22 September 2015 / leggypeggy

Barcelona’s main market full of delectables

Barcelona, chillies, exotic fruits, food, Food and drink, La Rambla, markets, mushrooms, recipes, seafood, vegetables

Standard fruits and vegetables

Exotic fruits from all over the world

Our first full day in Barcelona had us walking down La Rambla, a main street in the centre of town that’s popular with tourists and locals alike.

It’s only 1.2 kilometres long, but packed with shops, cafés, kiosks, souvenir sellers, pickpockets (we were warned) and, supposedly, sex workers, although we didn’t notice them.

Luckily, Poor John’s eagle eye did spot the city’s most well-known local market. Formally known as the Merkat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, it’s more often referred to as La Boqueria.

Aurélie, our hostess in Barcelona, had marked it on the map for us as a must-see destination, so we were delighted to come upon it almost by chance.

Didn’t expect to see chillies. The sign said no photos, so I had to.

Cheap, delicious figs

Nougat

Fruit juices

So in we went and were immediately struck by the overwhelming diversity of goods and the overall cleanliness of the place.

Usually in a market, you’ll see crushed cardboard boxes and other packaging, fruit and vegetable peelings, loose plastic bags, general grime and an array of other debris.

La Boqueria was spotless. Poor John and I could have eaten our lunch off the floor. But I have to admit that we didn’t eat lunch there. The meals looked good, but most of the diners were foreigners and we decided that the eateries might be a bit of a tourist trap—over-priced for what you get. We did buy a stick of cold cuts to sample.

But we marveled at the sheer variety of goods on offer, and it was the locals who were buying the produce.

Concha shells and oysters

Snails

Barnacles

I saw a few items I’d never seen before in markets, mostly in the line of seafood, charcuterie (cold meats) and mushrooms. There were special snails and barnacles, and cold cuts and mushrooms with names I’ve never seen. And it wasn’t just a matter of language difference. I may not know a lot of Spanish or Catalan, but I know most of the food names.

The market could have entertained me for hours and I could have spent lots of euros, but we only had a few days in Barcelona, so Poor John hustled me on at the first opportunity. Well, maybe the second or third.

And later we got a nice enough three-course lunch for a little less than the asking price for a simple meal in the market.

Over the entrance at Barcelona’s La Boqueria

A bit of background on the market
History shows that a market has been operating near Barcelona’s old city gate since—are you ready for it?—1217. That market sold meat. A pig market opened in 1470, and more changes happened regularly over the years.

The first market on La Rambla came in the early 1800s, and it was officially recognized by 1826. Construction on the current site began in 1840. Heaps of changes have taken place since then, but the existing metal roof was added in 1914, so it’s just over 100 years old.

Spanish recipes
My cooking blog has a couple of popular Spanish recipes—Spanish mussels and Escalavida (Spanish-roasted vegetables). I hope you’ll give them a try.