Thread: My supermarket experiences in the US

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:10:45 +0100, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> Things have changed a lot in ten years. Some things are a lot worse and
> some a lot better.
>
> Trader Joe's nowadays doesn't seem to have a lot of reason to exist. It
> looked to me as if they are mostly about prepared food.

TJ's isn't as fun and interesting as it used to be. You probably
never "knew" Trader Joe's in the olden days, but subsequent customers
demanded consistency and that's what they got. It's just a shell of
its former self because well off, entitled, Yuppies wanted to see the
same products every time they shopped there. Money talks. My new
favorite store, Rainbow grocery, is filled with rich, aging hippies
and they cater to the crowd. That's how it goes in retail.

> The ones I sampled
> in the stores were good, but I don't buy packaged food and I was very
> disappointed in the basic ingredients selection and shocked at some of the
> prices. $4.95 per pound for broccoli? At the absolute height of the
> season? $3.95 per pound for leeks? I don't think so.

Hey, it's ORGANIC (plus torrential rainstorms in California have
driven vegetable prices through the roof) and vendors have to meet TJ
standards, which are very high, if they want to sell there. You get
what you pay for.... or maybe not, but at TJ's you usually do.
>
> I shopped at Giant a few times. I saw the same problem that I often find
> here: dozens of choices of a few things and none whatsoever of other things.
> Leeks were almost as expensive at Giant, too. Leeks are easy and cheap to
> grow. Why so pricey?
>
>
> Costco is what it is and isn't much changed. You never could do all your
> shopping there and you still can't, but those rotisseried chickens really
> are tasty. Their Pecorino Romano or Romano cheese is just horrible. I
> didn't know Italy made cheese that bad. It's fun tasting all the weekend
> specials, but not so much fun if you have to buy 3-5 pounds of it.

You go to Costco to buy in bulk. If you like the bulk product, you
buy it. Otherwise you're screwed.
>
>
> All the rest of my shopping over the two months was done at specialty shops.
> That was partly because of where I was staying. Chevy Chase is a close-in
> suburb with lots of specialty shops, but for supermarkets I could reach
> without a car only Giant and Trader Joe's. The other supermarketing was
> done semi-recreationally when my friend with a car went with.
>
It's sure different from shopping in Europe. European shopping is
quaint and I wish we had more of that here. But all in all, I'm glad
we have what we have with all the choices we have that go with it.
It's not like you can find top quality at every shop on every bend
over there either. I'd go crazy trying to live with all the
limitations of being in one region or another in Europe. It's a nice
place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there very long. Two
years would be my limit.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:10:45 +0100, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Things have changed a lot in ten years. Some things are a lot worse and
>some a lot better.
>
>Trader Joe's nowadays doesn't seem to have a lot of reason to exist. It
>looked to me as if they are mostly about prepared food. The ones I sampled
>in the stores were good, but I don't buy packaged food and I was very
>disappointed in the basic ingredients selection and shocked at some of the
>prices. $4.95 per pound for broccoli? At the absolute height of the
>season? $3.95 per pound for leeks? I don't think so.
Trader Joes has never been a place to buy good inexpensive produce. I
go there for decent basic ingredients, and not much else.
>
>I shopped at Giant a few times. I saw the same problem that I often find
>here: dozens of choices of a few things and none whatsoever of other things.
>Leeks were almost as expensive at Giant, too. Leeks are easy and cheap to
>grow. Why so pricey?

That's cause you shopped on the east coast, in the winter. Come to
the west coast, and we can show you a whole different story.
>
>Mega Market was so much fun I would move next door. It was like a vacation
>in South America without a ticket. I loved it, although sanitation was
>probably on the low side and you have to want what they've got. They had
>Peruvian dried potatoes and many different chili peppers, so I was happy
>with them. I probably wouldn't buy meat from the butcher unless they
>cleaned the glass and got the splotches and fly spots off, though.

>Wegman's is what supermarkets need to be. Everything about it was easy and
>pleasant. Prices seemed right-- not cheap, for sure, but the days are over
>when really good food can be cheap. They make and explain the distinctions
>among specialty products. They, for example, had a separate stand for
>Parmigiano Reggiano and offered both 2 year old and stravecchio. They did
>not reveal the age of the stravecchio and I am used to every piece of
>Parmigiano having a labeled age. Still, just having it was a plus.
>They had areas just for French cheese and just for Italian cheeses, etc.
>That should help shoppers a bit.
>They were as much a food fair as a grocery in some ways. Lighting was
>great. Ordinary vegetables were next to the organic versions so you could
>see what difference you were paying.

