The Market

We shopped in our local market today, and found the produce and the displays especially pleasing. This must mean we have recovered from this past week when we both experienced Moctezuma's Revenge. For four or five days we merely studied, slept, and tried hard not to think about food. Now we are back at full strength, and plotting our next batch of salsa.
The Mercado Revolucíon is one of dozens of public markets in Morelia. At first we found the arrangement chaotic and shopping difficult, especially in comparison to a suermarket. So many vendors, dozens who carry the same fruits and vegetables; others who offer meat, poultry, dairy products, seafood, but in no easily discernible arrangement. As we’ve become more familiar, we’ve learned that the Mexican public market offers huge attractions, even if efficiency is not one of them.

First and foremost, since vendors vie for buyers under the same roof, they are constantly working to make their offerings stand out, always arranging and rearranging, culling sad produce, and happy to tout their own wares. Advice and information about the items sold is freely offered. If one vendor doesn’t carry cilantro or peas, he will happily send you over to the fellow who has them.

Each vendor is an independent business, and few fail to add odd items to their inventory to boost total sales. Pinatas hang above the produce; baskets and bags and pots and pans line the fronts and tops of stalls. The chaotic activity and brilliant colors make all supermarkets seem sterile.