Lost in Place . . .: The Original Super-Market

There are two very different ways to shop in Taipei. The easy way is to go to the supermarket and stock up on everything you need in one place, exactly as most people do in the US. Then there is the old-school way to shop – taking a stroll through the street market.

Although going to the farmers’ markets is currently very fashionable in the US, most people have lost touch with buying food in a traditional market. That is too bad because buying food at a street market is one of the most sensory-rich experiences you can find - entertainment as much as shopping. Brightly colored vegetables piled high in every direction, shrill calls of vendors advertising their specials, wafting fragrance of roasted peanuts and fried tofu, and the whirl of bikes, scooters, strollers, and carts hustling by in every direction. Always the stimulation junkie – Abel LOVES the market. The market loves Abel back, and we get the rewards in the form of extra handfuls of greens and discounts on our fruit.

I definitely experienced sensory overload on our first trip down the market street, not to mention overwhelmed by the cognitive burden of trying to figure out if lady #1’s broccoli at 35 TWD a basket is a better deal than lady #2’s broccoli for 20 TWD a pound, but then there is also lady #3 who has two crowns of broccoli for 30 TWD, and she said hers is local . . . you get the idea. It is much easier to comparison shop when you can take your time standing in front of goods which are lined up, packaged, and labeled on a shelf. It takes some trial and error, but after a month we are starting to get to know where to go for what vegetable and which vegetables are the best value. Despite the complexity of the comparison shopping, the market is generally significantly cheaper than going to the fluorescent, sterile, and impersonal supermarket - and way more fun.

We are just beginning to delve into a whole new realm of the market – seafood. Clams, crabs, oysters, snapper, squid, salmon, mussels, tuna – you name it, they’ve got it lined up on their ice filled tables. We were a little hesitant about buying fish sitting out in the open air, so for our first seafood foray we went with Tilapia – a conservative choice considering the options. When the fish we chose began to flop and flap violently in the plastic bag we were handed, we realized freshness was not a concern. I was concerned, however, that it might actually manage to flop its way out our little refrigerator. Luckily, the walk home and the cold temperature in the fridge relaxed the fish enough to keep him safely contained until dinner time.

Without any language skills, I rely completely on Jess to navigate our market trips. This can be a little frustrating for me, and probably for Jess since she has to do all the negotiating, but we both really enjoy our Sunday morning market trips. I'm certain about one thing - it sure beats a trip to Wal-Mart!