A morning at Triana market, Seville
Why a market visit is the right first stop in Andalusia, and what we actually buy for the group lunch.
The first morning of our Andalusia trip is spent at the Triana market, on the west bank of the Guadalquivir. It is the right first stop for a particular reason: a market morning tells you more about a place in an hour than a museum can in three.
What we buy
The shape of the group lunch is decided in the market. There is jamón from a stall run by the same family for forty years. There is the season’s prawns from Sanlúcar. There is whatever green thing looks best — usually espinacas, sometimes alcachofas. We buy bread from a counter that bakes on the premises.
Why the market first
A market calibrates the group. By the time we sit down to lunch, the group has met three vendors, smelled two kinds of oil, and watched Pablo argue about the price of prawns in a friendly way for ten minutes. The rest of the trip is easier after that.
The two hours after
After lunch we walk slowly back across the river and into Santa Cruz. The afternoon is kept deliberately empty. The first day of a trip should not try to do too much, and the Triana morning is a quiet way of saying so.