WanderFood Wednesday: Grocery Stores
Many years ago, my friend, Sue, mentioned that she loved going into grocery stores during her travels to check out the shelves for interesting items. I had never thought to do this myself but soon thereafter made it a habit. Now, no matter where I am, I make it a point to visit the local grocers to see what the locals buy.
Above is the tea section from a grocery store in Bangkok. I got hooked on a Sri Lankan tea made by Dilmah (pictured above), when my friend from Australia sent me a sample. As far as I can tell it is not imported into the U.S. but I have found it in Vancouver, Athens and Bangkok. Whenever I come across it, I buy about 6 months supply so that I don’t run out!
Here is the coffee section. It seems every developing country loves their Nescafe!
And this was a bulk food store run by Amish in upstate New York. Everything was packaged in these little containers. Well, not everything, they had cheddar cheese that was aged, like 10 years. Seriously. I LOVE sharp cheddar but cannot get it in the Pacific Northwest (please don’t try to tell me that 18 month old Tillamook comes close to NY sharp – it doesn’t). So, we picked up some cheddar and ate it like the locals – on top of pie!
And for good measure, I thought I would toss in the cleaning aisle from this Greek store on Santorini. It was choc-o-block with items!
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I think the products in the Amish store look more appetising and wholesome than all that colourful packaging
Thanks for hosting! I brought a pot pie from King’s Arms Tavern. Anyone want a bite?
I added our most recent Taco Traveler post. I only wish we had photos from the grocery store in Costa Rica – or the goodies we bought. The hotel we stayed at was selling tiny bags of Costa Rican coffee for exhorbitant prices, so we hit the grocery store and got jumbo bags for around the same price.
Grocery stores are a great cultural experience as well as a good place to get cheap souvenirs if an area is known for a certain food product (or you need funky candy for the kids back home).
YUM! i love those spices – we have an amish store around here that does that, too. the greek store – YIKES! you sure couldn’t get through that aisle with a wheelchair. great photos!
Thanks for another great wanderfood roundup, Beth. Looking forward to checking out all of the other submitted food links.
This is my very favorite thing to do
Grocery stores and drugstores; I just love seeing all the “new” brands and products.
I enjoyed this post! I love checking out foreign grocery stores as well. It’s interesting too when they sell the same brands but with different names. Like in the UK we have Walls ice cream; in Italy it has the same logo and everything but it’s called Algida instead.