Will Travel for Food

A friend's Facebook post called my attention to this amazing recent article in the NYTimes, talking about the role of markets in sight-seeing. Not the economist's "markets," but the fun traveler's kind of food and beverage, day and night markets. I have considered various kinds of markets and ethnic grocery stores to be one of the simpler pleasures in my life, enough to get me excited in my own neighborhood and while traveling. Mimi Sheraton writes:

Yet food markets deserve equally high billing on a must-see list. For as inspiring as the more standard sights can be, they do not rival the ebullience of modern-day markets and their colorful links to the economy, customs and even dialects of a city. In a world ever more homogenized, food markets afford visitors one of the few opportunities to glimpse locals going about one of their essential daily chores.

Unfortunately, my limited traveling experience has not taken me to any of the markets on her list, nor have I been to any markets, a highlight of the article. I must have been across the street from La Merced market in Mexico City without knowing it at the time. El Merced, in Mexico City, is compared to el Mercado (Central) de Abastos in Oaxaca City, which I did frequent, along with los mercados de Veinte de Noviembre and de Benito Juarez. I would also add the DeKalb Farmer's Market in Atlanta, which is actually a year-round indoor market, to Sheraton's list.

I also came across this meme inviting submissions to add to the list of Things to Eat Before You Die. Check it out and maybe add some of your own...