First Experience at the Vega Central

After almost 3 years of living in Santiago Christian and I finally ventured to the Vega Central today. The Vega is basically a huge fruit and veggie market in the Recoleta neighborhood of Santiago. It is known for having the best variety and prices for fruits and veggies, however we had never been there for a number of reasons. They were all pretty silly reasons when I think about it now and I am SO glad that we went today! Seriously the variety is unbeatable. There were a ton of things that I didn't even recognize, especially in the Peruvian stands. The quality varies from stand to stand, but overall is great since there are hundreds of booths to choose. We parked the car on the inside of the Vega where it would be safer than out on the street and it allowed us to make trips to the car to put away the kilos and kilos of fruits & veggies that we got! Today's venture was a HUGE success--the market was way nicer and cleaner that I thought it would be. They vendors weren't shouting at us or whistling at me like I have experience in other ferias either. It was busy, but manageable.

So after a little over 50 minutes, Christian and I had purchased the following--all for about $34 USD:

• 7 artichokes
• 5 zucchini
• 2 red bell peppers
• 2 yellow bell peppers
• 2 orange bell peppers
• 1 head of broccoli
• 3 heads of garlic
• 12 huevos del campo (equivalent of free-range eggs)
• 2 kilos of carrots
• 1 kilo of pears
• 1 kilo of apples
• 1 kilo of camote peruano (sweet potatoes...or so I hope)
• 4 kilos of strawberries (this cost us a whopping $4!!!!!)
• 1 kilo of cherries
• 1/4 kilo of ostra mushrooms
• 1.5 kilos of banana
• 1/2 kilo tomato
• 1 kilo avocado

All of this for only $34 dollars! Amazing! I would say that all together we are taking about 16 kilos (or 35 lbs) of fruits and veggies! Mmmmm can't wait to get started cooking!