Thursdays at the Market: Getting to Know Valencia, One Stall at a Time

It’s one thing to live in a city, but it’s another to have your habits in that city.

One of the ways we’ve started to feel at home in Valencia has nothing to do with paperwork, language classes, or learning how to buzz delivery people into the building. It’s this: we go to the market on Thursday mornings.

And not just any market, mind you. We go to the Mercat Central, the city’s grand, glorious temple to food. It’s become part of our rhythm, part of how we’re grounding ourselves in this new place.

It’s become one of our favorite parts of the week. We try to arrive by 9:30, before the first wave of tourist buses roll in around 10:00. We’ve never been that fond of big crowds, and dodging people who stop mid-aisle for a photo gets old fast. It’s much nicer when the pace is slower and you can stand in front of a stall and think about your choices without someone behind you filming a TikTok.

At this hour, lots of locals are still doing their shopping. We’re part of that action, wheeling our shopping cart up and down the aisles as we make our selections. It’s not quiet, but it’s not frantic either. It feels alive rather than performative. Familiar and friendly.

The market itself is worth the trip, even if you’re just there for a loaf of bread and a quick look around. Mercat Central is a masterpiece of early 20th-century design. It’s a Modernistic triumph of iron, glass, tile, and light that manages to feel both monumental and welcoming. It’s not just beautiful in the, “isn’t this nice?” sense. It’s beautiful in the, “this-is-what-civic-architecture-should-always-be,” sense.

It opened in 1928, but there’s been a market on this spot since the Middle Ages, which feels right, somehow. Valencia has a way of layering its history just under the surface. A Roman foundation here, a Moorish wall there, and, in this case, a Gothic market turned Modernist cathedral of food.

While Valencia has other excellent markets like the one in Ruzafa, Mercat Central is still the one. It’s where you go when you want quality, variety, and a bit of architectural grandeur with your ham.

We’ve been to some great markets. We actually make checking out the local markets a priority on vacations. We have spent time in the Mercado Bolhão in Porto, the Marché Victor Hugo Toulouse, Les Halles in Paris, the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, Les Halles Central de Narbonne, Mercado San Miguel in Madrid, and the Mercat de la Boqueria in Barcelona. And I’m here to tell you, Valencia’s market wins, hands down.

With its over 1,200 stalls, Mercat Central is the largest fresh food market in Europe. Which is exactly the kind of fact you could breeze past without noticing, until you realize you’ve been walking for 15 minutes and still haven’t seen the entire seafood section.

As someone who lived in Lisbon for several years, I can’t help but make a comparison. Lisbon has neighborhood markets in most freguesias (parishes). The Mercado 31 de Janeiro in Saldanha was our closest one, but nothing there measures up to the scope, soul, and seriousness of Mercat Central.

We’re still finding our way around the market. But even in these early weeks, we’ve started to find our favorite vendors.

The only problem? We’re still working on remembering where they are. The layout is a beautiful kind of chaos, and more than once we’ve had to double back three aisles trying to retrace our steps.

For now, our strategy is simple: start at one end and work our way through, aisle by aisle, like explorers with grocery lists.

(One of these days, I might just draw a map.)

So, who do we like? Let’s start with charcuterie and cheese. There are a ton of places to choose from, but at the moment, our favorite is José Berenguer. His stall isn’t the biggest by any means, but the quality is top-notch, and the prices are excellent. He carries a selection of Manchego cheeses aged to different points, as well as a surprisingly wide variety of jamón. We typically walk away with a couple of cheeses (Manchego and Idiazabal are our go-tos) and some cured meats, maybe lomo or chorizo.

Also? He’s just a really pleasant guy to talk to. Friendly and patient with my attempts at Spanish, and happy to make recommendations if you ask.

There’s also a much larger cheese stall, La Boutique del Queso, that we visit from time to time, mostly when we’re looking for something José doesn’t carry. I’m particularly fond of the Patamulo, a cheese from northern Spain that’s firm, tangy, and completely addictive.

Moving on to produce: there are a lot of greengrocers, and a bit of unspoken specialization at work. Some focus mainly on fruit, others on vegetables, and the stalls tend to carry one or the other, but rarely both. The best frutería we’ve found so far is Frutas Selectas Puchades. They always seem to have exactly what we need: bananas, berries, figs, apples, all incredibly fresh, and always seasonal, and the ladies who work the stall are friendly and helpful.

They also have wonderfully large avocados. I’ll ask them to pick a couple for me – one for today, one for a few days out – and so far, they’ve nailed it every time.

And speaking of asking…

You don’t touch the produce unless they tell you to. This is a key bit of market etiquette in Valencia. Generally speaking, it’s look with your eyes, not your hands. There are even announcements that play over the loudspeakers in multiple languages reminding shoppers that due to health regulations, only the vendors should handle the produce. If you forget and reach for an apple, don’t be surprised if you get gently corrected.

We haven’t yet found a single vegetable stall that has everything we need. Some have better tomatoes, some carry a wider variety, and no one seems to have particularly great lettuce all the time. At this point, we’re rotating between three different places, each with their own strengths.

However, when it comes to olives and pickled things, there’s a clear winner: Oiled & Salt. Their display case is a thing of beauty, with a dozen varieties of olives, plus pickled peppers, onions, lupini beans, and more.

We are extremely fond of their pickled olive mix, which includes the aforementioned onions along with garlic, peppers, and small cucumber pickles. It’s salty, tangy, crunchy, and completely addictive. We’ve started buying larger quantities every week, and at this point it’s becoming less of a snack and more of a household necessity.

Our final go-to place is a true “old-Valencia” treasure, A Granel. According to their sign, they’re purveyors of natural and organic products, but as far as we’re concerned, they’re important for one thing only: vermouth.

We found this stall on one of our first visits, when the proprietor greeted us as we walked past. We stopped for a quick chat, and when he discovered that we were 1) Americans, and 2) had recently moved to Valencia, he launched into a full explanation of the vermouths he carries. Aside from the commercially bottled vermouths, he’s got four different kegs on tap, and yes, he gave us samples of each (at 10:00 in the morning).

The deal is simple: you bring your own bottle, and he fills it from the tap. So far, this is the best vermouth we’ve had in Valencia. It’s become a staple in our household, and part of what makes Thursdays feel like a celebration.

Now, did you notice what’s missing?

All around the outer edge of the market are the butchers, and so far, we haven’t had much to do with them. That’s partly because every neighborhood market in Valencia has a fresh butcher counter, and since we shop every few days, we tend to pick up meat as part of our regular groceries.

We’re sure there are some amazing butchers at Mercat Central and when we need something special, we’ll go exploring. But for now, it’s a lower priority.

The other part of the market we haven’t ventured into yet? The fish annex.

There’s a whole additional building off to the side, dedicated entirely to fish and seafood. It’s not small. And it’s intense. There are stalls with every imaginable kind of freshly caught fish, plus a staggering variety of shellfish, shrimp, clams, snails, crabs, and more.

To be completely honest, we’re a little intimidated.

At some point, I know we’ll get past the nerves and start working our way through. But that’s going to be a whole different post.