Come to the bay area, and we can show you a lot more places like that.
Have you ever seen Berkeley Bowl? Now that is a great place...and I
think you would love it. Same with some other places in the bay area.

Christine
--
http://nightstirrings.blogspot.com

"Christine Dabney" <[email protected]> ha scritto nel messaggio
"Giusi" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>Things have changed a lot in ten years. Some things are a lot worse and
>> >>some a lot better.

> That's cause you shopped on the east coast, in the winter. Come to> the
> west coast, and we can show you a whole different story.

I spent a lot of time on the West coast when I lived in the US. Part of
what I was doing this year was experiencing what my readers experience.
Real life wherever they are and having to buy and prepare food every day for
a family. Only part of that allows for California.

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:09:24 +0100, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
wrote:


>I spent a lot of time on the West coast when I lived in the US. Part of
>what I was doing this year was experiencing what my readers experience.
>Real life wherever they are and having to buy and prepare food every day for
>a family. Only part of that allows for California.

Ahhh..I see. In NM, it can be a dismal experience as well. Even in
summer. One just doesn't see the bounty of the markets that are there
on the west coast.
At the moment, I am back here in NM. While it is great to be in my
own house with my stuff around me, I really miss the markets back in
CA.
Before I left CA two weeks ago I went to the farmers market and got a
bag of blood oranges and meyer lemons to bring back here with me. I
also got green garlic, that I have never seen here. Before I drove
back here, I also got some stuff from the bay area markets, as I knew
I wouldn't be able to find it back here with the quality and
inexpensiveness I find in CA.

We truly get spoiled on the west coast.

Christine
--
http://nightstirrings.blogspot.com

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:10:45 +0100, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Things have changed a lot in ten years. Some things are a lot worse and
>some a lot better.
>
>Trader Joe's nowadays doesn't seem to have a lot of reason to exist. It
>looked to me as if they are mostly about prepared food. The ones I sampled
>in the stores were good, but I don't buy packaged food and I was very
>disappointed in the basic ingredients...

This is the way all markets here are going. Computer tracking and
abundant research by manufacturers and by the stores themselves enable
them to know exactly what sells. TJs has made the shift over the past
2 years. Their German owners must be doing their homework, eh?

Even King Arthur, whom I always used to regard as a source of only
primary ingredients, certainly retains some of that within their
business model, but mixes and additives are fast taking over their
catalog.

>.. selection and shocked at some of the
>prices. $4.95 per pound for broccoli? At the absolute height of the
>season? $3.95 per pound for leeks? I don't think so.
>
>I shopped at Giant a few times. I saw the same problem that I often find
>here: dozens of choices of a few things and none whatsoever of other things.
>Leeks were almost as expensive at Giant, too. Leeks are easy and cheap to
>grow. Why so pricey?

Recently we have seen soaring vegetable prices due to a freeze in
Mexico.

http://globalfreeze.wordpress.com/20...ices-increase/


BUT, leeks have never been cheap, at least here in the NE. One cannot
even be guaranteed to find them at all or in decent shape, if needed.
I grow mine, but they obviously are not at the ready year-round.

snip
>
>Costco is what it is and isn't much changed. You never could do all your
>shopping there and you still can't, but those rotisseried chickens really
>are tasty. Their Pecorino Romano or Romano cheese is just horrible. I
>didn't know Italy made cheese that bad. It's fun tasting all the weekend
>specials, but not so much fun if you have to buy 3-5 pounds of it.

The Pecorino and Romano selections change during the year and come
from different suppliers. Additionally, the supplies vary by US
region. They recently had some sort of traveling cheese show come
through, where the supplier set up special in-store tastings. My
Costco had theirs about 6 weeks ago and I was unimpressed. The usual
Costco cheese stock, though, can be absolutely different from such
"special" offerings. They do this show business with fudge and
cheescakes, too, and one or two other items, as I recall.

(about Wegmans...)
>I didn't buy any meat, but it really looked good. Fish was noticeably fresh
>and pleasant.

Alas, I will not buy any fish from a regular grocery store. Just my
own hang-up. Surprisingly, I have had the bet luck with frozen fish
from Trader Joe's Go figure. For years they carried the most flavorful
and delicate Dover sole I had ever eaten. We had it once a week, at
least. Lately it has disappeared. I am sad.

