While I was out shopping at Sainsbury's yesterday I popped into the Chinese supermarket across the road for some oolong tea and, not for the first time, wondered about getting some of the many unfamiliar ingredients to cook with. I might have, though I didn't on this occasion, have gone a little further along the road to the Polish shop for one of those big jars of sauerkraut, which fulfil many of my winter vegetable needs, perhaps to be tempted by some freshly-sliced Żywiecka sausage or a jar of rolmopy.
Do you ever make use of such shops? Or do you feel they are excluding? Even with specialist Polish shelves in supermarkets there's so many thing you can get in such places that you can't get anywhere else and some of them are well worth it. Polish chocolate is good and the chocolate-coated plums are to die for!
Because of the cultural gap the Chinese shops can come across as a bit awkward and staff may seem rude (although they don't mean it) but I find the Polish shops are very friendly, are pleased to have British customers and delighted if you can say something in Polish (dziękuję – thank you – is a good one, just say 'gin queer' and you'll be close enough, and czieśź "chyesh" is a general hi/bye like ciao in Italian)
I think it's a shame British people don't make more use of these shops. Maybe it's the usual fear of the unfamiliar.
