Hard-to-find Foods

For some reason, it has become difficult to find Walker's Shortbread. Trader Joe's in California used to carry it or something similar, and when they quit, I would get it from Cost Plus World Market. We ran out (my British husband loves shortbread!), so I wanted to get more. I checked TJ's. None. Whole Foods? No luck. Harvest Co-op? Nada. So I headed off to Cardullo's.

If you've never been there, Cardullo's is this little gourmet grocery store/deli/wine shop smack dab in the middle of Harvard Square. Although hideously overpriced, they carry a lot of food that is tough to find, including a large selection of British food that is tough to find anywhere else (since Boston doesn't have a Cost Plus World Market... yet). Also, they sell maple sugar candy. I don't think that this can possibly be as hard to find in the northeast as it is in California, but Cardullo's sells it, so I haven't bothered searching hard for it. The other bummer is that you have to pay cash if your purchase is under $10, which is possible if you are only buying one item. (Do they have anything under $6 there? It's questionable. Well, no, the small box of 4 maple syrup candies is about $3.)

Incidentally, the ONLY place I found maple sugar in California was at the Village Cheese Shop in Palo Alto, across the street from Stanford University. And even they didn't always have it. Come to think of it, Cardullo's is very similar to the Village Cheese Shop, which is also a gourmet grocery store/deli, although I think they might not have sold wine. The Village Cheese Shop ended up being a bit of an East Coast ex-patriate grocery store, since not only did they sell maple sugar candy, they also sold Anchor Bar buffalo wing sauce, and were the only place in Northern California (hell, probably all of CA) who did. They also sold Lapsang Soushong tea, which was also hard to find out there.

Anyway, back to Cardullo's. They are incredibly expensive, but way convenient and dammit if they probably don't have what you are looking for, provided what you are looking for is a British packaged food, tea or coffee, some kind of unusual jarred condiment or some kind of gourmet expensive chocolate mixed with a weird ingredient like lavender, or earl gray tea, or bacon. (seriously- Vosges now makes a chocolate bar with bacon bits mixed in. Not as good as the coconut curry chocolate bar.)

I could just make shortbread at home, but my husband's Scottish granny worked at a bakery in her youth and her advice was always "don't make shortbread, just buy it. It's just as good as what you'll make at home, and easier." Thanks for the tip, Granny!

They also sell clotted cream, but weirdly enough, this is much easier to find than Walker's shortbread. Whole Foods and Harvest Co-op both sell clotted cream too. And pastries from my beloved Danish Pastry House.

One of these days I will try a sandwich from there. I don't like sandwiches much, but their options look appealing.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do??

Trader Joe's, don't make me break up with you.

We had a particularly disappointing trip there this week; we walked out with 2 bags of groceries only, and paid over $66 for them. What?? This seems ridiculous to me. I probably would not have paid more than $40 for those 2 bags in California. We went to Whole Foods next, and we took our Trader Joe's receipt in to compare prices. Trader Joe's still won on the dairy front (mostly- heavy cream was cheaper at Whole Foods, but milk, eggs, and specialty products like creme fraiche and mascarpone cheese were cheaper, while shredded cheese was the exact same price), but the produce prices were mostly comparable, and sometimes a tiny bit cheaper. Other products were on par. Trader Joe's, it is a sad day when Whole Paycheck is competitive with your prices! Since Whole Foods has better produce, I have to wonder why exactly should I shop at Trader Joe's? They aren't carrying the unique products that I really loved out in California and their prices aren't really much better than anywhere else. It's close enough to where we live that I will still shop there, but if I had to seek it out, like I did back when I lived in the Washington DC area, I probably wouldn't bother at all.

Cali v. MA: Grocery Store Throwdown

Although I am really thrilled to be back on the East Coast, I will say that there is one thing that California does right. Besides weather. That's grocery stores. I am not talking your Safeways, or your Albertsons, which are generally pretty crappy, and not as clean or nice as the Star Market or Shaw's that I have visited. I am talking everything else. This is the state where Trader Joe's started, after all.

One of the reasons why we decided to move to Boston over other places was the grocery stores, NO LIE. In Boston, you throw a rock and hit 2 or 3 Whole Foods Markets. They now have Trader Joe's here as well. However, we still haven't adjusted to some of the East Coast differences. Here's what we miss:

• Most of all, the Trader Joe's flavored Greek yogurts. You can get the Mediteranee 8.5% milkfat yogurts at Whole Foods, but they are not as good. My husband practically lived on the Greek yogurts (which are not the same as the Fage yogurts that are plain, but have the little compartment of flavoring on the side, like honey or cherry puree). On my first visit to TJ's here, I went to the manager and begged him to carry them. Apparently this really is a East/West divide here, in terms of suppliers. My next step is to write a letter to headquarters. I am totally serious.
  
• The tasty salsas at TJ's. There just aren't that many. However, I can just go back to making my own in the food processor, something that I used to do, but I got out of the habit because good salsa practically grows on trees in California.
  
• The olive bar at Whole Foods. I have only been to two so far, but I miss being able to go to the olive bar and pick out a bunch of olives of different varieties. I need to scope out the one out by Fresh Pond. Maybe they will have enough square footage to have an olive bar. The Whole Foods between Central Square and Inman Square has a little antipasto bar with some olives, but they don't have the green olives stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes! You can buy those olives at the Whole Foods in Cambridgeport, though. I highly recommend them; they are terrific!

All in all, that is a pretty short list. I have noticed that food is more expensive here, but I am not sure if that is an overall issue related to the Boston metro area, or if we would pay less if we were out shopping somewhere like Lexington or Stoneham.

We have found some great shops, though. Russo's in Watertown is terrific. Their huge selection of produce is reasonably priced (even if everything else isn't), and also high quality. They also have a lot of other gourmet products including homemade pasta and sauces and nice looking bakery products. Plus they sell plants! Also in Watertown are not one, not two, but three Armenian grocery stores! I am still debating which one is the best, but I am leaning towards Massis right now, just because of their most awesome baked goods. I don't think I'll ever make choreg again, as long as I can buy it at Massis!

I still have to try out the farmers' markets. There are a lot of local farms around, so I am hoping that the offerings are good, even if the growing season is short.