I've never seen that in NYC, but I noticed it on a trip to Vermont once -- I can't remember what the sections were called, but there was Mexican Food for White People (hard taco shells, Newman's Own Salsa and such) and Food that People From Mexico Might Want To Buy, labeled separately in two different aisles.
My favorite are "ethnic food" aisles that have a section for british food.
In Ox/ford, the Co-op used to have a "Continental Food" aisle, including pasta, rice, curry powder, soy sauce and noodles. The Continent, presumably, being Eurasia.
It also had two cheese cabinets. One contained various sorts of Cheddar and was labelled "CHEESE". The other had Stilton, Brie, Camembert, Parmesan etc and was labelled, with deep suspicion and mistrust, "FANCY CHEESE".
but there was Mexican Food for White People (hard taco shells, Newman's Own Salsa and such) and Food that People From Mexico Might Want To Buy, labeled separately in two different aisles.
I've seen this arrangement in supermarkets most places I've lived.
I think it's pretty common.
I never thought coconut water was associated with Mexican Food. It seems to be being sold because of a massive marketing push by the coconut lobby, in the style of the magical Acai fruit two years ago and the magical Pom fruit six years ago. That and yoga people like it.
2: Wegman's does this -- and they have like 15 different countries (Germany! France! Israel!) -- but they call it the "International Section."
Here there's the Ethnic food aisle, which contains all the hardcore stuff, and then all the tex-mex is scattered throughout the store - tortillas in the bread section, salsa section in the condiments, etc.
I hadn't perceived there being a specific section for fake-Mexican food, just said food scattered around in different aisles, and then a separate section for "international foods" or some such that has the more authentic stuff all together.
My local grocery store has both the double Mexican food sections and a British food section. Shelf really. There's British-ish food scattered around the store (or at least stuff I consider British like Worcestershire sauce).
Then you have another aisle with all the Tex-Mex stuff from Old El Paso and Taco Bell.
Also Tex-Mex is a delicious cuisine which ought not be disparaged in this manner.
There are a bunch of decisions about space arrangements that large chain groceries do not make for themselves, I think. The non-dairy milk substitutes are not next to the milk, the tofu meat proxies are not near the hotdogs. The soda aisle is as far as I cantell never stocked by store employees, but rather by contractors of coke or pepsi. I suspect that stores rent shoppers browsing attention to vendors the same way that broadcasters do, the term is "slotting fees," one summary. TJs and bodegas are different.
I think I mentioned my difficulty finding guacamole and hummus at our store. We don't even have an local Hispanic population of any size.
2: What is considered ethnic British food in this context? Worcestershire sauce? Marmalade?
Mexico consumes more salsa inglese (aka Worcestershire) per capita than any other country.
...which is a figure of speech, meaning [fill in the blank].
Also Tex-Mex is a delicious cuisine which ought not be disparaged in this manner.
It is Diana Kennedy's fault, apparently.
14: Brands of things that people can't easily find in the States. Lyle's Golden Syrup, Bird's Custard, PG Tips tea, Tiptree jams, Marmite, the non-sugar-paste Smarties, Salad Cream, Walker's "crisps," those bottles of lemon water or whatever that stuff is.
In a lot of local supermarkets by me, the aisle in question often has category breakdowns like: "ethnic," caribbean," and "Goya products."
14: There's a store here that carries Heinz-brand spotted dick. It's in the same aisle as the garam masala and the peperoncini, naturally.
2: What is considered ethnic British food in this context? Worcestershire sauce? Marmalade?
Yes and yes. Also clotted cream, HP sauce, various classy-looking cookies and crackers, Golden Syrup, canned fruitcakes, and tea. Not so much a "food" section as an "impulse purchase" section.
The recipe for Worcestershire sauce came from India originally, and marmalade is Portuguese.
Oh yeah, well tomatos aren't really Italian. We so stupid!
14: In the case of the place where I shop it's marmalade, marmite, those wossname delicious cracker thingies and a few other items I forget. About 20-30 cm of shelf space total. I think there are a couple of chocolate covered items suitable for dipping in tea as well.
I do wish Mexican immigration to NYC would start including more restauranteurs. My neighborhood is getting somewhat more Mexican over the years, but I haven't noticed more places to get Mexican food. There was a nice little diner that was mostly a standard American diner -- eggs and burgers and such -- but was run by Mexicans and had good tacos, but it closed years ago.
