Postcard from Ubud Market
If food is the heart of a culture, then markets are its oxygen. Markets are the life source of a community: a place not only to buy and sell sustenance, but to exchange stories, recipes and smiles.
Ubud Market was no exception: it buzzed with energy, enthusiasm and a healthy dose of chaos. In addition to the life-giving sources of vitamins and protein, stalls sold the goods necessary for spiritual fulfillment, the flowers and curved leaves for Balinese offerings.
Many of the products were unrecognizable to my Western eyes: rambutans and mangosteens and three types of eggplant, none of which resembled the shiny purple oval I used in ratatouille. But the novelty of it all just made it more thrilling.
