I don’t currently have any ethnic grocery stores near me, but when I did, the Mexican ones always had chicken thighs for cheap, and also limes.
Like, the regular grocery store might have limes at $0.50 each (in the midwest), while the ethnic store would have 10/$1.00. (pre-covid, pre-inflation prices.)
And there was this Ukrainian place where, from the deli, they would sell in trays a mix of the butt ends of the deli meats and cheeses. They’d label it by weight some bulk price that was often cheaper than some of the meats or cheeses contained in it.
It was like being able to get a cheap meat/cheese sampler tray. So there’d be chunks of salami, turkey, olive loaf–or swiss, american, munster…just whatever meats or cheeses they got to the ends of recently.
At an Asian place I used to go to, I could get tilapia, basa, or swai in frozen fillets for cheap. I actually liked the basa and swai–they’re basically farmed asian catfish, but can’t be labeled catfish as a way to protect the north american catfish industry. I can see why they wanted to prevent competition–I find that basa and swai don’t have the “muck” taste that local catfish have.
Anyway, what are some good deals you have been able to find at local ethnic grocery stores?
Spices, it’s a lot cheaper to buy spices at Indian grocery stores compared to other supermarkets. Same with lentils.
Disclaimer: my parents have owned and operated a small indian grocery store for almost 20 years. I can really only speak for their prices compared to other stores I’ve visited.
I live in an area that has several ethnic stores (iranian, lebanese, and some mixed “oriental”), with varying quality. I buy rice, saffron and nuts there.
- Rice: 5 - 10 kg bags or basmati and jasmine rice (we divide it with some neighbours, as we don’t cook with rice daily), which both tastes much better than chain store bought and is of a better quality. And as we buy in bulk, it’s cheaper, and the brands we usually buy are apparently lower in arsenic contents than the ones from the chain stores.
- Saffron: The quality of saffron I can get in the iranian stores is much, much higher than the one sold in chain stores. And it’s the same price.
- Nuts: Don’t get me started on the quality of nuts from some mediterranean focused stores that sell nuts and sweets. I only buy almond and hazelnut fro chain stores when I want to grind them to flour.
They also stock better dates (medjool), have more varieties of fresh egg plant and squash, and have the best water melons when they’re in season.
I buy grains and spices at my middle Eastern market. Frekeh soup is just fantastic when made with actual frekeh instead of lentil
Oh and meats are generally more varied at Mexican meat markets and halal markets
Oh and meats are generally more varied at Mexican meat markets and halal markets
Oh, that reminded me. I actually REALLY like lamb. I could get ground lamb (honestly, probably mutton not lamb, lol) for a decent price at the Ukrainian grocery store.
It’s so damn hard to find lamb/mutton that isn’t super-expensive in ordinary stores, it’s just not considered a meat Americans eat outside of special occasions. But I like it.
My man, you have no idea how much I love lamb lol we gave a Mediterranean restaurant around here run by a lovely Syrian family and their food is so fucking good
How do you usually cook lamb?
Like I said, I usually got ground, so basically made lamb-burgers. Other than that though, I’m fairly out of my depth with this meat.
(Oh–and I experimented once with a lamb crockpot roast that was seasoned with nutmeg and allspice and some other spices that are not usually used in America for meats. It was pretty darn good!)
Kehbab cook that up, have it with some fresh or warmed pita, some tzatziki sauce and some Turmeric Rice as well as some pickled veggies and you’ve got yourself a perfect meal. 👌
Fruits and produce are significantly cheaper at Mediterranean or Hispanic stores than they are at the regular grocery stores, and much fresher and more tasty. Even greens like cilantro or parsley are close to $2 each at the regular store, but I can get 3 for $1 at the ethnic stores.
I don’t know why but thier is 2 Hispanic stores near my place and thier produce are not cheaper compared to Walmart and Grocery Outlet
