I confess. I love to shop for groceries...everyday. Maybe it's the "daily marketing" mentality I developed while living in Europe but I believe it is right and proper to purchase your food daily. To take time selecting, preparing and eating it, getting to know the people selling your food, explore the usual food stuffs but also the things that are unique to your market. I love to cook and shun eating out much. Nothing burns my butt more than paying for something I could have cooked better myself. So, where I shop for food is exceedingly important because a relationship central to my nutrition - and comfort - is being...well, nurtured, which is why I make an effort to by as much local produce as possible. 
So, I am happy to report I finally found my grocery store! Initially I shopped at the Shopper's Warehouse. It was okay but just another grocery store and much too far away. Then I found a Safeway so old that it still had the low ambient lighting before everything got so bright. Fun but off the beaten path. Occasionally I make a bus trek down Eastern Ave, over to Broadway and down Fleet Street to the local Whole Foods in the chic, "lofty" area of downtown Baltimore. But this Whole Foods is a mere shadow compared to the super WFs I grew accustomed to in Santa Fe. Plus, I question their politics of late. The Spanish store a couple of blocks away is good for bananas, mangoes, papaya and limes but the women who work there are not especially engaging. They may or may not smile when you pay for your purchase and if they do those smiles fade as soon as their hand closes over your money. This kind of exchange does not a food shopping relationship make but in a pinch I enjoy feeling like I am in a small Mexican town.But just down the road past the Value Village (one of the best I
have ever seen, i.e. six 18 carat gold-trimmed crystal wine glasses for a 99 cents each!) past the Enoch Pratt Free Library, past the six barbershops and hair salons (yes, I counted them), past the three neighborhood convenience stores, the three liquor stores, past the two pawn shops and one adult toy store is The World Markets of Highlandtown.
Under one roof are several markets but they are not artfully arranged and sectioned off like, say, Talin Asian Market in Albuquerque where each culture has its own neatly arranged isle. No, this store is a wonderful jumble of cultures much like Highlandtown itself. One section is sort of Middle Eastern, another more or less Asian. The Hispanic food 
spills onto the isle ends with piles of tortillas and sweets and then there's the wonderful Italians and other Mediterraneans. You can find Italian, Spanish and Turkish olive oils in various locations throughout the store. The Indian Gee and pickles are sandwiched between the Lebanese pomegranate syrup and colorful boxes of Japanese crackers. There's an array of different rices. Big bags of black rice from Indonesia, Indian white or brown basmati, jasmine rice, sushi rice lay piled on shelves at the back of the stroe. I counted tahini from four different countries.
The vegetables and fruits are pretty standard fare but you have to hustle to get the good collard greens as they get snatched early in the day but are easily substituted with dandelion greens, kale or savoy and green cabbages. Plenty of fish - crab, shrimp, cat fish, snapper, and more - and the deep meats: goat, beef heart and kidney, goat, tripe, ox tail with the usual pig, chicken and beef.Tonight's menu: wilted romaine salad with grilled pieces of marinated chicken breast, grilled pineapple, tomatoes and mushrooms with warm Asian rice wine vinegar dressing. Yummmmy! Yep, I found my grocery store and it's got soul. No, really, today they were playing Duke of Earl over the sound system. I'm a happy camper.
Cheers
LAFF
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