Previously:

Part 1: Following The Pintxos Trail

Part 2: San Sebastian Foodie Favorites & A Great, Big Steak

Part 3: Barcelona, Spain: ?Angry? Eggs, Gung Ho for Gaudi, & Sexy Ham

Part 4: La Boqueria & El Born ? A Photo Essay

There are 44 food markets in Barcelona, and La Boqueria is the mother of them all, dating way back to 1301. One of the grandest markets of Europe, its hundreds of stalls are scattered over a football-sized field covered by an expansive wrought-iron roof.

The layout is like being in a maze and a turn here or a slight right there yields colorful, mouthwatering surprises.

The market?s center is called a glorieta (traffic circle) and it?s here where seafood is sold. It?s also here where the crowds are thickest and loudest.
Sporting pinafores, these women offer everything hauled from the largesse of the Mediterranean. The assortment is astounding.

A bounty of bacalao, either dehydrated or rehydrated. The most coveted cut is the morro, or middle fillet.

All about olives at this stall plus some top-tier Spanish oils and deli items.

A plethora of pulses. The beans I have in Spain are some of the creamiest I?ve ever eaten.

The ingredients that make fine Spanish cuisine. Eggs here are large, their yolks a vibrant gold.

The incomparable succulence and sweetness of Spanish tomatoes.

It?s at La Boqueria where I familiarize myself with real saffron. Heady and pervasive, now that I?ve smelled it, I?ll never forget it (nor will I e...