“Grocery shopping” in Pescara
The people of Pescara (Pescaresse) enjoy a diet rich in seafood because of their location on the coast. A couple of times a week at precisely 3pm, Zia Marisa and Zio Sergio fulfil the seafood component of their weekly grocery shopping. And this time, Marco and I jump in the car to see how its done.
We drive down to the river near the mouth that opens out into the Adriatic Sea. We park in a massive car park, check. There is a stall waiting, check. There are customers, check. There are even plastic shopping bags. But the stall keeper is not there and neither is the produce.
A minute passes and voices begin to rise as a we see a large boat coming up the river towards us. Women hurry with their plastic bags and centre themselves at the stall. The boat pulls up and the fishermen exchange friendly banter with their regular customers while they moor the boat. There is only one boat at this stall but from its deck come maybe 15 different species from the Adriatic Sea. The fishermen offload crate after crate of flipping, flapping and scuttling creatures, dripping with seawater.
There is real excitement amongst the crowd as they admire each crate that is placed down in front of them. There is also a bit of bullishness between a few women when it comes to who is going to get the only kilo of prawns! But its lighthearted and the fishermen laugh as they pronounce who gets them this time. Its not us, but we are given a few extra calamari to make up for it.
Now this is shopping for seafood! Its no wonder the seafood dishes here are exceptional when the seafood is so fresh!
You can come shopping for seafood in Pescara with us on our 11 Day Grand Tour of Abruzzo, our 5 Day Abruzzo Appetiser Tour, or on a private Abruzzo Day Tour. After, we head to Marco’s family’s establishment on the beach and turn our purchases into a delicious seafood lunch to be enjoyed on the terrace, overlooking the Adriatic Sea.
Simply fill out the enquiry form on our “Contact Us” page and we will be in touch with you shortly.
