Mercado Central

June 21, 2014

         Most of the mornings this past week we’ve had a similar routine: swim at the local pool at 7:15, head home for a breakfast of fruit that includes a mix of cherries, apricots, orange, banana, apple, and pear. We leave around 9:00am and normally wander through various streets so that we get to Salamanca’s Mercado Central by 9:20 or so (it would only be a ten-minute walk at most if we went in a direct line). Located right next to the Plaza Mayor, the market features lots and lots of meat, fruit, fish, and cheese. Stone fruits, like cherries and apricots, are incredibly cheap and delicious here. The other day, we found a place selling cherries for 1 euro per kilo, which is about $0.60 per pound.

         While the bread here is only average, we really like all the different types of galletas and other treats at the numerous little bakeries around town. So far, our favorite bakery is the one at the market, which doesn’t open until 9:30. We’ll grab a snack or two from there, maybe some cherries or apricots from another stand, and then walk the remaining few blocks to Grace’s school and the public library.

         We’ll post more in a few days after we return from a quick trip to Madrid.

The market is a big brick and iron building

There normally seem to be lots of folks getting their groceries in the morning

getting some cheap and delicious cherries and apricots

waiting in line at the bakery

They also sell some plants, sold in this vertical manner

lots of fish stalls

...and delicious cheese

Salamanca is famous for its meat, so there are lots of meat stalls

including cuchanillo, suckling pig

...and beef tongue, snout, stomach, hooves, etc.

more cuts of meat, including brain in the upper right

and lots and lots of jamon

The butchers all have great knives

the fruit stand put out a special display on Saturday