Showing posts with label Ethnic Food Market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ethnic Food Market. Show all posts
October 1, 2023
Granel Spice Market - Airline Drive
Granel, I am told means "bulk" in Spanish. This latest, wonderful venture from the Flores Spices family is located directly across from El Bolillo Bakery on Airline Drive. It is impressive and is my default, go-to location for all of my spice needs. Especially cinnamon. The cinnamon we know of as Mexican cinnamon is actually from Sri Lanka. It is a milder cinnamon that is much loved in Mexico for flavoring pastries, coffee, chocolate, etc. Here follow photos of the Granel Spice Market.
January 1, 2020
Food Sources - A Food Sourcing List With Links For All Your Specialty Food Needs
Food Sources - A Food Sourcing List With Links For All Your Specialty Food Needs
Greg Buchold provides the following information and links for your food needs:
Greg Buchold provides the following information and links for your food needs:
Pickles
My grandmother used to serve us a sweet mixed pickle with cucumber, onions, and cauliflower. I haven't been able to find the brand she used to buy but I did find a spicy version on Amazon from an Indiana company called Sechler's. They have some pickles with orange and lemon added.
Sweet Mixed Heat Pickles https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0063FXPD0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Sweet Orange Strip Pickles https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B04FCBW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Jams/Jellies/Sauces
A blackberry grower I found in Pike Place Market called Johnson Berry Farm http://johnsonberryfarm.com/ does single varietal blackberry jams like Tayberry, Boysenberry, and Marionberry. They also do chile versions of their jams. They sell their jams online in 3 packs that you can pick which you like. Everyone I've given these as gifts has loved seeing how each one tastes different.
Preserve Company (PEI, Canada) has an apple curd that is great with cheeses like brie.
Fox Meadow Farms Apple Cider Mustard that I discovered in Vermont is great on pretzels and for making a Vermonter sandwich.
Runamok Maple Syrup that is flavored with elderberry, bourbon, rye, rum, makrut lime, ginger, hibiscus, pecan wood, etc. is available through a bunch of Vermont country stores. I found it through Vermont's Own Products near Middlebury College https://www.vermontsownproducts.com/. Potlicker does beer and wine jellies. Lori Rocket is a cousin of the maker.
Above All Vermont https://aboveallvermont.com/ also has them, but their website only has a tiny fraction of the in-store offerings.
Woods Boiled Cider https://aboveallvermont.com/collections/food/products/woods-boiled-cider (Add this to amp up your apple pies)
I get Wild Huckleberry Syrup from Oregon Coast Jams through Made in Oregon. It's just berry juice and sugar not HFCS like the usual fruit syrups and has great flavor. I like to use it on berry pancakes and to amp up blackberry ice cream with this jam.
Oregon Coast Wild Huckleberry Syrup https://madeinoregon.com/food-drink/food-and-drink/jams-and-nut-butters/oregon-coast-wild-huckleberry-syrup.html
Wild Chokecherry jam from Huckleberry Haven https://www.amazon.com/Taste-the-Wilderness-Chokecherry-Jelly/dp/B0000E6GZT/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=Wild+Chokecherry+jam+huckleberry+haven&qid=1598287052&s=grocery&sr=1-5
The Apple Barn in Tennessee has my favorite apple butter. I order some every September along with their apple fritter mix and make them for breakfast for a group of friends. I found their other fruit butters to be less exciting.
