June 28, 2026 · 5 min read
A Chef's Guide to the Costa Brava Markets
Good food on the Costa Brava starts long before the kitchen. It starts at the market, early, with a basket over my arm and a list I rarely stick to, because the best ideas come from whatever looks perfect that morning. Over the years I have learned which markets are worth your time, which stalls I go back to, and the one place on this coast that almost no visitor knows about. Let me take you along on the round I make before I cook for you, because once you have shopped this coast, you taste it differently.
The markets worth your morning
My favourite morning is the market at Palafrugell, one of the liveliest on this stretch of coast. It is a proper working market where local growers sell what they picked that week: seasonal vegetables still warm from the field, farmhouse cheeses, honey, and bottles of green-gold Empordà olive oil. I go for the produce, but I stay for the conversations, because the people behind these stalls are the ones who taught me what is truly in season.
When I have more time, I drive to La Bisbal d'Empordà. Most people know it for ceramics, and yes, you will leave with a hand-painted bowl you did not plan to buy, but its market day is just as much a reason to go. I wander the ceramics first, then fill my basket with the vegetables, anchovies and cheeses I find, picturing the table while I shop. A market morning here is one of the gentlest ways to feel the rhythm of inland Empordà.
The Palamós fish auction
This is the one I save for last, because it is the part of my week that still gives me a thrill. In the late afternoon, when the boats come back in, the fishermen land their catch at the Palamós llotja, the fish auction, and the freshest seafood on the coast changes hands in minutes. There is a buzz to it, the crates of glistening fish, the quick calls of the buyers, the smell of salt and diesel. It is not a polished tourist experience, and that is exactly why it is honest.
What everyone is really there for is the gamba de Palamós, the sweet red prawn this port is famous for. It needs almost nothing from a cook: a hot pan, good salt, a few minutes, and you understand why it has its own reputation. Alongside it I look for L'Escala anchovies, cured the traditional way just up the coast and worth every cent, the kind of small thing that makes a simple plate unforgettable. When I can build a menu around what landed that very afternoon, the meal almost cooks itself.
From market to table, together
My favourite way to share all of this is to take you with me. We meet early, walk the market together, and I show you how I choose: how to read a vegetable, why one fish is the right one today, which anchovies are worth it. You carry the basket of gamba de Palamós, ripe tomatoes, a wedge of farmhouse cheese, a bottle of Empordà olive oil, and already the day feels like a story rather than an errand.
Back at your villa, we cook it together, or you pour a glass and watch while I do. Either way, dinner that night is made entirely of what we held in our hands a few hours earlier, and you will taste the difference. This is the heart of a market-to-table experience for me: not a fixed menu decided weeks ago, but a meal that belongs to that single day on the Costa Brava. If that sounds like your kind of holiday, it is exactly the kind of evening I love to cook.