As a class, we visited the Mercato Centrale market where we saw a bunch of different vendors with all types of food, drinks and products. The lower level of the market was mostly vendors who sold food ingredients and products, while the upper level was restaurants. 

While shopping, we were approached by many lovely vendors who offered free samples of their products. One of the vendors gave us truffle salami which was by far some of the best salami I had ever had. They had tons of different types of meat and we wanted to try them all!

Another vendor that stood out to us was a truffle and spread shop that sold many different truffle infused products along with nut spreads. They gave us bread dipped in truffle infused oil as well as bread with a truffle spread on top of it. We then tried truffle honey which wasn’t our personal favorite, but definitely a unique taste. Lastly, they gave us three different types of pistachio spreads. Each tasted a little different ranging on different levels of sweetness. They were amazing! By the end of this station, we were practically full with how much we tried! 

After trying the free samples, we began searching for the ingredients we actually needed to make our dish. We decided to make a pesto pasta with mozzarella and tomato as well as a caprese salad appetizer. Our ingredients were pretty basic so we knew they shouldn’t be too hard to find, however, one of our group members is gluten-free so we had to make sure we could find her gluten free pasta as well! 

Early on in our search we found a little shop that sold many different types of pasta. We were so overwhelmed by how types they had, we didn’t know which one to choose! We ended up deciding on a penne pasta and luckily found a gluten-free one as well. The gluten-free one was a red-lentil pasta. The shop also had a few different types of pre-made pesto, so we were able to grab a jar of that from there as well. Off to a really good start! 

After getting the pasta, we split up to find mozzarella and tomatoes. We found this small produce vendor that sold a bunch of different fruits and vegetables. However, when we went to buy two tomatoes, the vendor only accepted coins! Luckily we had just enough coins to give the vendor. You never know which places only accept coins/cash compared to credit card, so it is always smart to make sure you bring some cash along with you! 

Lastly, getting the mozzarella was very easy. We went up to a cheese vendor and asked for one bag of buffalo mozzarella that had five balls of mozzarella in it. Once we got all of the ingredients, we were good to go to start cooking! 

We ended up staying at the market and walking around for a little longer. It was interesting to see all the different vendors and the unique foods they were selling. We wanted to try everything! Overall, going to Mercato Centrale was an amazing experience that got to show us a large variety of different foods that we would’ve never tried if we hadn’t gone. Everyone was so nice and very friendly to us Americans. They were patient with us and got excited about showing us their culture. This market is now on our weekly grocery list and we can’t wait to go back to try even more foods!