For the Love of Markets
22nd November 2015
I have always loved markets, especially the food ones! One of my happiest childhood memories is eating delicious fresh cherries from a brown paper bag in the Mediterranean sun. We always used to get local cheeses, meats, freshly baked bread and big ripe tomatoes to make picnics on the beach. Even though we would never remember a knife and I always somehow ended up eating sand, they were the best sandwiches ever!
My love quickly grew over the years. A month in Thailand sparked my obsession with street food. I mean, who can say no to Pad Thai for 50p?! I also found myself joyfully lost in a world of bricker bracker from the past…and that’s when I knew I was head over heels.
I know some can find it stressful, but I love the hustle and bustle, the colours, the smell, the whole street feels alive and full of energy. I love trying everything from sweet treats to insects, markets are full of the weird and the wonderful, even though I’m pretty sure I won’t be eating another salt and vinegar cricket any time soon.
Last year I packed my bag again and headed off on another adventure around South America. The local markets quickly became my favourite place to go. It’s so easy to find yourself on the tourist trail, doing certain things in certain places with the Lonely Planet as your bible. In fact, in a lot of the places perceived as dangerous in the recent past, they actively encourage you to stick to the tourist spots. It’s like visiting your partner’s home for the first time at Christmas, they only want you to see the good bits, but the charm is when their dad burns the turkey, Grandma’s drunk and telling you to play the field, and the annual game of charades turns into World War 3. Well, that’s my favourite part anyway. And it’s the same with all places I visit, I don’t want to just see the pretty squares and impressive buildings, I want to meet the locals, eat weird things and see the bits that shock you into having a bit of perspective on your first world problems that seemed so stressful 5 minutes before. For me, I found that at the markets.
I practised my limited Spanish with the local tradesmen and sampled some of the country’s delicacies like Peruvian ceviche, the infamous cuy, or guinea pig to you and me, and hot chocolate with cheese…yes, I did say cheese. The fruits were my favourite. Believe me, if you get the chance, you have to try a maracuya (passionfruit) from Brazil.
After 8 and a half months it was time to head home, I knew I would miss South America and the markets were one of the things I thought I would miss the most. Somehow a car boot sale in a soggy field didn’t seem quite as appealing, but then I moved to London and discovered that this city thoroughly shares my love! I’m yet to explore them all, but I think Borough Market may be my current front-runner, it just has so much food and they love giving out tasters! They have also extended their opening hours for the festive season, which even includes an evening of cheese…it’s like they read my mind. For full details check out their website here.
