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MazDee

Jan 19, 2008, 10:55 PM

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Where do you buy exotic food, Guadalajara?

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Over here in the frontier in Sinaloa, we gringos crave some of the foods from our roots! On our local forum, someone opined whether we could go to Guad for these things. I have been reading this forum for years, and never heard anyone talk about a Jewish deli or anything else similar. Or other European foods, or Asian ones. Is there stuff in Guad that we can't get here? Pastrami? Aged sharp cheddar? Asian ingredients like rice noodles or fermented black beans or some garam masala? I don't think Guadalajara is much more into ethnic foods than Mazatlán, but I want to hear from you. Thanks. I wish Bubba was still there! Dee

jaybear

Jan 20, 2008, 4:24 AM

Post #2 of 7 (4388 views)

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Re: [MazDee] Where do you buy exotic food, Guadalajara?

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I am sure Experanza will weigh in on this, but here is my two cents: If you are looking for one single store in the GDL area that has both fresh foods and staples in the "foreign foods" category, I believe you are out of luck. So far as I know, there is no store that carries everything you mentioned. (I would recommend the 16th Street Market in Tucson as this type of place if you head that far, or any of those organically inclined megastores like Bread and Circus.) People at Lakeside find gourmet items at the local SuperLake (NOT like a US gourmet grocery, but they do stock things you cannot find elsewhere) and Costco (which has things like dried cranberries, maple syrup, and smoked salmon). I have spotted one oriental grocery in Guadalajara, but not being an oriental cook, I cannot tell you what they have and don't have. We have not found really good aged cheddar anywhere here; our favorites are Cabot and Vermont Country Store.
"Don't believe everything you think" - Maxine

JayBear

Gringal

Jan 20, 2008, 12:13 PM

Post #3 of 7 (4362 views)

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Re: [MazDee] Where do you buy exotic food, Guadalajara?

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This won't cover all your needs, but I have found all sorts of unexpected gourmet foods in the La Europea Liquor store in the Liverpool/Walmart shoppng center in Guad. Cheeses, especially, in a special case. Also, they carry pasta from Italy, pestos of various sorts, and cans of things I know I don't need, but buy anyway. If you check Google under La Europea Mexico, you will find other locations.

To find it: if you are standing in front of the far end of Walmart looking at the parking lot, look to your right. It's in the middle of the block.

They are also carrying quite a variety of cheeses in the new Lakeside Mall center deli, at the west end of Ajijic.

song_of_joy

Jan 20, 2008, 1:08 PM

Post #4 of 7 (4353 views)

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Re: [Gringal] Where do you buy exotic food, Guadalajara?

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There's a shop named Aladinos in Providencia, on Pablo Neruda across from Gigante.

It's our local version of Super Lake and I've found products there that I can't find anywhere else (although I don't spend a lot of time shopping).

A friend told me they welcome suggestions on what to stock, and that products she has requested were available shortly thereafter.

esperanza

Jan 20, 2008, 2:19 PM

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Re: [MazDee] Where do you buy exotic food, Guadalajara?

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Esperanza, weighing in:

for bulk dried spices you can't find elsewhere--things like fenugreek and turmeric and whole cardamom pods--go to Mamá Coneja or to La Gallina Feliz across the street from the Mercado de Abastos
for Asian stuff, go to Toyo, just off Av. México near the Obelísco (Sta. Tere). They have rice noodles, fresh tofu, pickled ginger, and a bunch of other things. I've never seen fermented black beans there, but maybe by now they have some. There's another shop, the name of which I can't remember, on Paseo de la Arboleda about two blocks south of Lázaro Cárdenas, which stocks any number of excellent Chinese ingredients: Chiangkiang vinegar, Pearl River Bridge soy sauce, hoisin sauce (in a 5-lb can), etc.
for sharp cheddar, it's Costco. The white cheddar isn't very aged, but it's better than no cheddar.
poke around in Goítia, on Av. México. It's a bakery and grocery store combined, not fantastic but it does have a selection of interesting imported stuff, some from the USA and some from other parts of the world. It has a fairly large cheese selection and a deli.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

skelleyhoutex

Jan 20, 2008, 2:45 PM

Post #6 of 7 (4347 views)

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Re: [MazDee] Where do you buy exotic food, Guadalajara?

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Most of those things you mentioned we are able to get at the Wal Mart on Lopez Mateo, way out. They have a good selection of Asian items and Italian pasta and olive oils. They also have unusual (for here) produce items like fennel and sekel pears. When they have fennel, I buy all they have out and bring it back to friends here. Europa is good as well but I don't shop in the Wal Mart in the Galleria so don't know how good it is. We are into our third year here and there are only a couple of things I have been unable to find - eventually.

MazDee

Jan 20, 2008, 4:03 PM

Post #7 of 7 (4334 views)

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Re: [esperanza] Where do you buy exotic food, Guadalajara?

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Thanks to all of you who applied. I will pass on your ideas to the folks heading down that way to shop. Dee