Whitings at fish market. La Boqueria, Barcelona, Spain, July 2010
Monkfish tails. La Boqueria, Barcelona, Spain, July 2010
I have never been a seafood eater. With the exception of tuna salad, I don't eat fish. Forget about shellfish -- I've no use for bottom-feeders.
Yet, some of my fondest memories as a boy were going to Lexington Market, Baltimore's renowned open food market. There is no market in the world that can rival Lexington Market for a tour of smells: From the dogs and sausages grilling at Pollock Johnny's, to the roasted Brazilian nuts, the cotton candy, and my favorite smell -- the most distinctly Baltimorean of them all -- crabcakes frying.
And when it came to sights, I would marvel at the fish. The lobster tank, the crab salads, the trout, and German pickled herring from Chesapeake Bay..... You gotta go there sometime and see it for yourself.
My time at La Boqueria brought me back to all that, in its own way.