https://www.applebarncidermill.com/Apple-Butter-and-Jams?catPage=1&gclid=CMfN_bTl5rcCFWdp7AodZkcA3g
Penzey's Seafood Base https://www.penzeys.com/search/#?q=seafood%20base and Ham Base https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/ham-soup-base/c-24/p-1633/pd-s
My favorite pesto is La Favorita black truffle pesto from The French Farm. I recommend buying it at either their Easter or Christmas open house markdown sales. Some of my other favorite products from them include:
La Favorita Pesto Genovese with Truffles https://thefrenchfarm.com/la-favorita-pesto-genovese-with-truffles/
L'Epicurien coco passion fruit jam https://thefrenchfarm.com/lepicurien-coco-passion-fruit-jam/
L'Epicurien lemon curd https://thefrenchfarm.com/lepicurien-lemon-curd/
L'Epicurien apple cider calvados confit https://thefrenchfarm.com/lepicurien-apple-cider-calvados-confit/
L'Epicurien quince paste https://thefrenchfarm.com/lepicurien-quince-paste/
L'Epicurien sweet onion confit https://thefrenchfarm.com/lepicurien-sweet-onion-confit/ (great on burgers)
Pommery Cognac mustard https://thefrenchfarm.com/pommery-cognac-mustard/
Trader Joe's Garlic Spread (Lebanese Toum sauce) is vegan and lasts a long time refrigerated. I put it in a lot of stuff.
British Food
Marrowfat dried peas, spicy Worcestershire sauce, Hayward pickled onions, etc. https://www.britishislesonline.com/food/groceries/ Their Rice Village location is only doing online orders or curbside pickup since March.
Grains
Generally I go with Bob's Red Mill from the grocery store for most grains and the tapioca flour I use to thicken berry pies, but when I splurge on grains I'm a big fan of Anson Mills for their heritage rice and corn products. Their grits and polenta have more corn flavor than most mills unless you can find corn that is stone milled in the winter to preserve the flavor. The grits have to be babysat and keep adding water though. I love the Carolina Gold rice and the Laurel-aged rice that they store with bay leaves. I like to use it to make a chicken bog or jambalaya. https://ansonmills.com/products
Beans
I bought Rancho Gordo beans online for the Native American Houston Chowhounds cook the book event. I was particularly enamored of their Oaxacan beans. Even just cooked in water they made a chocolatey pot liquor. I can't recall if it was Ayocote Morado or Rio Zape. Jay said they are traditionally cooked with ajo santo leaves, which he has in his yard. I also like Yellow Indian Woman, Vaquero, and Eye of the Goat beans.
https://www.ranchogordo.com/collections/out-of-stock-beans/products/rio-zape-bean?variant=2570819587
Nuts
There's a longer and sweeter heritage varietal of hazelnuts that I found in Pike Place Market from Holmquist Hazelnuts. Bakers like to bake with these rather than the typical rounder hazelnut. When we visited Oregon we found a Marionberry pie made with a hazelnut crust that is like an upscale PB&J as a pie. www.holmquisthazelnuts.com
Snacks
We've gotten obsessed with popcorn this summer. The Popcorn in a Pickle from Trader Joe's is just slightly salty, so you can eat a lot of it.
If you like kettle corn you would like the one from Popcornopolis.
Since we went to Canada we like ketchup chips. British Isles in Rice Village has them and some other meat flavored chips. https://www.britishislesonline.com/walkers-tomato-ketchup-crisps-13227921.html
Keogh's Roast Turkey and Secret Stuffing crisps from Cost Plus World Market https://www.amazon.com/Keoghs-Turkey-Secret-Stuffing-Crisps/dp/B018IUD9NI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8
Cheese
Our friends Adam and Sara Hough after they moved to Washington state discovered Facerock Creamery's Vampire Slayer garlic cheddar. It's the most garlicy hard cheese I've had. They charge a flat fee to ship with freezer packs, so you want to order a sampling of cheeses to make the shipping costs reasonable.
Candy
The French Farm does nonpareils that are flavored with orange flower water and rose water. They also have fruit squares that are way better than the American equivalent. I bought a mixed fruit one, and they are great.
Pate de Fruits D'Auvergne https://thefrenchfarm.com/cruzilles-pates-de-fruits-in-purple-tin/ (like the gourmet version of Chuckles candy)
Cost Plus World Market has a good variety of dark chocolate bars with unusual filling flavors like green tea, passionfruit, chai tea, etc. https://www.worldmarket.com/category/food-and-drink/food/candy-chocolate/chocolate-bars.do
Tea
I've bought a number of different caffeine-free herbal teas from Native American Tea and liked them all. We started with sleepy time tea and then expanded to drinking the other kinds this year.