>I was given a taste of a chocolate on chocolate cake that was just terrific.
>I certainly have never bought a supermarket cake that delicious, and many
>bakeries don't deliver that flavor.

Almost all of what Wegman's offers up from the bakery is from mixes,
partially made or frozen. TH's company did a lot of work at a company
that supplied much of this.
>
>All the rest of my shopping over the two months was done at specialty shops.
>That was partly because of where I was staying. Chevy Chase is a close-in
>suburb with lots of specialty shops, but for supermarkets I could reach
>without a car only Giant and Trader Joe's. The other supermarketing was
>done semi-recreationally when my friend with a car went with.
>
I use markets for fun and frolic. Large chain groceries are used for
fat milk runs, or to pick up some basics when we run out, or to catch
some fabulous special. I get my meats at Costco or a specialty
butcher, although one local grocery has some nice things once in
awhile (only place I can get veal breast for stuffing and roasting).

Paper goods are from Costco, as is laundry soap, most fruits and
berries and bananas. Even I, who prefer to buy in bulk, cannot use up
5lbs of organic baby carrots, though, nor 20 lbs of potatoes.

We are blessed with many small ethnic markets here in NJ...Italian,
Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Caribbean. I do a lot of my shopping
there. These places stock their shelves with what the "natives" want,
not for an American, speed demon, get-the-food-on-the-table so we can
get Michael to soccer, Brittany to the tutor, and still make the PTA
meeting and catch up on office emails market.

Times change. Slow food is just not the norm here (except in my house,
where time stands still). Somebody is out there buying all those
Pringles.

Boron

Giusi wrote:

> Wegman's is what supermarkets need to be. Everything about it was
> easy and pleasant. Prices seemed right-- not cheap, for sure, but
> the days are over when really good food can be cheap. They make and
> explain the distinctions among specialty products. They, for
> example, had a separate stand for Parmigiano Reggiano and offered
> both 2 year old and stravecchio. They did not reveal the age of the
> stravecchio and I am used to every piece of Parmigiano having a
> labeled age. Still, just having it was a plus.
> They had areas just for French cheese and just for Italian cheeses,
> etc. That should help shoppers a bit.
> They were as much a food fair as a grocery in some ways. Lighting was
> great. Ordinary vegetables were next to the organic versions so you
> could see what difference you were paying.
>
> I didn't buy any meat, but it really looked good. Fish was
> noticeably fresh and pleasant.

Wegman's is a treat. I am lucky to live pretty close to two of them,
however, not close enough to make them my main shopping stop
but I go there once in a while. If you're a busy person, their prepared
foods are terrific, too. Great bakery, as you said.

nancy

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 05:19:40 -0600, Christine Dabney
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:09:24 +0100, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>
>>I spent a lot of time on the West coast when I lived in the US. Part of
>>what I was doing this year was experiencing what my readers experience.
>>Real life wherever they are and having to buy and prepare food every day for
>>a family. Only part of that allows for California.
>
>Ahhh..I see. In NM, it can be a dismal experience as well. Even in
>summer. One just doesn't see the bounty of the markets that are there
>on the west coast.
>At the moment, I am back here in NM. While it is great to be in my
>own house with my stuff around me, I really miss the markets back in
>CA.
>Before I left CA two weeks ago I went to the farmers market and got a
>bag of blood oranges and meyer lemons to bring back here with me. I
>also got green garlic, that I have never seen here. Before I drove
>back here, I also got some stuff from the bay area markets, as I knew
>I wouldn't be able to find it back here with the quality and
>inexpensiveness I find in CA.
>
>We truly get spoiled on the west coast.
>
>Christine


Have you enough moisture to grow garlic is unattended - that is, you
go out on assignment somewhere?

Truly, it is easy to grow, and you can get a triple-use crop from
it...early scapes, then green garlic, then ripe and ready to dry later
on in the season.

Although it is best to start with a purchased seed crop, once that is
harvested, you have your own stock to use.

"sf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]..
> On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:10:45 +0100, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> Things have changed a lot in ten years. Some things are a lot worse and
>> some a lot better.
>>
>> Trader Joe's nowadays doesn't seem to have a lot of reason to exist. It
>> looked to me as if they are mostly about prepared food.
>
> TJ's isn't as fun and interesting as it used to be. You probably
> never "knew" Trader Joe's in the olden days, but subsequent customers
> demanded consistency and that's what they got. It's just a shell of
> its former self because well off, entitled, Yuppies wanted to see the
> same products every time they shopped there. Money talks. My new
> favorite store, Rainbow grocery, is filled with rich, aging hippies
> and they cater to the crowd. That's how it goes in retail.

