Despite its challenged economy, Spain has access to fertile lands and abundant sea life. The resulting harvests are delivered fresh daily to its public markets. These pictures might be worth a thousand words but the taste is better.
Despite its challenged economy, Spain has access to fertile lands and abundant sea life. The resulting harvests are delivered fresh daily to its public markets. These pictures might be worth a thousand words but the taste is better.
La Boqueria is a popular and busy food market located midway along your walk on La Rambla. All of the fruits, vegetables, fish and meat are fresh and delicious. This stand was a cornucopia of radishes, mushrooms, bell peppers, lettuce, Brussels sprouts, beans and a lot more to tempt your palate. It is one of countless stalls packed into this public market built in 1853. See the Spain Markets gallery in the Favorite Subjects section of this website for more mouth-watering photos from inside Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria.
La Rambla, 91, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
This hanging display of chili peppers at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain, lets you decide how much you want to spice things up. On a hotness scale of 1 to 5, the ones on the left … including the green Anaheim, the bright red Spanish Piquillo, the twisted green Spanish Guernica and the small green Pimiento de Padrón from Northern Spain … are all rated a one. The long red, dried ones are Cayenne and on the right are Aji Rojo, both rated a four or five. And don’t forget the garlic bulbs.
This display of seawater delicacies on ice at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain, was not very appealing to me, but there were plenty of customers for these Humboldt or jumbo squid (pota), the flounder (llenguado), eel (anguila) and octopi (pulpo gallego). However, if they had been fried into calamari or incorporated into one of the many dishes of Mediterranean cuisine, I would consider them very appetizing.
Although originally from China, the mandarin orange is grown in Spain and evolved into several varieties, including the clementine, tangerine and satsuma, and have been breed to include seedless fruit. The Seville orange is also grown in the Mediterranean but, because of its tartness, it is generally used for making marmalade. Other oranges grown in Spain include the berna, castellana, macetera, and vicieda.
The scale hanging over this display of mixed dried fruit, nuts and grains was ready to weigh your purchase at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain. In the background were bottles of Italian olive oil and fruit preserves. Within the market are countless stalls for poultry, meat, fruit, vegetables, olives and fish plus lots more. Plus, if all this food makes you hungry, you can also get ready-made meals.
This is another angle of the previous photo to give you an idea of how beautifully the owner of this stand at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain, presents his mixed dried fruit, nuts and grains. He created multiple tiers, starting with wicker baskets, then small glass drawers followed by large glass windows … all wonderfully lite. In short, he converted rather mundane products into a strong visual appeal that’s welcoming and inviting.
At the La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain, a sign above this box of purple Mediterranean figs called them, “Coll de Dama” but they are also known as the Black Genoa named after Italy’s largest seaport city. Inside the purplish-red pulp were delicious, juicy and sweet seeds. Originally from Western Asia, the fig has been grown across much of the Mediterranean area for thousands of years.
Mediterranean cuisine makes frequent use of peppers, including these red bell peppers and Anaheim green chili peppers found in a stall at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain. The peppers are frequently accompanied by garlic and lots of delicious olive oil. They are used for salads, entrée ingredients, as a side dish or stuffed for an entire dinner. The meal is usually consumed leisurely as a social event with family, friends and a nice red wine.
A dorado fish in Hawaii refers to the very large mahi-mahi or the common dolphinfish, but in Spain it is another name for this gilt-head beam fish that comes from the Mediterranean Sea. Ranging in size from one to two feet, it is excellent tasting and a delicacy in Mediterranean cooking.
The Mediterranean Sea is literally swimming with numerous species of lobster, crawfish and shrimp, like these langostino shrimp on ice at the La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain. There are endless recipes for enjoying them, including with pasta and salads or in a skillet with garlic and olive oil, or on a skewer cooked over an open fire. They are all delicious.
These large strawberries, called fresones in Spanish versus fresas for ordinary sized ones, are red, ripe and delicious in any language. Their sweet aroma filled the air near this stand at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain. And, like fresh popcorn, that alluring smell demanded that you try some. The La Boqueria Market started in the early 13th century as a meat market and evolved into a huge public market covered by a metal roof that was built in 1911. The variety of products for sale is certain to delight all five of your senses.
These varieties of llagosti shrimp at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain, are fresh from the Mediterranean Sea and waiting patiently on ice for a chief who knows how to bathe them in olive oil with a touch of garlic and a pinch of spices. Although they are high in cholesterol, they are also very high on taste.
This woman is working a well-stocked fruit stand at La Boqueria Market in Barcelona, Spain, with choices not indigenous to the Mediterranean, such as pineapple, bananas and dragon fruit plus locally grown figs and asparagus. The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria is a large public market in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona.
The small town of Calanda in the northeast corner of Spain is famous for its peaches like these yellow-skinned ones on display at La Boqueria Market in nearby Barcelona. Neighboring regions also produce the velvety-skinned, juicy fruit from May through early October and carefully wrap each one in wax paper. However, the annual crop has dropped by over a third in recent years because people are migrating out of these areas in favor of Spain’s larger cities.