Flavoured Salt at Barcelona’s Boqueria Market.
Whenever my ship calls at Barcelona, I try to make time to go ashore and visit La Rambla. If the schedule allows, I enjoy stopping at the Boqueria Market for a snack before exploring a little more of the city. Even during a short port visit, this lively market is a place where I can enjoy the atmosphere and discover something unexpected.
La Boqueria is one of Barcelona’s best-known markets and attracts plenty of visitors. With so many tourists walking through its aisles, the stalls naturally offer products that catch the eye and reflect current trends. During my most recent visit, one particular item stood out: flavoured salt. I noticed it at stall after stall, displayed in an impressive range of colours and varieties. I had never imagined there could be so many different kinds.
There was blue salt, saffron salt and a blend labelled cinco pimientas, made with five types of pepper. Other varieties combined orange with pink peppercorns, tomato, Merlot wine, turmeric or raspberry. I also saw Himalayan pink salt, garlic salt, basil and lemon, wasabi and chilli. The Spanish names on the labels made browsing even more interesting, as each jar seemed to promise a different flavour and a different use in the kitchen. And that was only the selection I happened to notice; there were so many options that I could probably have spent much longer looking through them.
What surprised me most was how an everyday ingredient could be presented as such a colourful and varied product. Salt is something most of us keep in the kitchen without thinking about it very much, yet these blends turn it into an attractive little gift. For someone who enjoys cooking, a small jar of unusual salt could be a practical souvenir from Barcelona, especially compared with the more familiar tourist trinkets.
I found myself wondering how many of these combinations come from established culinary traditions and how many have been developed to appeal to visitors looking for something distinctive to take home. Either way, the display was fun to discover. It was a reminder that markets are not just places to buy food: they also reveal what sellers believe people might enjoy, taste or give as a present.
I always like these little discoveries when travelling. The Boqueria is well known for its fresh produce and snacks, but a walk through the stalls can also turn up something I never expected to see. I took this photograph during one of those visits, drawn to the variety of salts and the unusual idea of turning such a simple kitchen staple into a souvenir.
Barcelona has plenty to offer even when time ashore is limited, and I enjoy finding small details that make each visit memorable. Which of these flavoured salts would you choose to take home? Add an comment or go to the bottom of the site to read what other visitors have written.
Photos taken with a Canon EOS M100 camera and Canon EF-M 11-22 lens.
Here’s where this market is located:
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