Whatever shortcomings the Mercado de San Miguel has in the seafood, produce and meat departments, it excels as a source of cooked food, tapas/pinchos and small bites of all sorts. We were so encouraged by the variety of things on offer that we decided to have dinner at the market. Smart move.
We shied away from the extremely busy and very pricey seafood bar, figuring we could get our fix of prawn cocktail at home without paying exorbitant premiums, and headed for other purveyors instead…
A selection of fresh oysters were on offer at Daniel Sorlut. Select your oyster, the vendor opens it up and down the hatch it goes… You could have a glass of ice cold champagne along with the oysters, if desired. Some folks came for just one splendid oyster, others had half a dozen or more. :) Prices ranged from Euro1-3 per oyster.
Dozens and dozens of various tapas/pinchos were on offer, and it was a bit tough to narrow down the choices with just three mouths to feed. A dish of mixed olives perhaps. Or some grilled roasted peppers and other vegetables, marinated in good olive oil.
Or toothpicks with olives anchovies and peppers? Flavorful, salty, and incredibly appetizing.
Maybe a single serving of caviar…
…or chips deep-fried in olive oil.
Stand at the bar or opt to eat while walking about…
… or sitting at tables set up in the central part of the building.
Ordering wasn’t difficult at all, it was like being at the ultimate tapas turo-turo.
From one place we got this plate with 7 different pinchos. Paper thin bacalao or salt cod, semi-dried salmon, canned mussels, freshly made tuna, dried tuna with a marcona almond, cheese and caviar and an anchovy fillet. All of these at 1 Euro per piece!
I couldn’t resist the freshly fried potato chips and bought a small cone of that…
…and noticed the chicharon on offer from the same stall, but decided to pass on that.
The teen had two small ice cream cones for dessert at 1 Euro each…
…while I checked out but couldn’t eat any of the sweets on offer, including these tocinos…
…and several other pastries.
Mrs. MM also had one of these terrific chorizo empanadas, and we all shared some croquetas.
If we could handle more I would have opted for one of two pinchos with foie gras…
… and maybe a small selection of local cheeses.
Let’s just say we ate very well that evening, and for less than Euro10 per person, drinks included. :)
15 Responses
Wow! 1st comment for the day!
Droooooooooooooool!
I was recently dreaming of taking a trip to Spain. It would be
great to see all that in person!
I’ll just feast with my eyes….or just settle for Spanish sardines on crusty French bread .
Those tocinos with golden gleaming rind look like sliced leche flan to me. Those porkies
were really fattened up ! I seldom see pork with that much fat in my local grocery anymore, seems like they have been on healthy eating as well.
OOps! I was wondering why the “tocinos” were with the sweets . Yes, they are tocino del cielo.
See MM , with so much pork talk, when you say tocino, I think pork!. Ha, ha, ha. I am not awake yet and see where I am.
I was just there! Love the boquerones!
That sounds just perfect. A little of a lot of good stuff. =)
you had me at the toothpick’d goodies, MM, but in the picture after that of the tocinos, i see a pile of a favorite pastry from my childhood called “curbatas” , although the sign reads something like “mini-pistillos”. they’re crisp twists of dough that are deep-fried then dipped in syrup or honey. a local bakery used to make them and my mom would order trays of them.
We called them corbatas too, most likely from the Spanish for necktie or even likelier as an abbreviation for bow-ties which strictly speaking were called corbatas de lazo. Minipetiscos would probably apply to the whole shelf of different tiny finger snacks.
Home-made corbatas, golguria and pilipit were the preëminent rainy day treats throughout my childhood.
These posts are so timely. Is this Market Man’s way of cheering for the Spanish team?
Delectable! Delicious! Delightful!
Footloose, absolutely, CONGRATULATIONS to Spain. When we were there a few weeks ago, we agonized over buying the official shirts, but at Euro80+ for a t-shirt, we decided against it. They will probably become collectors items among soccer fans. :)
whoa… sarap naman… anyway, congrats to Spain!
Proof of 300 years of Spanish influence—-tocinos,chicharones,empanadas,etc…we have our local versions!
What a feast! I always love the idea of sampling a variety of food this way.
arggh!! reading this blog is sheer punishment and torture when it’s so close to lunch time… (-:
i really like the idea of going to a local market and trying their food (though their markets are not as well-appointed as this one!). we’ve done this a number of times visiting mexico, bangkok, etc. you really get the true local taste of the food as compared to the ‘americanized’ version’ served in restaurants. we always opt for fresh deep-fried fish or meat or soups that very hot – we figured, that should take care of the cooties!
i am so envious! mm – i’m open to being adopted…. (^_^)
wow at that plate! I am so hungry (as usual after reading your blog) right now :)
I was just there in March! Lovely market and I took the same picture of those prawns :-) Had callos, sesos and surprisingly, Ethiopian food in Madrid. Still, nothing beats Barcelona.