Treasures Hidden: The 17th Street Market

Live in Tucson long enough and you become accustom to hearing Spanish spoken, almost like an undercurrent; but when you walk into the 17^th Street Market that current swells to include a stream of Oriental, Indian, Middle Eastern and European dialects. This is where Tucson's ethnic communities come to shop.

As you enter this cavernous store in Tucson's warehouse district, you are greeted by flying dragons, red lanterns and Chinese chachkas setting up a decidedly oriental vibe, and indeed, oriental specialties dominate, but there are also pickled vegetables from Germany and Greece, Indian and Middle Eastern spices and grains, French jams, and a section for British expats featuring everything from treacle to tinned beans.

Cooks who like to dabble in international cuisine can find everything they need; aisle after aisle of sauces, oils, vinegars, rices, spices, beans, pastas, sweets, dried fruits and nuts, teas and coffee, and oodles of noodles. While researching this article I was looking for ingredients for lamb kabobs, one of which was ground sumac. Of course, they had it, but the 4 oz bag was more sumac than I would ever use. However, right next to that bag was a 1 oz bag of kabob seasoning that included not only sumac, but all the other herbs and spices the recipe called for. Kabob Helper...where else but here?

The store also boasts the largest selection of fresh and frozen fish in town at very reasonable prices. Even though Tucson is landlocked, we are not that far from the Mexican and California coasts. Despite this, however, many of the upscale groceries charge very upscale prices for fresh and previously frozen fish. The 17^th also offers a nice selection of whole fish, frogs legs, octopus, squid, and, if you prefer making your own fish stock over using canned, they always have a good supply of fish heads and parts.

Meats that you wouldn't normally find at the local Safeway are also offered. Need a couple of pounds of goat for a Caribbean stew? No problem. Into offal? This is the place for you; tongue, kidneys, livers, hearts, gizzards, stomachs, tails, snouts and tendons fill an entire case. Waste not want not!

Passing through a plastic curtain off of the main warehouse you enter produce nirvana. Two large refrigerated rooms packed with everything from the exotic to the organic. Giant jack fruit, lily bud, kabocha pumpkin, bok choy and the entire choy clan; gai, taku, AA, shen and yu. On my last visit, I counted six types of mushrooms and eight varieties of peppers. The organic section takes up half of one of the rooms and is easily larger than any health food store in Tucson.

As if all that were not enough, a large separate room houses the World Music Store where you can purchase local and international CD's and wide variety of musical instruments; acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, blues harps, drums, rattles and gongs. They also offer classes and host drumming circles. On Saturdays there are performances by local musicians and their music is piped throughout the store.

The 17^th Street Market may look like a warehouse on the outside, but to the folks who shop here, it's a real culinary treasure trove.

Visit the market online at http://news.treasureshidden.com/index.php