Shopping, European Style

First I discovered the Plainsboro Asian Market, with its amazing selection of highly affordable fish, produce, and specialty ingredients that were hard to find elsewhere. Then Trader Joe's opened, and there was much rejoicing. And now, I have completed my foodie trifecta with my exploration of the Amish Market in Kingston. I am now a very happy girl.

It used to be that I would haul myself off to the local Wegman's every week to do all the food shopping in one go, but recently, I've adopted a more old fashioned--perhaps you could say more European--method of shopping: going to a few different places to get the food where it's best and/or cheapest. I've never loved my local Wegman's. I've tried. I've tried really hard, but I don't love it. It's hideously crowded almost all the time, I've found rotting food in a couple of sections one too many times, and most of the workers don't seem all that happy to be there. Plus, they have major stocking problems, which makes it hard for me to plan any kind of menu or make a list I can rely on. I can count on one hand the number of times in the last 3 years I've gone there and haven't been frustrated in my quest for something relatively basic, like ground lamb or quinoa or cereal. Is Shredded Wheat 'n Bran that popular they can't keep it on their shelves? I don't buy it.

So why did I continue shopping there for so long? Well, unfortunately, the alternatives were...not great. Wegman's does do some things well, like offer loose teas (when the tins aren't empty, which happens more often than not) and their bakery section is quite good. Also good: their organic/natural section. And their prices were lower than a lot of other places. The only other grocery store in the immediate area had higher prices and an organics section that would have been laughable if it wasn't so sad. It was one shelf jammed, oddly, in between magazines and peanut butter. So, I resigned myself to the Wegman's experience.

But then something happened--I moved, and I discovered the Asian market not ten minutes from my doorstep. So, now I no longer had to go to Wegman's for fish and produce--yay! And right near the Asian market was a SuperFresh, which is smaller than Wegman's (read--less cavernous), and much less crowded. Not long after I started shopping there, Trader Joe's opened. I haven't been to Wegman's since.

The one problem is procuring good meat. Trader Joe's has it, but it's a bit pricy, and most of its preseasoned and marinated, which I don't care for. SuperFresh's meat selection--at least its chicken--was heavy on Perdue. But there was that Amish market up the road in Kingston... So, I hopped in the Mini and headed up there as soon as I had a free day, which happened to be this past Saturday. The freezer was starting to get a bit bare--time for a meat stockup.

About an hour later, I staggered out with enough meat to keep us (and probably some dinner guests) going for at least a month. For $50. $50! Not bad at all, really, considering I got a pork loin, ground lamb, a whole chicken, some Italian chicken sausage, spicy horseradish mustard, bacon, porkchops, pork cubes, and beef stewing meat. There's probably something I'm forgetting, but not a bad deal, overall, when you think about it. Especially since that chicken, which appeared on our dinner table Sunday and fed us and two friends, would also provide some chicken stock when boiled down. That market is great--there's a stall for everything, although I wouldn't go for the seafood. Deli meats; everything you could possibly imagine from a cow, lamb, or pig; poultry you wouldn't believe (including ducks and rabbits!); baked goods; dairy; eggs; preserves; fruits and vegetables--it's all there. Some prices are a bit steep, although you shouldn't be surprised at the ones that are (they're not growing oranges on the farms in Pennsylvania Dutch country, after all), but the meat prices are quite reasonable, and, if the chicken and the sausage are anything to go by, it's quite delicious as well.

This is what I do now--shop here and there, wherever I find what I want or need, and you know what? It's started saving me money. I'm not wandering the aisles of some giant supermarket, trying to find where they keep the hummus, being tempted by things as I pass. I have a targeted reason for going to each of the places where I now shop, which makes it faster and easier. Plus, as far as the Amish market goes, I actually feel like I'm supporting people, not a corporation, and I can get on board with that.

Who Can't Cook?

A startling number of my friends claim they can't cook. I'm not sure I buy it. I have yet to meet anyone in real life who doesn't know how to turn on an oven or a stove and put a pot in or on it. Know how to boil water? Toss in an egg or some pasta--you're cooking!

I think what people who say they can't cook actually mean is that they don't know how ingredients go together. They don't know how flavors work together. They've got the basic fundamentals, but they don't know how to take the next step, look at what they have in the refrigerator, and make a full meal out of it. That can be tough, and intimidating. It takes practice. I used to be in awe of my mother when I was young, because she could do that, and because I watched and helped her do it, once I moved out of my parents' home, I could do it too. My roommates were amazed!

That's intuitive cooking, to me. Looking at a few ingredients, grabbing the ones that go well together, tossing them in a pan, and putting it on a plate. I do it almost every day--rarely do I use an actual recipe (except when baking, but that's a whole other thing). Of course, to be able to do this, you have to know what all the ingredients taste like, which means you have to eat. A lot.

Eating, sadly, has been stigmatized in this country. Unlike in France, where food is a sensual experience, or Italy, where it's all about nourishment and family, here in the US food has, for many years, been looked at askance. It makes us fat! No it doesn't. Too much junk food makes you fat. Good food--fresh food--is a good thing.

Happily, it seems that Americans are starting to come around on the idea of food. There are trainee foodies everywhere, and God knows how many food blogs, so there's hope yet. I'm happy about that, because food has put up with so much abuse--coming out of cans for decades, bizarre flavor combinations--that it's about time fresh food started being appreciated again. It's no longer impossible to find a nice cut of meat or a great farmers' market (at least in NJ, where I live). Food is cool again, and I'm hoping it won't be long before even the most die-hard 'can't cooks' jump on the bandwagon and start experimenting with quinoa and jicama (though maybe not together). When they do, I hope one or two of them will invite me over.

Bon appetit!