And when I say NYC, I mean "That part of NYC within ten blocks of my apartment."
fauxican
This would be good except I can't figure out how to pronounce the 'x' without obscuring either of the two combined words.
25: 24 wasn't meant as a criticism of you, but of the unoriginality of British food.
My experience in the midwest has been with the Ameri-mex foods interfiled, with perhaps a small section of ortega shell and lowery's "taco spice" type packets next to the salsa, and then a separate "ethic foods aisle(tte). It does make for some runnig back and forth for price comparisons and in some (smaller town) grocery stores I've only been able to find items like canned chick peas in the shelf de Goya.
We definitely do not have a British food section.
31: no, I was just surprised that you can buy fruitcakes in cans. Or tins. I've never seen that.
I've also got bad news if you keep kosher.
In a lot of local supermarkets by me, the aisle in question often has category breakdowns like: "ethnic," caribbean," and "Goya products."
"Mmm, dismembered Spanish resistance fighters in a rich tomato sauce!"
35: I guess I'd expect to see fruitcake for sale in a cylindrical metal container but not literally 'canned' in the sense of airtight packaging. In the same kind of round metal box with a lid that you'd buy Danish Butter Cookies in.
The thing I bought was labeled "Christmas pudding" but turned out to be a fruitcake. And it was in a can, or as you would say, a tin.
Tinned sponge-cake and of course, Spotted Dick are more common.
14: marmite, spotted dick, various chocolates.
Occasionally, criminally bland chutneys.
This is the kind of report we need urple to make from rural lawyerland.
20, 23: Also hobnobs and Ribena.
Mexicant, maybe. There's also this, which I recently discovered. Last time I was in Oz, there was this Mexican chain restaurant that was opening around the place. It seemed to be modeled on Chipotle. The people running it had heard of the idea of a burrito, but its ingredients remained largely a mystery to them. Coarse shredded cheddar ... Tamarind sauce ... other odd things.
27: This is my giantest discontent with NYC and our neighborhood. Well maybe my 3rd giantest. (Cold, expense.)
Nearby Mexican food is middle class Manhattan's 4 AM warmed sugar cookie.
not everything genuine is the best, i once wanted to try some cocoa, something imported, but it smelled like dried sh/t, so had to discard it, then couldn't eat chocolate for pretty long time
Nobody has had an emergency meeting about my Mexican food needs.
Pretty much all food of any complexity comes from somewhere else, at least in part.
South Asian stores both in Britain and South Asia used commonly to describe themselves as "Continental" - presumably it would be more accurate to say sub-continental. The habit has died out largely in Britain, but I can't speak for the sub-continent. A lot of basically Pakistani supermarkets round here have Chinese and Caribbean aisles, and often also a rather eclectic "British" aisle for local products that appeal to the Kashmiri Muslim palate
49: Fine, have it your way. Nearby Mexican food is middle class Manhattan's aspirational 4 AM warmed sugar cookie.
2: a section for british food
Just recently the big supermarkets around here have started doing this, although the pickings are still slim. Mostly, if I wanted this sort of thing, which I don't, I would go to an Indian grocery, where they seem to always stock every wacky product from the Anglosphere. Also, the Somali shops around here frequently have one or two things like that -- Vimto, etc.
As far as the Mexican food, I'm going to have to double check, but my impression is that there is the Ethnic Food aisle, some fauxican shelving, and then real things (locally-made tortillas, for instance) in the appropriate regular section.
I always imagine walking down the "Hispanic Foods" aisle and hearing, ¡Hola! Me llamo Adobo.¡Vamos! ¡Es un libro de cocina!
http://www.unfogged.com/archives/comments_11435.html#1333630
Nearby Mexican food is middle class Manhattan's 4 AM warmed sugar cookie.
Then I'm Courtney Love, w000t! Not one but TWO good taco places in a three-block radius. Neither is California-Mex, which sometimes makes me jones for a Mission burrito, but I'm pretty damned happy with being able to walk to a Tex-Mex taco joint and a Mexican sit-down restaurant.
We have two new Mexican places in my NYC neighborhood, but they are both high end places. They are doing it wrong. I don't want Mexican-themed fine dining. I want a hole-in-the-wall where I can get a giant burrito wrapped in foil.
