Specialized Shops

You will notice that some ingredients can sometimes be a bit hard to come by. Some foreign, strange products may even be that exotic they can only be imported and are therefore packaged in the language of origin. Due to the internet it is so easy to get in touch with these unfamiliar products which can spark your curiosity and excite your inner cook. Although your fingers might be itching to get creative it is often the question how to obtain these goods. It is not always possible to buy everything online and often way more fun to scout for new ingredients in the of general supermarkets or get out of your comfort zone all together. Research where the foreign stores are located in your area. There are many different types of shops offering exotic products coming from the country of origin, however they might not be very close if you do not live close to a larger city so bare in mind that when you go scouting, make sure you have sufficient room to take everything with you. Specialized stores might vary from Asian grocery stores, Mediterranean shops, Italian delis, and English expat stores. Nowadays we live in an era where variation possibilities are endless and boundaries are not considered an obstruction anymore. You can get a Spanish Paella in one shop and stop next door for a lovely, Italian liqueur for the tiramisu for dessert. You might even go fusion and combine multiple cultures in one dish all together! Although conventional supermarkets are expanding their foreign assortment and try to adhere to the wishes of its costumers, it will not satisfy the somewhat more skilled professional cook. The quality and the taste between soy sauce and curry paste from the supermarket and the more specialised stores might often be significantly different. Therefore, it would be a shame to neglect the crucial flavours as they have the power to really elevate the dish.

Types of stores:

- Asian (soy sauce, seaweed, soy beans, dried mushrooms, rice, noodles)

- Turkish butcher (halal meat, goats meat, sheep meat)

- Italian delis case (ciabatta, fresh pasta, olive oil, olives, wine)

- Spanish delicatessens (dried sausage, pepper in oil)

- Mediterranean supermarkets (flat bread, Turkish bread, dried beans, fresh nuts, spice blends)

- Indian Toko ( sambal, Tepeh beans, fresh ginger, lemongrass)