Mercado Municipal

The main entry way

                From a block away the constant flood of people moving in and out of the building grabbed my attention.  Shuffling out from under a striking archway topped with stained glass windows, people teetered like penguins as they carried their loaded bags of groceries and culinary supplies.  As I made way through the masses into the Mercado Municipal, Sao Paulo’s largest food market, my dormant love of food began to awaken.  Everywhere I glanced, my eyes feasted on the food displays extending before me.  Fresh, colorful produce rested in crates, international wines were stocked high upon shelves and drying salami hung from hooks above shopper’s heads.  I had to be careful not to let others see me begin to salivate as I caught a whiff of a spice aisle, the combination of herbs and spices forming recipes in my head.       

                The 12,600 square meter market place is home to over 290 individual shops and employs over 1,500 people, according to the markets website.  Many of the shops seemed to be closed up though dulling such statistics a bit.  After giving the market a thorough walk around the number of shops open was more akin to around 200; still an impressive number.  The Mercado Municipal website also claims that the market handles approximately 450 tons of food per day, this I can believe. 

There are not many things that I love more about traveling than visiting such a place.  Whether the market is artisan or food, outdoors or indoor or a combination of all the above; they are locations that denote a simpler, gentler life.  Unlike the aisle ways of westernized grocery stores where people begrudgingly steer their steel shopping carts, loading them with boxes of cereal and packaged meat, open markets seethe with life.  Markets are not only for getting some basic shopping done but are personal places for people to interact and be part of a community. 

As I strolled through the Mercado Municipal, occasionally stopping to sift through the piles of diverse produce, I focused on the chatter of shoppers around me.  Even with a loose understanding of the Portuguese language I could grasp the other patrons negotiating and bargaining over cuts of meats and the weight of produce.  A short older woman looking happy with the purchase of a bag of salted olives and the banter of a butcher with a middle aged gentleman holding a half empty bottle of beer brought a chuckle to my chest.  Sights like these are rare and few in the canned food aisle at the grocery stores back home.    

A view from the second floor, many bars and restaurants line the larger aisles and second floor

The Mercado Municipal is also a much more elegantly designed building than that of your run of the mill grocery stores.  It was designed by Francisco Ramos de Azevedo in 1926 and was opened in January of 1933.  Lighting is dim and mostly natural, seeping through the grand elongated skylight above and the stain glassed windows rowing the walls on all four sides.  In total there are 72 stain glassed windows divided among 32 panels designed by a Russian artist Conrad Filho.  Filho is famous for his work on Sao Paulo’s Cathedral da Se and 300 other churches across the country.  When clouds pass overhead they play tricks with the shadows and give the impression of a constantly changing environment.

Cheese, Brazilians love cheese

After gawking amid the fine fare, I decided it was my duty as a former culinary arts student to buy some cheese, salami and a bottle of wine; it only seemed appropriate.  I began to prowl through shops more carefully, picking up cheeses to examine their firmness, carefully sniffing them to determine their sharpness as I struggled to read their labels.  After a few shops I came across one that had a good selection of products that matched my opulent criteria.  I asked for a sample and the vendor sliced off a healthy portion right off the block I held in my hand.  It was a softer cheese but retained its shape as I bit into it and had a gentle, smooth finish.  The bottle of wine I was not as picky on and snatched a bottle of Chilean Cabernet from the same store; drinking a European or Californian brand seems pretentious in South America. 

And good meat is not hard to come by

I began my hunt again in search of a few spicy links of salami.  Once again I desired something that was going to retain its shape and not break down while I chewed it.  I approached a butcher’s stand where the salami hung above salted tongue and pigs feet; both delicacies I was not feeling like taking on at the moment.  I sniffed and poked at the links and selected a few that had the texture of beef jerky but still had some leeway when I subtly pinched them.  A short woman reached up with her butcher’s knife and sliced them down for me as I pushed in-between another set of links to hand the cashier my money. 

Now impatient to eat my carefully chosen meal I began to scurry towards the door, joining the other teetering patrons in their scuffle to do the same.  As I made my way down the aisle I noted several juice stands, sandwich shops and bars beckoning me to come spend more of my cash.  I took note and thought to myself that another trip is definitely in store for this market; that is for sure.