For the past year I have watched...and waited...for the new Salaam International Food Market to open around the corner from my house. The signs went up approximately this time last year and everyday I passed by...365 days....in hopes it would be "Grand Opening" day.
"Grand Opening" happened about a month ago. I didn't go. I think all the waiting, all the anticipation had built up and somewhere around day number 276 it just completely fizzled out. A girl can only wait so long, right?
After my dinner date (with my dad) last night I decided to stop in. I must have crawled through each aisle like a turtle. I stopped to read EVERYTHING...and most of it was in a foreign language! I recognized a few things....Lebanese food and Indian foods familiar to me through my friendships with Najla, Rupa and Sangeeta, respectively. And of course I recognized all the Mexican ingredients. But for the most part, I was blissfully lost and wondrously confused. I loved it!
Here is what I walked away with.
And it must be said, the young lady who was at the check out counter was, quite possibly, one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. I was too embarrassed to ask from where she hailed but I would imagine Egypt, or somewhere around there.
I asked her if they had been busy. Her answer was lackluster...but she added an, "I hope it gets better." I detected a good deal of desperation in her voice. I promised her I would be back.
As I threw my bags in my car I looked around the parking lot. My eyes settled on Sarovar, the local Indian restaurant. I sat in my car for a moment and I flashed on all the customers I had just seen in the food store. What a beautiful combination of cultures and peoples and their foods....all celebrated under one roof.
And then, it just hit me. I am lucky enough to reside in an area where MANY cultures are represented. Catholic charities places families in my neighborhood. I often see them at my local "super market" and they look glassy eyed....peoples in search of the cuisine that represents them. They probably come out of there heartbroken half the time. Now they have a place to find the foods, spices, drinks, delicacies that come out of their respective countries.
Just for a moment I imagined living in a big city...in the epi-center of international peoples, customs and cultures. But wait...I do! I actually do!
If you have a chance check out Salaam International Food Market at Wurzbach and Ironside. If you are in need of ANY spice in THE WORLD...I guarantee you they have it!
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