Chinese supermarkets and Polish grocers

We have many ethnic shops near us and I use them all.

Bitter gourd is supposed to be good for lowering blood pressure, Notspaghetti, so I used to force myself to eat it when I was in China. Until it gave me a terrible stomach upset. Didn't eat it again.

I like living in the country, but we do miss out on things like this. I would have to go to Exeter or Plymouth to find these sort of shops. Some of the items sound great.

Slightly off topic, we had the most fantastic Asian pharmacist where I used to live had been going to his pharmacy for over 30 years, he was better than the doctor, nothing was too much trouble, would always offer to take blood pressure etc. Like so many of his customers we were on first name terms with him and likewise he with us. Since we've moved the nearest dispensing pharmacy to the doctor is a very small Boots close by. They love keeping people waiting outside the shop, generally quite unhelpful. Someone on a local website posted how she went in there to buy some Fenjal, but in her words "the jobsworth said can't sell it to you don't have a dispensing chemist here at the moment" Maybe she should have said in a much louder voice "I said Fenjal not Fentanyl"

The nearest we get to non British food in our area are the Lidl promotions and the Sainsburys 'World Food' aisle. ☹️

I'd love to have access to something a bit more varied.

As regards knowing what things are, and trying things out - in the 1970s I bought a mystery item - what I can only call a "soup mix" from an Asian supermarket after asking the assistant "what is really delicious but has no fish or meat". I wrote down the simple steps about cooking it in lots of water and adding the (?) mushrooms at intervals.
It was interesting.

Years later I bought some bitter gourd (Karela) after quizzing a lady who was buying it. She told me how to prepare it, cook it, the spices to use and explained about the skin. I'm afraid I couldn't eat it. I like bitter tastes so a couple of years later a friend at work explained to me how she cooked it according to her family recipe so I tried it again (but didn't cook so much this time ) and again it wasn't very nice.

Years later I found a recipe online which had good reviews so tried that. Another fail.
What am I doing wrong? I SO want to enjoy this vegetable.

On the other hand, all the delicious success stories far outweigh my peculiar soup/karela problems.

I use the Indian and Polish shops in my area. I don't go into the city to buy tofu anymore (as I did in the early 1980s) so don't get to browse the shelves of the Chinese supermarket.

Funnily enough yesterday I went for the first time into the Asian "supermarket" near my daughter's. I had done a load of grocery and fish shopping but realised I hadn't got any milk and as this shop was on the way to the car I popped in. Wow! I didn't recognise anything and wandered around a bit mesmerised by the colours and very strange (to me) items. I was the only lady shopper, not in Asian dress. There was a circular box with very vibrantly coloured sweets or they may have been bath cubes, I couldn't tell. It was only about £3.00 and I nearly bought it. Anyway I didn't and went to the counter produced my card and noticed a sign saying "Min Spend £5.00 on all card transactions" I started to apologise and thought I'll go back and buy that mystery box to make my total £5.00. The young, very charming man said, "Madame it is your first time in my shop, it is fine" I was so surprised at how courteous he was I just tapped my card and didn't get my mystery box. I'll be back.

It seems like everyone goes shopping, then. I never do, just don't enjoy it, so order everything in. I do like trying new foods, though.

All the time- I get all my herbs and spices. Mind you, the Chinese own most things here anyway, especially the shopping malls. I love all the green veggies especially. We don't have a lot of Polish stuff, though but plenty of German Sauerkraut.

I enjoy sampling foods from other countries even when I discover I don’t much like some of it. One time we ate out with friends in a restaurant in Slovakia that our Slovak hosts described as serving ‘traditional’, i.e. very old fashioned, food. I loved it and they were very surprised, describing it as food their grannies would have cooked. Now I buy similar foods from Polish supermarkets.

I shopped in different ethnic stores when I was young I worked in a multicultural area at the time. It was a whole new world to me and it encouraged the interest I have in cookery.
My DH is a different ethnic and religious back ground to me. His grandparents were immigrants here because of persecution.
I prepared and cooked food he was brought up on and introduced it to my young children. My DiL is mixed race and adds another interesting taste to the meal table. Variety is the spice of life for me eat live and enjoy.

... but do they sell turnips ?

The Chinese supermarket in the city I live in sells a range of tofu. I'm not sure why we can only access a couple of types here on average, when there are hundreds of varieties. Tofu noodles, tofu that tastes like egg, crispy fried tofu.

The Asian area of the city has fab food shops, including a great fruit and veg place. Super cheap and loads of stuff you'd never see in a supermarket. As well as piles of freshly made naan bread and drool worthy, huge samosas.

I wish I had some of those shops near me.

Yes, very fortunate here to have Chinese, Italian & Asian supermarkets. However, I don’t make as much use of them as I should, but I will now!

Joseann thanks for your kind offer, but half the fun is having a mooch. Unfortunately I also don’t have a working cooker since our house fire and as I’m in bed trying to shake off a virus I’m not even responsible for any food prep at the moment.

We used to have a really good Asian market and shop but it's closed down now. I used to shop there quite a lot - they sold things like sweet rice flour long before it was available in supermarkets. There are no Polish shops nearby and no Asian shops, despite having a huge Indian and Pakistani population. There is a growing Ukranian population now so who knows what the future holds.

Yes we use them

Ooo thanks grannyactivist, I've looked those up. I'm in Exeter on Thursday next week if you want me to pick up anything for you! I'm all for experimenting with flavours.

Joseanne not quite Walthamstow, but there are a few really good shops in Exeter. The area around Sidwell Street is excellent; there’s a Thai food shop, a Polish supermarket and a shop called Best One, plus Heera International Foods on Wells Street (just up from the mosque) I sometimes bulk buy my citric acid from there. There are two more supermarkets just around the corner on Summerland Street. Great places to shop when I’ve got guests from far flung places staying. Most times the staff are really happy to help out and give advice.

“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.”

This cannot be said of my local Asian store.
It’s fabulous for fresh turmeric, coriander that is a hundred times better than supermarket stuff, I go monthly and do a scoot round, I make curry pastes from scratch thanks to their great stock.
It is always busy with lots of brown and white faces, I think the majority of brown faces are British!

I love them and buy lots of things often I haven’t got a clue what some of them are, but love all the spices and different tastes and smells
I rarely eat traditional English food

^ 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.^
I think British people are often too reticent to engage with the shopkeeper about the wares. We are not that good at enthusing about tastes and aromas, or maybe we are often too busy to stop and gain knowledge.
I agree about awesome Walthamstow, we lived a couple of bus stops away. Nothing anything like that here in Devon!

We love the Asian, middle eastern and Indian shops. Spices, tahini, seeds, ginger, some interesting fresh fruit and veg.