Bringin' home the Tomatillos

This morning at 10 o'clock, Baker and I embarked on an epic journey known as an Ethnic Grocery Tour, a four-hour expedition through the north-side of Chicago with an extremely knowledgeable "expert ethnic tour guide" who led us up and down the aisles of several local markets featuring products from various immigrant cultures. It was really pretty fascinating.

We visited two Mexican markets, one Cuban market/fast food joint, one Bosnian almost-supermarket, two Indian places, a Vietnamese market, and a Middle-Eastern bakery (called, appropriately enough, "The Middle-Eastern Bakery.") We tasted cactus, yucca, plaintains, sour oranges, freshly-baked bread, feta, crispy Indian cornflakes and coffee beans.

We also couldn't resist making several purchases. We bought Abuelita Mexican hot cocoa, a box of dehydrated eggplant in cashew cream sauce, mango chutney, tomatillos (those green tomato-like things), Thums Up cola and Limca lime soda, frozen naan, bitter orange-flavored Abdobo seasoning, gummy candies, red lentils, small bowls featuring an Asian motif (perfect for holding soy sauce), and apricot-nougat-pistachio candies. (The herb-covered pita bread was indeed purchased at the Middle Eastern Bakery, but it doesn't really count because it was bought there yesterday.)

Of course now I am brimming over with plans to cook exotic ethnic dishes many times a week, and I have sworn that I will never again set foot inside one of those overpriced, corporate, big box supermarkets that suck the life out of the community while robbing people blind as they force down our throats nothing but American cheesefood, Wonderbread, and chemically-enlarged Red Delicious apples. As of today, I am enlightened, empowered, and ready to cook!

Of course, none of the aforementioned ethnic markets appeared to sell Raisin Bran...

So perhaps I'll have to strike some kind of a balance, splitting my time between the bland American ubermarts and the charming little ethnic markets I now know so well. In any case, the tour was well worth the time, the money, and the jerky jaunt in the crusty Corolla station wagon, circa early-1990's, driven by our expert tour guide. I highly reccommend you seize up any opportunity to take part in a similar activity in your own hometown.