One of the fun things we get to do as Superior students is a visit to the Rungis Market, the world's largest fresh food market. Located a little outside of Paris, this place was more like a little contained city. Drove through the entrance booths (quite like a toll station!), and sped past multiple warehouses with trucks and trucks of food backed up against the doors.
How big was Rungis? Big enough to house a hair cutting salon, multiple restaurants, a gift shop, and a branch of every bank located in Paris. And you know that a place is big when you see a Chinese restaurant on site (at least that's how I judge these things, ha). I'll leave you to peruse the statistics located on the website on your own, but yes, it's impressive. It's also big enough that you can sign up for tours in multiple languages on a separate website.
We started our visit in the fruit and produce warehouses. My first thought was, "This is like Costco!" Boxes and boxes of produce stacked up with flattering fluorescent lighting. How I miss the warehouse shopping experience!
How big was Rungis? Big enough to house a hair cutting salon, multiple restaurants, a gift shop, and a branch of every bank located in Paris. And you know that a place is big when you see a Chinese restaurant on site (at least that's how I judge these things, ha). I'll leave you to peruse the statistics located on the website on your own, but yes, it's impressive. It's also big enough that you can sign up for tours in multiple languages on a separate website.
We started our visit in the fruit and produce warehouses. My first thought was, "This is like Costco!" Boxes and boxes of produce stacked up with flattering fluorescent lighting. How I miss the warehouse shopping experience!
Baby Vegetables
Green Garlic
Smiling Lemons
Mini Fennel
Tomatoes
Then it was off to the meat locker. We all had to don attractive disposable hair nets and lab coats. Nothing like the ill-flattering baggy look. We were in the building where veal, pigs, and cows were processed. Apparently all the negotiating for prices are still done verbally, as nothing was labeled with prices. Clean and fascinating!
Strangely Cute
A picture of the animal pre-arrival to Rungis.
The cheese building:
And finally the flower building. Very disappointing, as we were there later in the morning and had already missed all the action.
Unfortunately the fish market was closed since it was a Monday. That was something I really wanted to see, as most things are still live and the seafood here can be so different from what I see in the States. Leave it to the school to schedule a market visit on a Monday- I had major gripes about that.
My overall impression of the market was that its impressiveness was due to size. As for quality and variety of produce, there wasn't much that was outstanding. Very little tropical fruit or rarer greens or vegetables, and I wish we could have seen more of the actual negotiating.
On a side note, did you know that most outdoor markets in Paris are not staffed with the actual farmers? Instead, the stalls (and restaurants) come out to Rungis, make their purchases, and then sell them at the various markets. There are a few stalls where the actual farms sell their harvest, but it's definitely not the American version of an outdoor market. In a way, this kind of takes the charm out of a Parisian market, but the idea of a local market is still nicer than the impersonal feel of a supermarket.
You can only make purchases at Rungis with a commercial license. Not that I need crates and crates of food while here in Paris, but sometimes I miss pushing a gigantic cart down a windowless warehouse and buying way more than I need. Wouldn't you?
Bon appétit!
My overall impression of the market was that its impressiveness was due to size. As for quality and variety of produce, there wasn't much that was outstanding. Very little tropical fruit or rarer greens or vegetables, and I wish we could have seen more of the actual negotiating.
On a side note, did you know that most outdoor markets in Paris are not staffed with the actual farmers? Instead, the stalls (and restaurants) come out to Rungis, make their purchases, and then sell them at the various markets. There are a few stalls where the actual farms sell their harvest, but it's definitely not the American version of an outdoor market. In a way, this kind of takes the charm out of a Parisian market, but the idea of a local market is still nicer than the impersonal feel of a supermarket.
You can only make purchases at Rungis with a commercial license. Not that I need crates and crates of food while here in Paris, but sometimes I miss pushing a gigantic cart down a windowless warehouse and buying way more than I need. Wouldn't you?
Bon appétit!
ugh, some of the pics are heartless... poor animal souls.
Posted by: bianca | June 03, 2006 at 06:51 PM