Markets: A World to Discover

Josep enjoys a delicious meal and pleasant conversation—even better if it’s a combination of both, which is why he writes and talks about gastronomy! He's the director of the Catalan magazine CUINA and often contributes to gastronomic sections on radio, TV, and digital media. He has coauthored a book about cuisine in Barcelona and another about vermouth, as well as publishing a recipe book devoted to macaroni. He’d travel to the other side of the earth to taste a good meal, but he’s also happy at home with the wine that his family makes with grapes gathered at the vineyards close to the house where he was born.

Miranda is a British illustrator who lives in Melbourne, Australia. She graduated in Illustration at the University of Arts London (Camberwell College of Art). She is inspired by travels and the natural environment, which she captures in her rich and colorful illustrations. She uses traditional techniques like gouache, watercolor, and acrylic paint, and she forms into loose brushstrokes with plentiful details. Aiming to evoke a specific atmosphere and generate a feeling of exploration and surprise, she creates illustrations that invite the public to come in and enjoy her personal interpretation of the world around us.

FerranAdrià was the head chef of El Bulli and is considered one of the best chefs in the world. El Bulli earned three Michelin stars and was listed as one of the top dining destinations in the world. 

A food writer revels in the wonders of local markets worldwide.

“Be bold and be curious!” Originally published in Spanish, this enthusiastic, though occasionally awkwardly worded, celebration of markets and their wares (mostly the edible sort but with a few glances at other types of merchandise) invites readers to not only savor with all their senses the bounty of familiar types of fresh foods, but also to be open to new experiences—like dried Greenland shark (hákarl) from Reykjavík’s Kolaportið Market (which gives off a “terrifying stench” to the uninitiated) and fried spiders at the markets in Skuon, Cambodia (“crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside”). Though Sucarrats never mentions online or financial markets and refers only vaguely to markets organized by “Native Americans” (depicted generically sporting feathered headbands and rowing canoes) and Australian Aboriginal people, he expands tremendously on Ted Lewin’s classic Market! (1996) by specifically naming more than 40 active sites (all of which are located on a numbered map at the end). Also, along with crowing over distinctive products offered at many markets, he rightly highlights their double nature as both commercial and social centers whatever form they take. Sofroniou follows suit by blending glimpses of select actual locales with luscious spreads of different sorts of foodstuffs in roughly equal measure and populating indoor and outdoor scenes with a racially and culturally diverse mix of sellers, buyers, laborers, and browsers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A foodie’s delight, though with occasional half-baked morsels. (index)(Informational picture book. 7-10)

Josep Sucarrats’s radiant visual encyclopedia Markets introduces global markets and bazaars.

A warm foreword by Spanish chef Ferran Adrià of El Bulli restaurant fame sets the stage for this encouraging exploration of markets around the world. Recounting his own trips to markets, Adrià emphasizes their universality and ability to awaken questions, but also “many answers.” From the Greek agora to Roman forums, Native American canoe routes, and caravans in China, ancient markets served as gathering points for people, goods, and commerce. And the book showcases what markets excel at: sustainability, providing fresh local food while fostering farther-flung exchanges of cookery and ideas, inspiring people, and building communities.

Pithy descriptions of unique items—including durian, fried spiders, and reptiles—spark interest about different regional specialties and are accompanied with the wise advice to “Be bold and be curious!” And the book discusses where foods are sourced in a thoughtful manner, enlivening its practical explanations with historical tidbits, such as how a kilo of saffron can be worth more than a kilo of gold.

Despite its brevity, the volume is packed with information. Each page boasts eye-catching illustrations of produce and outdoor bustle, buildings, and people whose local dress hints at the sensory wonders of traveling. Camels are draped in patterned blankets; a two-page spread of fruits and vegetables evokes fun tea-towel prints. There are tantalizing aerial views of boats brimming with flowers and foods, too, while covered, open-air, and floating markets in Southeast Asia capture attention. And there’s special mention of a few markets that specialize in goods other than foods, like souks. Even forms of payment and the people found in markets are discussed.

Markets is a splendid gastronomic guide for young foodies in search of new flavors and sights.
March / April 2023