It should be clear that we put priority around eating good food. We also believe eating local delicacies is an important part of getting the feel of a country, and it may be also obvious that we enjoy trying to cook some regional dishes. We have developed travel habits based on this predilection that are possibly worth reflecting on.
We have never been much of a Hotel couple. The one room without the ability to spread out frustrates us, and the constant need to eat out is exhausting. Do not get me wrong, we like a good restaurant meal, but we are picky about what we choose to eat. There are times when we are one night somewhere that a hotel is a good fit, but for longer stays we like staying in apartments that have kitchens.
Cooking in someone else’s kitchen is an adventure in innovation and economy, you never know what utensils or cooking pots and pans you will find, how much fridge or bench space there will be, or indeed if you can even work out how to use the supplied appliances.
Our strategy is to get our bags in, recon the facilities then go and get essentials (usually from a nearby supermarket, because a supermarket would be close if you chose your location using selection criteria). The next day or so we then head off to local markets to see what is fresh, seasonal and looking interesting, then adapt our menu skeleton to include regional specialties.
Markets, we have discovered, come in a variety of flavours and scopes. Local produce markets that happen once a week are the most accurate test for what is in season, and often the prices are good because you are buying from the producer, so will often learn a little about the providence of the produce. An added bonus to the more personal purchase is sometimes advice on what the actual fuck you do to make it edible (insert relevant “scampi” and “red mullet” disaster stories here for dramatic irony). The itinerant nature of the market means you have to know when it is on, if you are not there then no food for you.
Permanent markets are another option, again popular with the locals, and usually in a permanent venue (building, yard, warehouse etc). The true test of a market is if you can find multiple sources of fruit and vegetables, meats and small goods, cheeses, sweet treats and condiments (we often travel with base seasonings and condiments ziplocked in a packing box in our suitcase, sometimes shop for regional specialties and exotics like local saffron, ras el hanout, sumac etc). Good markets will provide inspiration for meals (like a butcher with confit duck legs next to a green grocer with new season red currants and kipfer potatoes – an obvious meal if you have a working oven, oven proof cookware and a saucepan).
Having already tried a permanent and street market in Paris – , Jo’s research located a Market Street – Rue Mouffetard, a section of a road with a cluster of shops offering fresh ingredients and a majority of locals as customers. Finding where the locals shop, and what they eat is part of the adventure for us, and our menu is always flexible enough to swap in things that are good or interesting. Like permanent markets, a market street has all the fresh and processed items people need to live their lives in that region, and shopkeepers you can talk to (with various amounts of English).
Self catering takes planning but, for example here in Paris, the high end ingredients we purchased from our market run will do 4 evening meals at half the cost of dining out. Don’t get me wrong, we are also going to chosen restaurants, and have learned that NOT planning where we will eat has resulted almost always in arbitrary choices based on levels of fatigue, and often disappointing meals, but maybe that is just us.
Our long haul arrival routine is also fairly well established, as from our initial provisioning run, we get butter, eggs, milk (the basics) and test the kitchen with a simple scramble as a pre-collapse supper before our first solid after-plane sleep.
Food, to us, is an important part of travel. Indeed our first ever trip to Paris was entirely planned around pilgrimages between patisseries that took in landmarks along the way. Research is so easy these days because of the Internet, and Jo is just so good at it. If you enjoy cooking then giving something new a try is a great way to engage with the local culture
One Response to To Market, to market!