I want quality products and service. In cooking school one learns to shop the outer aisles, produce, butcher, dairy. You go inside for rice and pasta, legumes.
Randalls is closest, about 1.5 miles away, and the produce and meat people know me and always ask if I need anything. The manager knows me. The checkers know me after nearly five years and butchers will give me whatever meat I want.
Krogers is in the expensive part of town (what part of town isn’t expensive?) and it’s a union shop and while one manager says hello, no-one has ever helped me in the produce and meat departments.
Specialty market Central Market is a cook’s dream. If you forget something along the way it’s nearly impossible to get back. But when I wanted to serve my husband’s family Christmas dinner a year ago he knew they didn’t have much time to spend with us so I made a few dishes (he didn’t want me to spend the day in the kitchen away from our guests) and ordered the rest from CM and it was delicious. Yes, of course I told them the truth! I read today that they have 800 kinds of cheese. I’m about to become a cheese-a-tarian (thanks Doug Jones who authored “My Brother’s Farm).
Spec’s is fabulous, a liquor store with specialty root beer and Dr. Pepper for Jim, limoncello, wine and any other spirit one desires. They also have great cheeses and specialty items like Lebkuchen for the holidays. Workers come from downtown for specialty sandwiches. I buy their Kalamata olives from the olive bar and drain the brine and marinate them with olive oil, garlic and herbs and spices. What a great place!
Talk to your people. You go there regularly, so create a relationship and they’ll recognize you when you enter the store. If you want raspberries and there are none out and your recipe calls for them, ask them to look in back or ask for an alternative.
Cooking school gave me the confidence to talk to my butcher, order unusual cuts, or get my knives sharpened. They do that at Central Market while you shop, a really cool feature!
Asian markets are interesting but I need my friend Kim to walk me through and explain some things.
You don’t need individually-packed meals and can make a great dinner from scratch in very little time. Look at my ten-minute prep lasagna. In wintertime, preparing a stew for a slow-cooker is ideal for your family. When the older kids (me and my kid sister, 1.5 years younger) were in high school we had to make dinner twice a week while supervising our younger siblings. Mac & cheese, and tuna souffle reigned. Pretty sad for two good cooks in our adult years.
I wish you the best of luck negotiating your neighborhood grocery, and remember to ask for what you want. If you’re anticipating to grill a boneless, butterflied leg of lamb for a party, ask for it. Make sure they take off all the fat and that it is as flat as an open book. Then ask me for the perfect marinade. Keep cooking! Dee
