Well, in my case, I go to markets to take photographs of the fruits and vegetables.
Let’s start with Peru’s most famous export–the potato. Thousands of varieties are grown in Peru. Some are the size of ours, but there are many that are no bigger than your finger. They come in all colors, including purple. Here’s an interesting article on the Peruvian potato seed-bank.
Despite it being winter, the variety of vegetables was not that different than what we find in our grocery stores.
On the other hand, there were some unknown items. Processed items like these shavings were not unusual, and they were rarely prepackaged like the small bag of peas lying atop the carrots.
Some exotic fruits seem to be more popular in Peru, like the star fruit.
This seller seems to be more attuned to where the tomato belongs botanically.
The fruit with the purple stripes is the pepino dulce or tree melon. It doesn’t travel well, so don’t look for it in your local market.
Along with the fruits and vegetables, one could buy anything else one might think of buying in a grocery store. But grains aren’t very colorful and, since I was with several vegetarians, we avoided the butchers. Bread was not usually served with lunch or dinner, just breakfast. With lots of potatoes and rice, it was unnecessary.
One could also buy all kinds of kitchen ware.
In the end, I did buy one item–a wooden spoon, for $1.
