I live right on top of a highly patronized grocery store. My neighborhood is rather densely populated, and I think about half of the neighborhood is inside at any given time. Plus it has a huge "Not For Muslims" section, meaning a huge, separate room filled with foodstuffs that contain pork or are not halal. (Halal, for lack of a better description is kind of like Kosher for Muslims. I believe it has to do with a way that meat is killed.) Alot of families at church go to this store for the pork. Most of the customers are not Arab, but are Filippino, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, or Indian. Thus most of the products cater to them. While I have been able to find recognizable products like Doritos, Listerine, Vitasoy, and Cadbury, the vast majority of the food items are strange and curious.
The most curious part of the grocery store is the produce section. The UAE, being a dessert, does not produce very much--mostly dates. So pretty much everything else gets shipped in from all over Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia and the U.S. My basic produce needs are pretty well taken care of: apples, red peppers (or capsicum depending on where you are from), carrots, bananas, oranges, tomatoes (although I can rarely find one that is not wormy), and green beans. The rest of the place is stocked with crazy stuff that I have absolutely no idea how to use.
So dear readers, if you know what the following plants are and how to eat them, please send a recipe my way:
The item on the right is a banana blossom, I believe. Or a fancy artichoke.
Umm. I've actually eaten this. It's bitter.
No clue here.
And now a couple of oddities from other parts of the store:
Yummy dehydrated fish. Kidding on that yummy part.
Prawn crackers? Really? I'll pass.
I neglected to get a picture of the rice aisle, which is truly a sight to behold. I really don't think Americans (especially the WASPy ones) can conceptualize the vast amounts of rice varieties. And FYI to the health conscious: the store does not carry a single brown rice variety. (I actually found some at the more-expensive-than-Whole Foods health food store.) It's pretty amazing. And it goes to show that I am not in Kansas anymore. Or in any other state in the U.S. 'Cause I'm not from Kansas.
P.S. I have tried (and loved): mangosteens, jack fruit, and jasmine flavored water.
5 comments:
I think I've seen the long string-bean-like (but longer and thicker) vegetable at Ouijimaya. I don't go very frequently at all, but if I go soon, I'll check to see what it's called and you can look up how to use it.
If there are shrimp chips, why not prawn!?
Wow. Wow, wow. You need the Take-Home Chef from TLC. He'd know what to do!
The first picture is banana heart (on the right)and the second picture is bitter mellon (which is why it was bitter when you tried it). If you really want recipes, I can find some for you or check with your Filipino friends. Those are common foods in the Philippines.
Since I don't know Spanish, that is the way I have felt when in some of the Mexican stores that we have shopped in. And that was in Yakima. I would love to know how they fix some of the stuff, and even what some of it is.
I didn't know that one could have such fun adventures in a grocery store. :) The most adventure I get is buying tomatillios. (sorry, I don't know how to spell that and it is 3 am and I don't want to look it up) Love you!!
Post a Comment