“Is the pot we have even big enough for it?”
This is not a rhetorical question. Have you ever seen choclo, aka Peruvian corn? A kernel is the size of a garlic clove. In fact, I once had a salad in a Peruvian restaurant and I thought there were bits of garlic in it, until I realized it was choclo (which made way more sense).
It’s just not the corn. Every vegetable and every fruit at the Mercado de la Vega looks bigger than what I’m used to. The colours are brighter as well, it seems, but that could be just me being lyrical.
“Gee… could a communist propaganda poster,” Feng notes. “Like ‘Farmers’ daily hard work help us feed our comrades!’”
Okay, so this isn’t just me. Even the meat looks appetizing. Yes, raw meat—ribs, chicken feet, steak, sausages… Gee, what the hell is that? There’s a weird display of dolls, moving on, super creepy. Anyway, now I feel like eating meat and I rarely do.
Vendors don’t even bother doing the usual shouting-and-calling market routine, most are just reading the paper. The produce speaks for itself, you won’t be able to resist buying three kilos of avocados and one of tomatoes—they are that confident.
“How much?”
“Five for 1,000 pesos.”
Feng shakes his head. “I can’t eat five of these giant ears of corn!”
“Can we buy fewer than five?”
“Two for 400.”
Dale.
In most of Latin America, markets are still central to people’s lives. There are plenty of supermarket chains, all modern, well stocked and fairly aseptic, but where do you go when you only need two eggs and not a carton, five slices of ham and not a pack, one piece of bread and not an entire loaf? To the market, of course, where you’re able to buy just what you need and can afford.
Buying what you need—that’s an interesting concept, one we’re not that familiar with anymore in North America and Europe, lands of bulk groceries. We buy three packs of yogurt because it’s cheaper than just getting one, we buy five boxes of cereals because they’re on special this week, because it’s convenient, because of a deal, because we’ve been brainwashed too, because we can.
I remember how surprised I was when in Guatemala, I saw someone buying a single pencil—not a fancy one, mind you, just your regular cheap graphite pencil, the kind IKEA gives out for free so that you can write down the price tag details of the Böytrebsfgsfwf bookshelf you just fell in love with (plot twist, you’ll never find the right flat box in the warehouse).
This is a part of travelling I enjoy. We only buy what we need, what we can carry, and what we can eat.
And you know what? I’m not missing anything.
Felicidades! Nice blog, well written with good photos. Thought you might be interested in a little more about the corn (and lots of other Chilean foods) as I was when I moved to Chile 10+ years ago. According to “Races of Maize in Chile” it is probably descended from a cross between native maize and dent corn introduced from the United States in the 19th century. Chileans call it choclo humero, since it is the corn used to make humitas (Chilean tamales) and the famous corn pie, pastel de choclo. Hope you had a chance to try both.
Best wishes
I did! Corn just tastes awesome here. I hope you’re enjoying Chile, it’s a good place to be in I think.
I – too – love going to the traditional market. Not necessarily cheaper than modern retailers, but I dont know…I love it. And owh, we can bargain too although I’m not good on it :))
I *suck* at bargaining :-/
Hummm j’adore la dernière photo car j’adore la grenade !!!
Est-ce que ces courgettes étaient vidées? C’est marrant! C’est pour faire des courgettes farcies?
Oui, d’ailleurs, comment vous nourrissez vous lors de vos voyages? Vous cuisinez? Je sais que tu aimes beaucoup la nourriture de rue. Ça serait intéressant (pour moi) de savoir ce que vous mangez et si vous trimbalez de la bouffe avec vous. Je ne crois pas quand vous changez de pays, comme tu l’avais écrit pour aller de l’Argentine au Chili (si j’ai bien suivi), mais autrement?
(Au fait, je ne reçois pas de mail quand de nouveaux commentaires s’ajoutent à l’article que j’ai commenté… Je voulais te le dire.)
Les courgettes sont un mystère pour moi, car je n’ai jamais vu de courgettes farcies ici! J’ai fini par conclure que le gars qui les évidait devant moi se faisait chier (ou s’apprêtait à inventer les courgettes farcies??)
En Amérique du Sud, je marche aux empanadas, nourriture de rue, et je complète avec des virées au supermarché pour des yaourts, du pain, du jambon, des fruits etc. On ne voyage pas vraiment avec de la bouffe, sauf… du beurre 😀 J’ai tendance à trimballer mon beurre (barquette en plastique), du sucre, du sel et des petits gâteaux éventuellement. Il faut aussi savoir qu’on ne mange pas la même chose nous trois, ni aux mêmes horaires… différences de culture oblige. Bon, on a les basiques en commun, mais les envies sont différentes. Je suis plus pain/produits laitiers, Feng plus viande, etc.