Shopping Ethnic Goods for Fun and Savings

Salsa has outpaced ketchup as the condiment of choice in America, but a taste for ethnic cuisine can ruin a budget. It may be surprising to some that one can learn to cook ethnic dishes at home. Also, many ethnic grocers come with the dishes already partially prepared, much like our own culture of convenience foods. It is certain that shopping most ethnic goods at American grocers will be costly, but shopping them at where they are more readily imported (the ethnic grocer) is a good way to find some great deals! It may even be that one saves on their grocery bill as well, as many ethnic diets are low on meat and high on creativity, thus effectively lowering expenses simply by lowering meat consumption.

Different cultures have different specialties and thus, the specials will be had on those items that are good sellers for the grocer and good ethnic quality for the buyer. Shopping ethnic goods at a local ethnic grocer requires a bit of adventure and a willingness to explore and learn new cultures. Learning about another culture's food habits is as simple as looking up the US Department of Agriculture's website. Ethnic food choices are becoming so prevalent in the American diet that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) now posts different food pyramids for different ethnicities. They have a Native American, Asian, and Mediterranean food pyramids amongst others. Within these presentations, one finds the dominant foods available to that culture and the degree to which they are used within their culture. The more popular choices will be the best deals at an ethnic grocer.

Mediterranean Cuisine

Mediterranean cuisine can be from the Greek Islands or all the way to Lebanon. The USDA website claims that the dietary data for the Mediterranean region shows "the lowest recorded rates of chronic diseases and the highest adult life expectancy." Most of the foodstuff is unprocessed with a reliance on fresh, as well as dried, fruits and vegetables. However, the Mediterranean diet is known for the use of olive oil as their cooking fat, a variety of breads, the use of wine, and sweets made with honey. These are the types of items one can find at a Mediterranean grocer that will be high quality and potentially less expensive than at the regular supermarket.

Asian Cuisine

When one thinks of Asian cuisine, one thinks of stir-fry. Unfortunately, most Americans don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cutting and preparing vegetables. However, the Asian markets do offer a wide variety of hard to find vegetables like Kohlrabi, lotus root, a large assortment of mushrooms, and spices at a fraction of the cost than one could get at a regular supermarket. In addition, Asian grocers will have prepared dumplings and all manner of noodles. Teas are of the highest quality as they use the whole leaf and not the leftover scraps in teabags like we do here in America. Large bags of Jasmine rice are also available for what it might cost for a smaller version in the regular supermarkets.

Hispanic Cuisine

There are many Mexican grocery products available at the local supermarket that are the same ones sold at the ethnic food stores. In this case, shopping ethnic goods at a local supermarket isn't any better than going to an ethnic grocer because the large supermarkets are quite aware of the large influx of Hispanic immigrants to America. Tortillas, chilies, drinks, spices, masa harina, and all manner of sweets can be found even at Super Wal-Mart's now. However, including some of these staples in your own diet can prove to save money as the Mexican diet is made with cheap ingredients like beans, rice, tortillas, and little meat. And, of course, we all love salsa.