction began in March 1840 under the direction of the architect Mas Vilà and the market officially opened later that year.  The market went through many changes throughout the year including the opening of the fish market in 1911 and the addition of the (still standing) metal roof in 1914.

 

 

 

I recommend, at least for your first trip, to go close to when the market opens. During the late morning and early afternoon the market is PACKED and it’s difficult to enjoy when you are being pushed around by crowds of people. I arrived at 10am during my last visit which was a perfect time for a light snack.

 

 

 

One of my favorite things about the market is the fruit salads and fresh fruit juice that you can buy at almost all the fruit stands. My recommendation is not to buy from the stands right by the door, because they are a little more expensive. The juices are the same from all the stands so there is no reason to pay 2€ from the stands at the front when a few stands back you can get some for 1€.

 

 

 

With your juice in hand you are ready to explore the rest of the market. There are stands that sell bread and pastries, meat, cheese, fish, sweets, prepared foods and even a few tapas bars are hidden in the market.

 

I love going to the market on days when going to a restaurant just doesn't appeal to me. You can get a full meal for under 10€ here. I like to get a fruit salad, some juice and then a salad from Puerto Latino which has a lot of vegetarian food for around 3€. They also have empanadas and burritos. All very delicious. J

 

For the non-vegetarians you can get paper cones filled with the world famous jamón ibérico or Spanish chorizo.

 

 

The market is located close to the bottom of The Rambla. I prefer to walk down from the Catalunya metro stop at the top of The Rambla, but the Liceu metro stop is literally right outside the market. It’s open from 8:00am-8:30pm Monday through Saturday, closed on Sunday. When you visit Barcelona don’t miss out on this amazing foodie paradise!