Another day and another adventure. The day began with the sun shining and perfect 75 degree weather. Un dia perfecto to go to the outdoor market that is held on Sundays in the city. The market “Ferria Tristan Narvaje” is named for the street that is closed down to house it. It is a plethora of smells and sights that is a great way to pass a lazy Sunday. It is about 10 blocks long and lines three aisles on the street. The collection of vendors range from fruit stands to spice vendors to clothing and accessory booths to food concessions. A lazy stroll is the perfect pace at which to observe and experience this fair.
Of course, we wanted to buy things so we tried out our Spanish to bargain, however, it is apparant that no haggling is done here, at least not for us. We asked “cuantos pesos?”, “120 pesos” so we said “60 pesos?”, “No, 120 pesos”. Esta bien. We were haggling over her original price of about U$S6.00 for a shirt versus our stated price of U$S3.00. No problemo.
We did buy a few things, amongst which were oranges, said shirt and a scarf, and cheese. Cheese. I love cheese. I miss cheese. So, to see the stands filled with fresh cheeses made my day, my week, in fact. It’s not that they don’t have cheese here in the restaurants, it’s that when you order it, it is almost always fried in some way. Delicious? Definitely. Satisfying? Not in the way that a fresh cheese plate - the perfect mix of buttermilk blue, drunken goat and manchego - is satisfying. Needless to say, the huge chunk of smoked cologna cheese that I took home with me is my treasure of the day. Cologna, to me, tastes like a mix of gouda and brie, with a firm but creamy texture. It was my dinner tonight with crackers, dried fruit and raw almonds and it was perfecto!
What is interesting about some of the cheese vendors is that they are housed in the back of an old truck. It’s hard to describe, so I have pictures below. The first picture is the front of the truck and the second is what the actual cheese vendor is like in the back. These are quite unique and definitely add to the experience. Another culinary delight we tried was a fried tortilla. I am not sure of the actual name for this, so I will call them “tortillas fritas”, literally translated to fried tortillas…I’m so creative. Anyway, these are like an elephant ear at the carnival, but without the sweet toppings. These were also quite good.
This was my day and it was beautiful. On another note, to close out the question of how a day ends after a long Saturday at el puerto mercado? It ends like this…nap, dinner, and then dancing until 3:00am in a latin nightclub….of course…Claro que si! Chau!
Posted on October 7th, 2007 by katiejocannon
Filed under: Food, Travel, Uruguay
¡Yo no tengo interés a comer salchicha de sangre, pero muy bien!