Español a continuación | Spanish to follow
Although Barcelona has seen a growing trend in outdoor markets and food festivals over the past couple of years, our favourite continues to be the All Those Food Market.
Started by Viqui Sanglas and her partner Santi Garcia in December 2014, All Those takes the opportunity to seek out beautiful Barcelona public spaces where farmers, vendors and artisans share their crafts, specialty food and quality designed products with the local community.
The couple were first inspired while living in New York and visited their weekly farmer’s market.
So much so that Viqui and Santi decided to start their own project here in Spain. Their love for collaborating with dedicated and passionate people and projects is clear and has been a main ingredient in the success of this unique market.
As we head towards the September edition of Taste All Those, where they will host a seasonal farmer's market and popular pop-up food stands, we sat down to speak with Viqui about the inspiration, philosophy and future of her inspiring project.
This month's edition will be held at an all new location, the Seminario Conciliar de Barcelona, and will combine a mix of first time ever workshops, delicious dining, and beautiful products from both returning and new participants. And of course, a space where you can find all your freshly grown produce just in time for our next Global Community Detox!
Where did the market style inspirations for All Those come from?
We have had several inspirations for starting the All Those markets. One of the biggest came from a market in Berlin, where we were living for a few months, called Markthalle Neun. It's in an old beautiful building that is now managed by a younger community. There are a lot of young artisans and craft companies, for example a small brewing company that makes their beer in that same space, or the Italian guy who makes his homemade pizzas. Everything is young, fresh and aesthetically beautiful. They also do a farmer's market on the weekends and a street food market on Thursday evenings. It's an amazing project that gathers a community of people, and this has been very inspiring to us.
Another source of inspiration comes from our time living in New York. I used to love the Union Square Farmer's Market and buying fresh, seasonal food every weekend. And although we have many wonderful markets here in Barcelona, sometimes I miss the seasonal component. Everything is available all the time now. I am happy to see that now in August it's a time for tomatoes. I like to feel them and taste them. It's not the same tomato that you will find in January.
So we saw this market overseas and wanted to create something like it in Barcelona, our own project that we really believed in. Another important thing we believe in is the producer and the farmer selling their products directly to the consumer. Most markets here deal with distributors so we are happy to provide an opportunity for a more direct and personal exchange to happen. The farmers bring their seasonal products and they are always super excited to participate in our project!
Have you always had a passion for eating and cooking with local seasonal products?
The one who inspired me most was my grandmother. She used to cook everything seasonal and made many traditional Catalan recipes that have been around for years. She took the time to cook and was very healthy which inspired my belief in buying your own products and cooking at home as often as possible. She would say "have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper"! She really took care of what she ate.
