GREAT WORLD MARKETS…NORTH AMERICA

I am fortunate to have several of California’s best Farmers Markets located within an hour’s drive of my house. It would be hard for any market to compete with the famous Ferry Building Farmers Market in San Francisco. Located in an historic building on the Embarcadero, just a few hundred yards from the Bay Bridge, the market offers an unrivaled assortment of gourmet, upscale products. The Mushroom Section is particularly diverting – especially for photographers. The unusual shapes and textures make perfect still-life subjects

.I’m always amazed at the color and variety in the Peppers Section.

The Cabrillo Farmers Market, held every weekend during the warmer months, is located less than 3 miles from where I live. The fresh, mainly organic products can easily occupy one for a couple of hours.

The Campbell Farmers Market, a few miles north of San Jose, is probably the best outdoor market in Silicon Valley.

Pike Place Market is one of Seattle’s main tourist attractions. While something of a tourist trap, the market is still worth a visit.

No matter where I am in the world, I always look for the fish market. You can usually find it with your nose – always the filthiest, smelliest and most chaotic section of any market. Not so in Seattle. The Pike’s Place Market is absolutely pristine – it even smells good.

Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver is a good place to spend a morning. Produce is the outstanding feature here. The fruit and vegetables look like they have been individually polished by hand.

Things really start to get interesting south of the border. Mexican markets are exotic and unusual. Much of what’s on offer will not remind one of typical American-Mexican food. My wife and I have been traveling to Mexico since college, but we stuck mainly with the coastal resorts. It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that I began to discover the real Mexican heartland – the Colonial Cities of the Central Plateau, and especially, Mexico City.

I had done my best to avoid Mexico City for years because of its enormous size and reputation as a dangerous place. I found the city to be just the opposite – safe and easy to manage. We stayed at the Gran Hotel de la Ciudad de Mexico directly on the Zocalo.

We spent the first morning at the Mercado de San Juan – the city’s gourmet venue. As with all Third World markets, the meat section was shocking – everything taking place in  the open.

The markets at San Miguel, Tlaxcala, and Cholula were also compelling.

The market in the beautiful lakeside town of Patzcuaro is dominated by the Purepecha Indians. The market is aimed at tourists with mostly crafts on sale, but is still fun to poke around.

Oaxaca, a medium sized colonial city in the south, is my favorite place in Mexico. The whole area is populated by indigenous people, and their weekly markets are fascinating and colorful. The most popular markets are Tlacalula and Ocotlan. These have probably already seen too many tour groups and it won’t take you long to notice that the market people have a different attitude than those you would find in markets that are less well-attended.

While North American markets cannot compete with those in the developing world in terms of human spectacle, they more than make up for this in the quality and variety of food on sale. My advice is to visit the markets whenever you have the opportunity.