"I never make a trip to the United States without visiting a supermarket. To me they are more fascinating than any fashion salon."
-Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor
You said it, sister.
I, myself, have made the personal pilgrimage to the renowned Whole Foods Market in the Time Warner Center at New York City's Columbus Circle.
Just to look. Food is my thing. I could wander around in that vast and varied space for days.
In Prague, the lack of a really super supermarket can be frustrating because V and I do a lot of creative cooking at home (which is somewhat ironic, considering the fact that I write a restaurant blog).
What it means is that we are always searching for a variety of exotic international ingredients.
But there is good news. Things are changing. Progress is being made.
Witness the international section at Tesco Eden. It used to be pretty pitiful.
However, I just got back from a visit and found the offerings in their international aisle have greatly expanded.
For example, it is no longer just a small, neglected section of shelves. Products from around the globe now fill an entire side of one whole aisle.
They have a lot of things that have been available in Prague before. But the selection is now much wider. Instead of traveling around to many specialty shops, Tesco Eden makes one-stop international shopping less of a dream.Let's take a brief tour, shall we? This is far from an exhaustive list, and I could hardly remember everything there, but here goes:
There is a North American section. There you will find items such as real Canadian maple syrup, even in one liter jugs, Tabasco sauce, generic barbecue sauce, and steak sauce.
There is a Latin American section that has many kinds of flour tortillas, salsas, peppers, and sauces.There is a Japanese section with a "sushi kit," wasabi powder mix or in tubes, pickled ginger, rice wine vinegar, and tonkatsu sauce. We bought miso soup mix. It was not so cheap, but apparently makes a number of portions.
Next to that is an Indian section. There are a multitude of spices and prepared sauces. We picked up some tandoori paste.There is a Thai section with red and green curry, and many Thai sauces.
There are Italian and Mediterranean sections as well, with tomato sauces, balsamic vinegars, olive oils, cooking wines, and spicy ajvar.
So, anyway, I'm a little crazy about supermarkets. Other than that, I have very little in common with Wallis Simpson.Unless you include that brief, little encounter I had in Vienna with another Prince of Wales.
But that's a story for another time.
Tesco Eden
U Slavie 1527
Prague 10