11: I suspect that stores rent shoppers browsing attention to vendors the same way that broadcasters do
I'm pretty sure this is true; it's why you tend to see brand-name toilet paper or cereal (say) at eye- and waist-level, with the no-name brands down near your ankles.* Although now that I think about it, that may be because the store itself wants you to buy the more expensive name-brand.
The Goya/Old El Paso branded Mexican section is a constant around here, which does make finding the non-Goya chick peas a puzzle initially.
* Unless the store itself has its own brand to compete with the name brand, in which case their brand will be conveniently right alongside the name brand.
Not one but TWO good taco places in a three-block radius.
I disbelieve this. I think you've been gone too long!
which sometimes makes me jones for a Mission burrito
I'll be in the Mission tonight; I'll have one in your honor.
Personal to Flippanter: in case you've washed your hands of the "Buck up!" thread, I have honored your request there.
36: The kosher grocery store also doesn't have a British food section?
Mission style burritos are (a) terrible and (b) not Mexican.
I think the usual arrangement here is as per Heebie upthread, with a real Mexican aisle (generally most of an aisle, with separate "Asian" or "international" aisles) and then a few packets of Old El Paso or whatever scattered throughout the store.
However: Do not go into the middle of the supermarket. That is where death and weakness lie.
61.3: But, but ... canned tomatoes. Canned chick peas. The occasional mustard or vinegar and the like, and, dare I say, so-called paper goods.
Did Neanderthals have Kleenex? I say to you that they did not. Use birchbark and like it.
We used Neanderthals for kleenex, LB.
There is no birch bark at the supermarket. Beets are your toilet paper now.
65. Always with the Greek Radish punishment, someone's going to get an epithet like "wobbly-kneed."
Rhaphanidosis
Crossfit enthusiasts blow their noses with habanero peppers. It makes them tough. And if your eyes water, you get docked five manpoints.
In case it wasn't obvious, British supermarkets don't have a Mexican/fake Mexican distinction. All their "Mexican" food is fake. And there's very little of it.
When we were in London two years ago, Sally ordered a plate of nachos in a bar we'd stopped in for lunch. She was kind of horrified by what they brought, although I can't remember exactly what was wrong with it. Ketchup rather than salsa, maybe?
I disbelieve this. I think you've been gone too long!
Okay, it's not the NorCal Mexican food I dream about in quiet hungry moments, but it's VERY good stuff of its own idiom.
I had Mission-style burritos before I got to L.A., and I cherish the memory, but today I think I prefer the more compact L.A. version. I could imagine that something like the green chile and pork burrito at Burrito King might put it over the edge, but I can't see getting worked up about it either way.
Recently I've been into huaraches, toppings over fried bread. There's a place down the street that serves them with huitlacoche.
NorCal Mexican food wrecked me. Thundersnow raved and raved that Virginia had no good burritos, and I thought it must be a bunch of hype. But it's unequivocally true. The NorCal product is plainly superior to anything we have here, and now I can't even eat burritos here without feelings of mild disappointment. Knowledge: it ruins everything.
SF burritos are good, and giant beyond the realm of physical possibility, but I don't get het up about not having them, since the truth is that there are perfectly tasty burritos here, and have been for a long time. The fish taco situation here, on the other hand, is in dire need of some punch-up.
ethic foods aisle(tte)
Paging helpy-chalk to the ethic foods aisle.
74: It's a sub-section of the produce area. There many a dinner planner has stood for minutes pondering the age-old question: deoniontology or kumquatscentialism?
I've also got bad news if you keep kosher.
Don't be silly. You can matzo for up to a week before and after Passover.
74, 75: The question remains as to whether the items stocked in that aisle are determined by duty of the store to their vendors or through an assessment of what will bring the most sales to the greatest number of customers.
72.last: Knowledge: it ruins everything.
If knowledge hangs around your neck like
pearls instead of chains - You are a lucky man!,/i>
- Alan Price (title song from the O Lucky Man soundtrack)
You can matzo for up to a week before and after Passover.
A week? More like a decade.
On the real/fake Mexican issue, my offhand impression from places I've lived is that they're generally in the same place (labeled "Hispanic foods" or something similar), but I haven't paid very close attention.
Mission style burritos are (a) terrible
This aggression will not stand, man.
If anything, spinach is the kleenex of vegetables.
I always carry a bundle of spinach in my pocket and am quick to offer it to crying laydeez. Works every time.