Bar Harbor Tea Company has the best blueberry tisane that's almost 90% dried wild blueberries rather than a lot of leaves like other brands. https://www.barharbortea.com/product-page/wild-maine-blueberry-fruit-tea
The German company Tea Gchwender has an outlet in Chicago that I order caffeine-free teas with fall/winter flavors like Rooibush apple streudel, Rooibush eggnog, Rooibush cinnamon plum, Fireside Glow, Advent Fruit tea, Luigi Amaretto, and spring/summer Rooibush panna cotta rhubarb (my favorite), acerola fruit tea, and fruit paradise tea. Some teas only available for specific seasons and they do sell out. I've made some cocktail bases including rum punches using a portion of brewed teas or as a simple syrup.
Harney & Sons tea from either British Isles or Kuhl-Linscomb. My favorite ones so far are Paris, litchi, and the hot cinnamon spice (I get wrapped sachets so they don't lose their potency). I get the hot cinnamon spice one in the winter and it's great to drink for sore throats because it's got clove in it.
Holiday foods
Chapel Hill Toffee (pecan and dark chocolate) is available at Christmas time from the Phoenicia location in west Houston near me. It's made in Chapel Hill NC where I went to school. It's thin and a soft brittle not super sticky like some toffees. Order direct in the winter https://www.chapelhilltoffee.com/purchase/
Since I used to live in North Carolina I got used to eating Moravian cookies and sugar cake in the grocery stores there. My favorite flavor is cranberry orange, but it's hard to find in Houston. Bering's and Central Market usually have several other flavors.
It's a tradition in my family to bake a mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving. I prefer the Borden dried package versus the more acidic one in the jars at the grocery store. They store forever, so I buy them whenever I find them in the HEB and Kroger markdown/returns aisles.
Every year I buy my Christmas stollen from Guglhupf German Bakery in Durham NC. The owners moved there from Germany so they make better tasting ones than the ones at Cost Plus World Market or Central Market. https://guglhupf.com/
Central Market sells several varieties of pan forte in different sizes.
Market - Azteca Market at I-10 and Wayside
The Azteca Market.
A smaller version of the Airline market currently under reconstruction. I got a bunch of beets, 2 big onions, 2 garlic, 2 big cucumbers for only $10. The format is the same as Airline in that you have multiple vendors of fresh produce, a couple of places that sell dry goods, toys, piñatas, and some eateries. And there is currently plenty of parking which makes this an ideal shopping option going east on I-10.
A smaller version of the Airline market currently under reconstruction. I got a bunch of beets, 2 big onions, 2 garlic, 2 big cucumbers for only $10. The format is the same as Airline in that you have multiple vendors of fresh produce, a couple of places that sell dry goods, toys, piñatas, and some eateries. And there is currently plenty of parking which makes this an ideal shopping option going east on I-10.
Mexican Market Tour - Houston
Ethnic Market Tour Houston – Mexican Markets
A year or so back, I had the pleasure to put together a little tour
of my favorite places for Mexico related food and shopping here in Houston for
my friend, Mely Martinez.
(www.mexicoinmykitchen.com).
(www.mexicoinmykitchen.com).
Mely and her husband and son had decided to come down to
Houston for a few days of vacation. Now, Houston is not really a tourist
destination in my opinion; compared to, say, Austin or San Antonio. We do have
some wonderful museums and some outsider art venues that are world class. But,
Houston is kind of a business and industry kind of place.
However, Houstonians have found that the best way to
socialize with friends is over food and this, plus the incredible
multi-culturalism of Houston has led to a city with amazing selections of
places to dine, of every ethnicity and of every price range.
Whole areas of our town have sprung up around dining:
Bellaire Boulevard – Chinese and Vietnamese (incorporating
Beechnut and Bissonnet now)
Hillcroft Street – Indian and Pakistani primarily, but also
Persian and Middle Eastern
Long Point Road – Korean and Central American
Airline Drive – Mexican
Harrisburg – Mexican
Scott / Cullen / OST – African-American
But on this particular meet-up with Mely (Facebook friends
for several years, first physical meeting), we focused on Mexico!
