Mercado de Tenerife
by Lucy
Beautiful local bounty for the Good Ship Irene
A mission to find beautiful bounty for the ship victuals.
Armed with the ships coffers, Jamie and I set out to find some local delicacies for the crew of Irene to enjoy on the next leg of the voyage. We got word that there was a superb local market beyond the way of the dried up river bed.
Tenerife market, African Stylee.
We crossed the bridge of the river bed and headed across the roundabout to find an African inspired terracotta partially covered market.
The space was incredible. A labyrinth of covered tiled market stalls and open courtyards populated by local vendors selling produce mostly produced on the island as far as we could tell. There was a great variety of meat with particular emphasis on on grass fed beef and pork. The local cheese are soft white cheese but they also hard a selection or soft and hard goats cheese including hard goats cheese much like parmesan.
I can’t remember anyone speaking any English. We had to practice our Spanish (Ok so it was mostly Jamie speaking spanloguese). And most of the vendors didn’t have prices listed… Which added an extra element of fun/confusion.
Those local Papayas look Divine.
Jamie asking pertinent questions about the provenance of the beef
Apparently this on this stall all the meat is reared on the Island and butchered on site.
My favourite market stall. The Herboristeria!
Awwww check out the serious selection of herbs, spices and flowers. BiodiversiTEA heaven. I could have spent a fortune here sourcing tisanes and infusions for my festival tea stall….
When wwe headed to the basement level we found the fish market which was sadly closing up as we arrived (everything stops for siesta at 2pm). But we managed to squeeze in before the gates closed and enjoy a delightful 20 minutes perusing the variety of fish on offer. Including Moray Eel which i had no idea you could (or would) eat. Last time I saw one of these alive was nestled in a rock on reef.
Apparently its a delicacy… Fried or steamed…. In slices…
Baby Moray eel. Cuter than the parents.
Finally at the end of our market adventures when out cash was all spent, the fishermen tried one last attempt at persuading us to buy more.
“Would you like a glass of wine”
“for free of course”.
“Mmmm Yes please!”
“But we still can’t buy lots of expensive seafood!”
Undoubtedly this was one of the prettiest and most authenticate markets I’ve ever visited. Many small producers selling fare from the island for generations. I don’t know how many tourists or visitors would make it to this market but what is for certain is that this is an everyday place that people come to buy their food.
Long may that last.
