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Buying Fruit in Spanish-Speaking MarketsSpanish Language for Food Shopping and Key Words for Fruit or Fruta
Knowing how to ask for specific fruits to buy from a Spanish-speaking market stall or grocer will help a culinary traveller connect closely to the food that they eat.
Hot dry summers can bring on a passion for chilled fruits. Whether buying fruit in a Spanish-speaking market to blend a smoothie, make a sorbet or eating a piece of fruit on its own, here’s a guide to the Spanish language for buying food and for common fruits. Buying Fruit from a Spanish-Speaking Grocer or Market StallBuying manzana (apple) from a fruit market in Barcelona (pictured below), sandía (water melon) from a grocer tucked away within the courtyards of apartments in Tenerife or asking in a Spanish-speaking supermarket whether higo (figs) are available could benefit from knowing some introductory level Spanish language. In Sueños World Spanish developed by the BBC Language Unit (BBC Books, 1997), Mike Gonzalez, Luz Kettle and Maria Elena Placencia write that “In most places in the Spanish-speaking world people buy fruit, vegetables and other types of food in their local market (el Mercado). In Mexico the market is sometimes called el tianguis, in Argentina la feria. In Latin American prices are often open to negotiation, so you might need to bargain (regatear)”. Culinary travellers wishing to buy as a single piece of fruit for eating immediately or a variety of fruits for minimal preparation for a breakfast basket or after meal fruit platter can ask for something in a Spanish-speaking shop by saying por favor, una pera, por favor (a pear, please) or Quiero… Quería… Quisiera… (I’d like) followed by the desired weight and type of fruit. Key Words for Weights and Measures or Pesos y medidas in SpanishSome grocers may sell in dozen (una docena), quantities of 12 for some soft fruits such as peach and mango. Delicate fruits like strawberries, raspberries and blackberries may be sold by the punnet/box (una caja) or bag (una bolsa). Metric weights and measures will be used for selling fruit in the majority of Spanish-speaking markets:
Key Words for Fruit or Fruta in Spanish Some common fruits purchased at markets and grocers in Spain or the Canary Islands include:
Asking for specific fruits to buy from a Spanish-speaking market stall or grocer can be done from memory or from a list prepared using this introductory guide to the Spanish language for buying fruit.
The copyright of the article Buying Fruit in Spanish-Speaking Markets in European Culinary Travel is owned by Susan Morris. Permission to republish Buying Fruit in Spanish-Speaking Markets in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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