Our tour began on Airline Drive, and this is the route that
I am mapping out for you today:
El Bolillo Bakery (2518 Airline Drive) (www.elbolillo.com) - The person that
started El Bolillo had a doughnut shop or two, originally in Galveston. His
workers were from Mexico and one day they suggested to him that if he opened a
Mexican bakery, they would join him and make all of the types of breads of
Mexico. This is the default bakery for Mexican breads and your jaw will drop
when you see the selection here. It is a beautiful venue and very pleasing to
just hang out.
And then, a walk across the street to the former Canino’s Farmer’s
Market complex (2520 Airline Drive). Canino’s had been Houston’s market since 1958. The Farmer’s Marketing
Association was a private corporation whose shareholders are the original
farmers or their descendants. As you walked through the complex, you could discover all things Mexican: dry goods like molcajetes, masa grinders, toys,
piñatas, and more; food products associated with Mexico like dried chiles,
huazontle, flor de calabaza, chepil, cilantro, tropical fruits and more. However, the complex was purchased in 2019 with the intention of converting the area into a new venue with restaurants or food courts. The good news is, many of the small merchants, the fruit and vegetable vendors are still there. And as of January 2020, I still shop there with my favorite vendors.
Next, cross back over the street to now renamed Granel Spices (formerly Flores Spices and still owned by the same family) (1299 Gibbs at
Airline). Recently remodeled, the place looks fantastic. Here, you will find
any spice you could think of and much more, in the way of specialty products. Special note: the Houston location of
Penzey’s Spices is also located in the Heights at 516 W 19th Street.
And now, across the street again the El Rey Carniceria and Mercado (formerly Carniceria Teloloapan for shopping or something to eat (2430 Airline Drive). I've got to know the butchers recently when I went in for the meats needed to make an authentic posole and, discovered their fantastic made in house chorizo. Family recipe. Highly recommended.And then, next door to Reyes Produce (2426 Airline Drive) for a look see at their extensive collection of cookware, candies, dried chiles, and more.
Finishing up, we now head south on Airline for a stop at the
local cheese purveyors: Houston Dairy Maids (2201 Airline Drive) (www.houstondairymaids.com)
And then, across the street to Tampico Seafood (2115 Airline
Drive) (www.tampicoseafood.com) for
a huachinango. You will pick your fish from their market section, which will
then be grilled a la plancha style and served on a bed of grilled onions and
bell peppers with a side of fries or fried rice (a Tampico tradition from the
large Chinese population there). They have a full bar and other food choices
too.
We continue south on Airline Drive crossing Cavalcade (just
to the west on Cavalcade is the Asia Grocers, featuring Thai, Lao, Cambodian
goods and serving food as well) and come to the best candy store, Delicias
Mexicanas (1777 Airline Drive) (www.lasdeliciasmexicanas.com),
your one stop shop for traditional Mexican candies including glorias, dulce de
leche, cajeta, hard candies, candied fruits and more. Reyes Produce also
carries sweets, so you can cost compare at both places if you wish.
Further south, where Airline Drive dead-ends into North
Main, three recommended restaurants: Spanish Flowers Mexican Restaurant,
Teotihuacan Mexican Restaurant, and Pinkerton’s Barbecue (quickly turning into
one of the top five places for barbecue in Houston)
The tour is finished. Turning west on North Main will take
you to the Heights via 20th and turning east will take you to I-45.
Both of which will have even more interesting places to shop and eat. But we
will save those for another time.
December 1, 2018
Shopping - International / Ethnic Markets and Grocery Stores in Houston
Here is a map that I created listing most of the international / ethnic grocery stores or markets in Houston. The multicultural aspect of Houston led to places catering to people from around the world. Some of my favorites are: Acacia for Turkish products, Las Delicias, El Bolillo, Phoenicia, Super Vanak, Subralaxmi, Mi Tienda, and Nippan Daido.
Here is a screenshot of the map:
And here is a link to the actual map:
Ethnic Markets in Houston
Here is a screenshot of the map:
And here is a link to the actual map:
Ethnic Markets in Houston
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