Somehow, Tanger reminded me of Athens. It is called the white city due to its white Medina and buildings; it is by the sea and hilly. Indeed, some things in common.

The Marché Central de Poissons, the fish market hall with its meat section, has the same appearance of raw produce as the central market in Athens, which I blogged about. It’s just smaller and not designed with an outer ring for butchers and an inner ring for fish and seafood. The sections were just next to each other, still as clearly defined as in Athens: one section for fish, one for meat, and one for other produce like olives.

Meat section

The butcher does the cuts on site; there are apparently no ready-made pieces delivered to the market. The view brings the basics of butchering in front of the clientele. It is raw, it is uncensored, it is real. Meat here is not as abstract as in the packages one buys at the supermarket, where everything is so clean that it is hard to imagine the piece of meat you eat was once an animal that was killed.

To my surprise, I saw more beef than sheep meat. I expected the opposite, as my memories of Morocco have always focused on the great-tasting sheep meat. Well, the Marché de Poissons visit is probably not empiric enough.

One of my favorite pieces of an animal has long been the offals. I like their deep, amber taste, which always provides warmth to the body. The butchers were not short of selling them. They hung like curtains on hooks and had at times almost the same look as an abstract painting. I have to add that my passion for offals is larger than my expertise in arts.

Fish section

he focus of the Marché de Poissons is fish; for a city that is at the divide of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, it should not come as a surprise. Even though, I have to say that it was not so easy to find fish in restaurants.

I am not good at distinguishing the different fishes, so I cannot tell what I saw. Certainly, they did not look like freshwater fishes. Some of them had rather frightening appearances, some looked almost funny in their posing appearances, and others were quite colorful.

Shrimps were one thing I expected to see, and they were there in noticeable quantities. Other shellfish were not to be seen, such as lobsters or similar types. I saw fish eggs at more than one stall, but I never noticed that they are used in Moroccan cuisine. I have to dig deeper into this.

What else?

As it was a rather short visit to the market hall, I do not remember everything else sold at the Marché Central de Poissons. But the olives looked really nice! The spices were presented beautifully, as I remembered from my visit to Marrakesh some years ago.

All in all

The Marché Central de Poissons in Tanger is a great way to discover fish and meat as part of Moroccan cuisine. Vendors are gentle; no one refused a picture of the produce to be taken. It is worth a visit while in Tanger.

A little link list

• The Marché de Poissons on Facebook
• The post on the market hall in Athens which has something in common with this market hall
• My other posts on Moroccan markets

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Coming from North where the grey autumn weather reigned, the sun in Cassis lightened up life. The splendor of this outdoor market on the beautiful town square close to the sea made me plunge into an eternal summer. The sun rays teased my eyes, the wind caressed  the – still – green leaves of the sycamore trees. People walked around without layers of winter clothes, relaxed and enjoying the smells and sights of the produce.

Walking by all the stalls, summer vacation feeling came up with all the produce the Mediterranean / Provençal region is offering. Somehow the cheeses, dried sausages, olives, garlic, mushroom, fruit are deeply linked to easy life for me. Thinking of sharing these produce with some friends over a glass of vine is maybe pure kitsch, but it represents good life or a little paradise on earth. And it is very easy to get that feeling being at this square.

The market is located at the “Place (square) Baragnon” just a minute away from the picturesque city harbor. The square is surrounded by well trimmed sycamore trees, it is covered by tile style stones which could be suitable for an elegant dance in the evening. The benches invite for a rest and observation of people walking by. The old fountain helps to wash of the dust from your hands. Kind of a picture book square.

Still somebody has to work to provide such an invitation to joyful life. The vendors are presenting nice produce, many of them suitable for tourists as well, since the city beach is close by to munch your purchases. The offering is diverse enough to get the taste of the region. I bought a small basket full of little dry goat cheeses, which were a great snack in the evening. Furthermore a fruit paste (see picture gallery) went into my bag for dessert as well as bit of dried sausage. I missed out the beautiful olives and Tapenade (olive paste) which I truly love. The typical cubic olive soaps were left out as well. And the marinated garlic, and honey wine, and…

But the memories are still alive of this “eternal summer” feeling.

All in all: a feel good market with the goodness of the Provence

A little link list:

• The markets in Cassis with operating times (French)
• A town guide from Marvelous Provence

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The setting

In Manosque a small city in the Provence / France has two locations for the Saturday market: one is a the Hotel de Ville (city hall)  the other one this post is about, is to be found in a short distance at the Place du Terreau in the heart of the old city. This square in the heart of the city is a parking lot on other days of the week.

The market is a mix of flea and food market. Cheap clothes and items are available. The other half of the market is focused on food, be it produce or ready made meals like paella. The crowd is more touristic in summer times and in the other seasons the multi-ethnicity of the area can easily be observed.

It is quite different to the one at the city hall, less romantic, but with more food choices, except oysters and organic produce.

What to get there

Of course all the products which should be on a (French) market are available: vegetables and fruits of the season, great cheeses (there are 2 stalls at least), dried sausages, artisan bread and others. There are also less common produce like lavender honey, Mediterranean pickle mixes, and a fish monger despite the distance to the sea.

When it comes to the cheeses it is worth looking at whole ones as they will resist pressure and temperature when bringing them back home via plane or so. I took a Tome de Pays which was about a kilogram. Since the prices are moderate it is a great culinary souvenir. There is of course also very great dried sausages which somehow found their way into my suitcase.

Anything special?

The choice of ready made meals from food carts and stalls is very convenient and appealing. Starting from roasted poultry in many variations, paella, shrimp dishes, stuffed calamari in tomato sauce, pizza, Vietnamese specialities, Moroccan couscous or tajine,  and a few other things are available. The offering changes over the seasons. In autumn and winter there will be more hearty meals available like sauerkraut and sausages.
This market will not leave you hungry. As an alternative buy some bread and cheese from the market and enjoy this satisfying pleasure.

What do the vendors say?

Well they talk quite a lot when you have time and are interested in their life and work. I immediately was presented to visitors and other vendors as an English journalist. Something I would appreciate being, but reality is different, also when it comes to my accent. But all kinds of fun was very welcomed and political correctness not taken too seriously. And they seem to appreciate tourists as well, expressing that in a friendly service and a gentle willingness to allow pictures being taken.

One vendor had a selling tactic, which was different to the other ones. The tomatoes or other vegetables, probably a kilogram or two, were already filled in open plastic bags (see picture in the gallery). Each bag was then placed in a bowl for the clientele to immediately see the volume of the merchandise. The lady owning the stall presented this as a solution allowing her to offer cheaper prices due to the quantities and it helped her to serve the clientele in  a very fast way as well. I saw this method a day before at a market in Marseille, but did not get the same explanation. In many African markets this is a standard method.

All in all: It is a nice market with good products – not a surprise in France though – worth to be visited when being nearby & hungry.

A little link list:

• What to do in Manosque
• Other markets in the area by weekday (pdf)

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