Mercat de La Boqueria de Barcelona

A photo journal of the varied and scintillating edibles at the world-renowned La Boqueria market, where I deliriously browsed virtually every day of my trip in Barcelona:

Edible flowers that remind me of Hawaiian leis.  

Les petites fraises.  I rarely see these anywhere. 

White asparagus.

Prawns wrapped in potato shoe strings.

Fruit cut and blended-- among the rare to-go items I saw in Barcelona.

Candy fruit.

Chocolate (be sure not to miss the white and red roses, and monkeys in the upper right corner.)

Candy jewels.

Nuts and nougat.

   Your source for peppers, garlic and any other spice.

Red hot pepper powders. 

Juanitu, the owner Pinotxo, of one of the famous establishments at La Boqueria. Despite his success and popularity, he is warm,  down-to-earth, charming...oh I can't imagine a man of his stature in a comparable city in the US being so ingratiating with his customers.

Cortado, not yet stirred.  

Tortilla with toast from Pinotxo. 

Quim's at La Boqueria serving up traditional Catalan dishes.

At 9:00 am, the wine is chilling and beer is enjoyed. 

Five or six men, many of them in Barça shirts on the eve of a big game, shuffle around in the tight space that is the kitchen behind the bar.  The boss, Quim, is on the right. These guys let me--a complete stranger to them--enter their  kitchen to take photos and video. I was unprepared and floored by this. Unfortunately none of the images I captured were sharp enough for posting (I think I was too excited to hold my camera still) but I came back with a genuinely fond memory of Catalan hospitality.

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Warning: Vegans and vegetarians may find some of the remaining photos to be offensive.  Some of them are unusual (which is why I am presenting them), and well, I didn't know that some of these things were considered food for humans.

Many of the fish are still alive at La Boqueria.  Here, lobsters' claws are rubber-banded together.

Fresh sardines.  These I wish I could find more of in California. 

These could double as props in a horror movie.

The only other time I have seen sting rays, whole, is at the aquarium. 

Pigs feet and ears.

Cow tongue and other cow parts.  

Goose and duck eggs.  

I could hardly get enough of this place...and that was just La Boqueria! The narrow streets around the market were dotted with chocolatiers, bakeries, dairy shops and other eateries that I have tried to cover in previous posts.  Friends were wondering what I did all day since I didn't make it to the major museums. I was eating and taking food porn 24-7!