TJ's is owned by Aldi. I'm not sure of its origins, but I think it is
evolving to a high priced Aldi.

"The Cook" <[email protected]> ha scritto nel messaggio
Christine Dabney> <[email protected]>

I>also got green garlic, that I have never seen here.

> Explain to the uninitiated what green garlic is. Is it something like>
> green onions? What do you use them for?

Yes, much like. This time of year begins the green top growth of garlic
which won't be mature enough to season and dry until Juneish. They taste
different to mature garlic, so you need to figure out where they belong, if
they do, in your dishes. I like them replacing onion in potato dishes, for
example, but I don't like them for replacing garlic in say a salad.

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 05:19:40 -0600, Christine Dabney
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:09:24 +0100, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>
>>I spent a lot of time on the West coast when I lived in the US. Part of
>>what I was doing this year was experiencing what my readers experience.
>>Real life wherever they are and having to buy and prepare food every day for
>>a family. Only part of that allows for California.
>
>Ahhh..I see. In NM, it can be a dismal experience as well. Even in
>summer. One just doesn't see the bounty of the markets that are there
>on the west coast.
>At the moment, I am back here in NM. While it is great to be in my
>own house with my stuff around me, I really miss the markets back in
>CA.
>Before I left CA two weeks ago I went to the farmers market and got a
>bag of blood oranges and meyer lemons to bring back here with me. I
>also got green garlic, that I have never seen here. Before I drove
>back here, I also got some stuff from the bay area markets, as I knew
>I wouldn't be able to find it back here with the quality and
>inexpensiveness I find in CA.
>
>We truly get spoiled on the west coast.
>
>Christine

Explain to the uninitiated what green garlic is. Is it something like
green onions? What do you use them for?

--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:17:22 +0100, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>"The Cook" <[email protected]> ha scritto nel messaggio
>Christine Dabney> <[email protected]>
>
> I>also got green garlic, that I have never seen here.
>
>> Explain to the uninitiated what green garlic is. Is it something like>
>> green onions? What do you use them for?
>
>Yes, much like. This time of year begins the green top growth of garlic
>which won't be mature enough to season and dry until Juneish. They taste
>different to mature garlic, so you need to figure out where they belong, if
>they do, in your dishes. I like them replacing onion in potato dishes, for
>example, but I don't like them for replacing garlic in say a salad.
>

Thanks. I will pull up one or two to see what they are like.

The curb market here gets green Vidalia onions about this time of
year. I used some as a substitute for leeks, which no grocery around
here carries. They are the kind of thing I would have to plan for and
get when we get to the "city."
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

On 2011-03-26, Giusi <[email protected]> wrote:
> Leeks were almost as expensive at Giant, too. Leeks are easy and cheap to
> grow. Why so pricey?

It's whatever the mkt will bear. Would you believe $3.85 EACH! for
organic persimmons? Leeks are not well known to US cooks, so have
alway been pricey, IME.

nb

"notbob" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> On 2011-03-26, Giusi <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Leeks were almost as expensive at Giant, too. Leeks are easy and cheap
>> to
>> grow. Why so pricey?
>
> It's whatever the mkt will bear. Would you believe $3.85 EACH! for
> organic persimmons? Leeks are not well known to US cooks, so have
> alway been pricey, IME.
>
> nb


I can barely find leeks for my signature potato-leek soup. The ones I do
manage to find are rather puny, like slightly overgrown green onions. It's
weird, I had better vegetable choices at the grocery store in TN than I do
here in SC. You'd think it would be the other way around since we have a
longer growing season.

Jill

On 26 Mar 2011 14:47:31 GMT, notbob <[email protected]> wrote:

>On 2011-03-26, Giusi <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Leeks were almost as expensive at Giant, too. Leeks are easy and cheap to
>> grow. Why so pricey?
>
>It's whatever the mkt will bear. Would you believe $3.85 EACH! for
>organic persimmons? Leeks are not well known to US cooks, so have
>alway been pricey, IME.

Leeks are well known to US cooks... that's not why they're pricy.

