Bun maker at Grand Asia Market, Cary. Photo from Grand Asia Market.
Growing up in Durham in the 1980s, I remember my Yankee-born parents moaning about the lack of ethnic ingredients in the Triangle. They’d cajole visiting relatives and friends into bringing food from out of state – frozen pierogies, Kosher dills, cans of San Marzano tomatoes, cannolis. The cannolis would be soggy, the tomato cans dented. But it was better than nothing.
Lack of diversity is no longer a problem in these parts, to say the least, as waves of immigration have dramatically transformed the Triangle foodscape. Want a block of Indonesian fermented shrimp paste? A pink dragon fruit? A jar of Russian cherry preserves? A handful of fresh curry leaves? No problem, so long as you know where to look :
1. Mexican/Central American/Caribbean: Compare Foods in Durham. This huge supermarket, popular with immigrants from Mexico and other parts of Latin America, carries the area’s best selection of non-standard produce. The chili section is eye popping, with flame-orange habaneros, cheerful green jalapenos, and wine-colored dried guajillos. Also look out for nopales (cactus paddle), yucca and plantains. Aisles are a riot of canned salsas, bags of cinnamon sticks and yerba buena, powdered flan mixes, and two-liter bottles of neon-bright Jarritos sodas in flavors like tamarind and pineapple.
Runner-up: El Mercado Central in Carrboro. This small tienda (’store’ in Spanish) is best-known for its lunch counter, serving up hot griddled tacos and gorditas to a hungry crowd of construction workers and Carrboro hipsters.
2. Pan-Asian: Grand Asia Market in Cary. The Triangle’s largest Asian grocery store stocks Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian and Indian specialties, though the majority of its shelves are dedicated to Chinese cuisine. The large produce section brims with fresh bok choy, banana flowers, mangosteens, green papaya and daikon radish. The freezer cases hold dozens of different kinds of dumplings, wontons and buns, as well as exotic ice creams in flavors like purple yam and coconut-pandan. The canned goods section has everything from twelve kinds of Thai green curry paste to tins of lychee nuts in syrup to fermented duck egg. The fresh fish counter has some of the area’s best values on shrimp, catfish and mussels; the meat case contains some questionable edibles (pork uterus, goat penis). If all this shopping makes you hungry (on weekends, dodging the crowds is an aerobic activity), stop at the attached cafe for a fortifying bowl of congee (Chinese porridge) or a sweet sesame ball.
Runner-up: Oriental Market in Durham. While not as big as Grand Asia, this grocery stocks a similar variety of pan-Asian specialties, with an emphasis on Korean foods like sweet potato noodles and kimchee.
3. Japanese: Toyo Shokuhin in Cary. Run by the charming Sachiko McShea, a native of Osaka who married an American GI during WWII, this modest-sized market specializes in everything from the Land of the Rising Sun. Shelves are densely stocked with packaged soba noodles, soy sauce, miso powder, fish flakes, dried squid, and bright bags of candies in flavors like “milk soda” and “musk melon.” The refrigerator cases have a variety of Japanese fish balls (essential for soup making), ice cream in flavors like green tea and red bean, and homemade tofu floating in brine.
4. Indian: Triangle Indian Market in Cary. This fragrant, overstocked storefront brims with Subcontinental delights: chickpea flour, pickled mangoes, canned curries, sticky cones of jaggery sugar, and bags of spices like cardamom, fenugreek, turmeric and asafetida. The produce section has hard-to-find fruits and veggies such as green papaya, fresh curry leaf, and bitter melon. At the front of the store, oversized plastic bins hold a rainbow of different rice types for bulk sale. Don’t miss the homemade baked goods like samosas and jalebis (a deep-fried, syrup-soaked chickpea pastry), sold out of foil roasting tins at the checkout counter.
5. Middle Eastern: Nur Grocery in Raleigh. Though small, this strip mall market stocks a huge amount of Middle Eastern specialties, from bags of cracked wheat to pomegranate molasses to sheep’s milk cheese. The bulk bins of salt- and oil-cured olives and pickled veggie mix are a steal. If you’re too hungry to wait until you get home with your groceries, order a falafel or kofta (spiced meatball) sandwich at the deli counter.
Runner-up: Al Baraka Market in Raleigh. This Hillsborough Street grocery and butcher is great for halal meat and house-roasted nuts, as well as the usual Middle Eastern staples like hummus, couscous and dried figs.
6. Filipino: Phil Asia in Durham. Stocking many pan-Asian staples like soy sauce, rice and spices, Phil Asia also has some uniquely Filipino treats like purple yam paste, nata (a gelatinous treat made from coconut) and longaniza (a spicy Portuguese-style sausage). My favorite is the coco jam, a thick caramel made from cooking down coconut milk. It’s great as a filling for layer cakes or for a topping on tropical ice cream sundaes.
8. Polish/Eastern European: Halgo in Durham. Got a hankering for pierogies? Halgo’s freezer section has ten varieties of the addictive little Polish dumplings, from cheese to potato to blueberry. They’ve also got a small selection of other Eastern European goodies like Russian tea, plum preserves and homemade chrusciki, a light Polish cookie also known as ‘angel wings.’ Call ahead to have the staff prepare you a lunch of Polish sausage slathered in mustard and heaps of sauerkraut.
Runner-up: Polonez Deli in Raleigh. More pierogies, plus a half-dozen types of sausage and a good selection of canned and frozen goods like pickled mushrooms, stuffed cabbage and cherry jam.
9. UK/Commonwealth: World Market in Durham, Cary or Raleigh. This warehouse-y chain is best known for its cheap, “ethnic” housewares and decorations – Chinese lanterns, Mexican crepe paper, throw pillows made from sari fabric. But as British and Australian expats know, its food aisle is the best place in the Triangle to score hard-to-find Commonwealth favorites like McVitie’s digestive biscuits (UK), Tim Tam cookies (Australia; my personal fave), Malteasers (UK), Vegemite (Australia) and Bisto gravy granules (UK).
10. Western European: A Southern Season in Chapel Hill. Don’t let the name fool you. While this massive gourmet store is best known for Southern specialties like cheese straws and pecan pralines, it’s also a food porn fantasyland of upmarket imported goodies. Think Spanish jamón Ibérico (at, like, $123 a pound), lacy Dutch waffle cookies, French raspberry preserves, Belgian chocolates, and an extensive variety of international cheeses.
Great website! I’ve lived in Durham for years and haven’t visited many of these markets. I can’t wait to go!
Have you been to Food World in Durham? If not, you should check it out.
I love the bakery at Compare. I’m looking forward to finally making it to Grand Asia Market!
In fact, I went with my friend Maggie recently
It’s an amazingly bizarre mix of Asian, Latin and African foods – homemade kimchee, Jamaican ginger beer extract, taco bar, etc.