A week? More like a decade.
Not in Austin. (Or did I miss a sidetrip to Standpipe's blog?)
Looking back, I think I inserted the wrong missing verb into 76.
You can matzo boogie for more than a decade before and after Passover.
Do English supermarkets have aisles for Spanish food?
73: El Pelon by Fenway does a passable imitation of a fish taco. Or they did before they burned down anyway.
87, 88: Oh, now I get it. Quick on the uptake as always.
89. Not in my experience. Very big ones sometimes have an Italian aisle. More typically there'd be a general Mediterranean aisle, a general Asian (inc. Turkish, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese - like general), and possibly an odds and sods section which would include any hand waving in the direction of Hispanic American.
Had several interesting takes on Mexican food in eastern Europe, including fish tacos that had smoked salmon, and a Romania place that gave a free shot of local whiskey. And carrots were always involved.
I've always enjoyed Boston burrito places, but our neighborhood is crap for Mexican. We do have the local sketchy ass Mexican Grill and Chinese Food place though.
Can't even get my name right.
Yelp says they have General Tso's Burrito, though, so I might have to reconsider.
90: Now they specialize in blackened fish tacos, I suppose?
It's interesting how Mexican supermarkets in the U.S. handle this. In my experience the non-Mexican Hispanic food goes in their ethnic food section, sometimes with redundancy when there is cross-over (e.g., Goya cans go both in the general beans section in the main part of the store and in the Puerto Rican / Cuban section in the ethnic food aisles, next to the guava paste). Stuff like El Paso gets mixed in with all the other American brands they sell in the main part of the store.
89. Not in my experience. Very big ones sometimes have an Italian aisle.
The Waitrose near me doesn't have a Spanish food aisle as such, but it has a very large selection of Spanish ham/cured sausages all in one place, with an assorted tapas ingredients area nearby. Which might as well be a Spanish food aisle.
Tweety-- The Mexican place in my town has fish taxis on the menu. I don't know whether they're any good. I've had fish dishes there. The scallops with mushrooms, tomatoes and bacon in a chipotle cream sauce is delicious.
Tesco and Sainsburys both have World Food I think. Which doesn't include Old El Paso. That's just normal food. World food is Polish, Caribbean, kosher or Indian.
fish taxis
Sounds expensive. Do they charge you a fare fare?
We don't even really have taxis in my town. Stupid iPhone.
Since this is the shopping thread, I insert an OT bleg:
One of the two air conditioners (window units) in my house bit the dust yesterday. I'm shopping online, in advance of actually entering a store, to see what kind of replacement is best.
It looks like the principal decision is over BTUs, and the available range is anywhere from 5,000 BTU (the $100 unit) to 18,000 or so.
Any idea what's appropriate to cool the second floor, which consists of two rooms? Does anyone have brand name or any other preferences, or know anything about this at all?
We have four, and buy about one a year. The latest is 8000, with a dehumidifier, and doesn't really do it in the living area (living + dining + kitchen) but does well enough for dining and the other two sections are tolerable, with big ceiling fans. They should give an estimate of square feet coolable. Window units really only work for the room they are in, and should be used that way (closed door and vents) unless you arrange some serious circulation, like a big fan.
3 Frigidaires and a Haier, the Haier biggest and best. All $150-200.
Of course our cooling needs here in Dallas may not be as extreme as much of the rest of the country. Not much over a hundred yet.
Thanks, bob. The one I inherited from my mom is a Haier, used here on the first floor with fan assistance and careful shutting off of various spaces, but I know not its BTUs. I wasn't seeing specs on the square footage coolable, but will check.
My housemate has managed to get the crappy upstairs A/C unit working again for the moment (it's turned on and off now by plugging it in, or unplugging it). I doubt anything hardcore is needed, but wasn't sure whether just the cheapest model was the wisest idea.
You can find various calculators online for sizing an air conditioner, depending on square footage, sun exposure, number of windows, and so forth. An important point is that an air conditioner that is too large won't work very well - it'll provide a blast of cold periodically, and then stop. You ideally want one that's just barely big enough that it doesn't run all the time, so that you get a lot of dehumidification and continual cooling out of it.
I would comment here more often but I can't remember my password.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/fashion/computer-passwords-grow-ever-more-complicated.html?pagewanted=all
I think you're in the wrong thread, Courtney. Buck up !