Shopping in Panama

This market is where restaurants and super markets purchase their fruits and vegetables. The trucks start arriving about 3 a.m. and the early bird gets the worm. The earlier you get there the better your selections. But even at 10 a.m. when we were there, theres still plenty of good produce to choose from. Parking cost us $.25, here are some of the offerings and prices on this day when we did our weekly shopping:

• Ginger root - .25/lb
• Sweet Potatoes - 3 lb/$1
• Zucchini - .70/lb
• Plum Tomatoes - 3 lb/$1
• Papaya (mine weighed about 6 lbs) $2
• Pineapples .50/ea
• Bananas .10/lb

For fresh and cheap you cant beat this market.

The city market has relocated to a building within a couple of blocks of the fish market. There are four areas to the new market. They are the fruits and vegetables section, meat section, eatery/cafeteria, and grains/spices section.The meats sold here are cheaper than the super markets, they cut and wrap to order. All the meat I saw looked very good.The vegetables are comparable to the market at Ancon.In the grain section are flours, beans, rice, spices, sauces, oil, salt fish, and a variety of other very interesting sections.The food in the cafeteria smelled absolutely wonderful and the prices were very reasonable.

The fish market had every seafood selection imaginable. We saw octopus, oysters, clams, squid, shrimp, scallops, and a vast variety of fish. I picked out my own tuna, they clean it and wrapped it for me. I had my tuna filleted and kept her eggs. They asked me if I wanted the carcass for soup, but I left it behind. The 8 pound tuna was $11.50. I bought a one pound covina (white sea bass) for $1.25. They filleted and wrapped it for me.