The Flavour of Madrid...

I abhore supermarkets with a passion. I find them so clinical, depressing and not to mention expensive! The vegetables go off in a couple of days and are usually fairly tasteless. They maybe convenient, but I try to avoid the supermarket whenever I can.

A friend of mine introduced me a couple of months ago to the market hall - I large hall filled with different stalls selling everything from fresh vegetables to game. You could pretty much buy everything you want fresh here and at half the price, and do it in a way that is not only a sensory experience but interesting and with an atmosphere full of character and Madrileño charm.

I live on the south side of town, just off La Latina. But "El Mercado de Maravillas", which translates charmingly as "The Market of Marvels", sounds like something out of 1001 nights is the best in Madrid and the cheapest. I have been to other food markets but this one is my favourite. I even take the #3 bus all the way from Puerta Toledo to Cuatro Caminos every saturday morning to shop at this wonderful place. The bus journey itself can be a pleasure as it passes through the centre of Madrid and you get a free tourist trail thrown in! Within half an hour I arrive at this Market of Marvels and am ready to do my shopping.




Although there are many bars to tempt you to a nice caña with a bit of Paella or preserved peppers before you engage in doing your weekly shop. For about 1.80€ you can get a nice little beer with a small pincho of Paella to give you that energy to shop. Now doesn't that sound like so much more fun than going to the supermarket?

My first port of call is the vegetable stall at the back of the market. This is owned by latinos and caters to the latin community of the area. There are an incredibly wide range of delicious and fresh vegetables at very low prices! I come away with kilos of delicious fruit and veg of all colours for under 15€!! You can get a kilo of artichokes for 1.50€, fresh ripe tomatoes, chilis, tender avocados that melt in the mouth, shiny red apples, juicy and sweet oranges to make your own juice with, basil that is so aromatic you can smell it a mile off.



You want some cheese? Next door there is a fine cheesery selling all sorts of different Iberian Cheeses, Manchego, Queso de Cabra (Goats cheese), cured old cheeses in olive oil, Queso Fresco, Blue Cheeses the lot.

There are stalls of Butchers selling you every part of the animal from beef to even game so fresh it has not been skinned or plucked yet. There are fish mongers with a choice of every type of marine crustacian and fish so shiny and fresh.

After the veggie stall I head to the counter for my delicious marinated olives and roasted peppers. I come away with kilos of legumes and beans, nuts, dried fruits and Valencian rice to make paella or risotto with. The olives are simply to die for! They have every type, size, colour in wonderful marinades. A simple and delicious luxury to have later on your long saturday lunch with some crusty bread, artichokes, and a glass of good Rioja.

You can buy incredible loose tea with all sorts of tempting smells and flavours. Fresh baguettes and breads of different grains, shapes and sizes. Everything! This market is just a sensual delight of colours, smells, tastes and people. It is wonderful to pick out your food and to interact with a real human. Having them recognise you and chat with you after the many weeks of your weekly loyalty. Its truly marvelous and fun! Then to go home and cook wonderful and tasty meals for the week with such sublime ingredients.

Ditch the supermarket and tv dinners! Go to the market and buy and eat some real food!

An adventure today which started out in La Latina

Fed up with the poor quality of the vegetables at my local supermarket, I decided to seek out a typical Spanish style Mercado (market hall). Combined with the fact I had to go to La Latina to pick up a parcel I decided to try out the Mercado de la Cebada. Walking past the Puerta de Toledo and the Cathedral San Francisco el Grande to get to my local postal depot and do my shopping made me realise how lucky I am to be living in Madrid!
















I met with my friend at La Latina and we went to the Mercado. The Mercado is a massive market hall full of stalls of fruit and veg, butchers, fishmongers, cheese sellers - essentially everything! I brought a lot of nice fresh veggies from there, so I was happy. Its nice to know that it's not far from my house. We then went and relaxed with a beer on a plaza nearby looking out to another old Spanish style church on a medieval square. Sitting out there watching the world go by, having a good conversation and blowing bubbles in the sun was just delightful. It's times like this that I appreciate and love about living in Southern Europe. Time seems to go so slowly! We had Patatas Alioli and a glass of Rioja later. Yum.

I had planned to go back to my apartment, clean, relax etc. but my friend mentioned a deadly word to me - "Ooh a hot chocolate would be nice!" as we passed a cafe which said "Hay chocolate caliente". My mouth started salivating at the very thought, but she and I admitted - her hot chocolate is the best! However we would have to travel across Madrid to her apartment as she lived in the North, I in the South. I also had tonnes of shopping so we decided to walk to my house, dump my stuff and go. Our next problem was how to get to her house...

A normal person would have taken the metro, however I thought we could change lines at Atocha and take the bus from my house. It was rather impulsive as the bus was right there when we got to the main road so jumped on it. When we got to Atocha the metro entrance nearest to us was closed, the nearest one was up on the Paseo del Prado. It was very nice in a way though, as my friend had not really seen Atocha (or appreciated it really) from a walker's perspective. Walking up the paseo we decided to take the bus up the Castellana and get off at a stop near her house. Becoming distracted at Nuevos Minesterios due to an outdoor market which was there we alighted from the bus and went to explore... eventually we got to her house and had the best hot chocolate. My legs are tired, but I love to walk around the city. Taking the local bus can also be a treat as you get to see the city and get some perspective of where everything is located; using the metro all the time it is all just names and doesn't mean anything.