Leeks are not easy and cheap to grow, they require special growing
conditions... leeks generally won't grow in the typical home garden
anywhere in the US. Leeks need an exceptionally long growing season
of cool temperatures and they are very labor intensive, they require
constant blanching (the careful piling of soil to protect from light).
Leeks also don't store well (not like dry onions) so there's excessive
spoilage. Also leeks are not popular in many regions, this also
significantly contributes to spoilage on the shelf. In the US one
doesn't find large displays of leeks at the green grocer, they're just
not all that popular. In the US leeks are mainly considered a soup
vegetable and oniony soups are not very popular in the US, nor are
most oniony dishes. There are many other ways to cook leeks but
again, the US palate is not all that fond of oniony dishes.. try to
think of the last time you served your family creamed or braised
onions, even fried onion rings are not all that popular... most don't
want onions in their salads or even on a burger, which is why
restaurants typically serve onion on the side or it needs to be
requested. I happen to like onions but still I don't buy leeks, I can
substitute other onions quite nicely... and leeks besides being pricy
contain a lot of waste... leeks are really two separate vegetables,
most folks use the tender white portion but few bother with the tough
green parts.

Giusi wrote:

> All the rest of my shopping over the two months was done at specialty
> shops. That was partly because of where I was staying. Chevy Chase
> is a close-in suburb with lots of specialty shops, but for
> supermarkets I could reach without a car only Giant and Trader Joe's.
> The other supermarketing was done semi-recreationally when my friend
> with a car went with.

I live one light rail station away from three supermarkets: Cub,
Rainbow, and Aldi. The first two have a fair amount of immigrant food;
for example, the Cub has injera (the Ethiopian bread which looks like a
sponge.)

Their Hispanic sections are interesting mixtures. Taco Bell sauces,
and other Americanized stuff; imports from Mexico; and Hispanic foods
made in the US. (Including spaghetti; I don't know if it's any
different from American spaghetti except for the labels being partly in
Spanish.)

Supermarkets in more prosperous areas of Minneapolis have much smaller
selections of such foods.

--
Dan Goodman
dsgood at lj, dw, ij, fb, tw__

Ed Pawlowski wrote:

>
> "sf" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news[email protected]..
> > On Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:10:45 +0100, "Giusi" <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Things have changed a lot in ten years. Some things are a lot
> > > worse and some a lot better.
> > >
> > > Trader Joe's nowadays doesn't seem to have a lot of reason to
> > > exist. It looked to me as if they are mostly about prepared food.
> >
> > TJ's isn't as fun and interesting as it used to be. You probably
> > never "knew" Trader Joe's in the olden days, but subsequent
> > customers demanded consistency and that's what they got. It's just
> > a shell of its former self because well off, entitled, Yuppies
> > wanted to see the same products every time they shopped there.
> > Money talks. My new favorite store, Rainbow grocery, is filled
> > with rich, aging hippies and they cater to the crowd. That's how
> > it goes in retail.
>
> TJ's is owned by Aldi. I'm not sure of its origins, but I think it
> is evolving to a high priced Aldi.

I believe it's actually owned by another branch of the family which
owns Aldi.

--
Dan Goodman
dsgood at lj, dw, ij, fb, tw__

On 2011-03-26, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>
> Leeks are well known to US cooks...

Sure they are.....

Mac n' cheese n' leeks.
Tuna leek casserole
BBQ chicken, baked beans w/ leaks
Burger, shake, n' leeks
Turkey, stuffing, yams, n' creamed leeks
Bacon, eggs, n' leeks
Chili con leeks.

GTFOH!

nb

On Mar 26, 6:10*am, "Giusi" <decob...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Things have changed a lot in ten years. *Some things are a lot worse and
> some a lot better.
>
> Trader Joe's nowadays doesn't seem to have a lot of reason to exist. *It
> looked to me as if they are mostly about prepared food. *The ones I sampled
> in the stores were good, but I don't buy packaged food and I was very
> disappointed in the basic ingredients selection and shocked at some of the
> prices. *$4.95 per pound for broccoli? *At the absolute height of the
> season? *$3.95 per pound for leeks? *I don't think so.

leeks are not all that popular here in the US. That accounts for their
high price. They are considered a "gourmet" item. They are not widely
used in the mainstream.

In article <[email protected]>,
"Giusi" <[email protected]> wrote:

> without a car only Giant and Trader Joe's. The other supermarketing was
> done semi-recreationally when my friend with a car went with.

Have you been hiding the fact that you're from Minnesota? <grin> We
get slammed for that sentence construction: ". . . went with." The
follow-up is always "Went with who? Went with what?"

I hope you had a good visit in the U.S. of A.

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller