Well, I'm making tortilla soup this weekend and needed Mexican oregano and dried ancho chiles, so I stopped by and went shopping. Being a "specialty" store, the supermercado was, of course, smaller than a store such as Meijer or even Family Fare, but it still had tons of food and even a small section of non-Hispanic foods. The one thing I was a little worried about was labeling, so I had my boyfriend teach me how to ask for help in Spanish before I went. Of course, I know what avocados (aguacate) and limes (limones verdes) look like, but what about my oregano (oregano entero), chiles (chile ancho), and random other ingredients? Clearly, the oregano and chiles were labeled in such a way that I didn't have a problem identifying them. I actually had a more difficult time identifying foods (and reading ingredient labels (I'm vegan)) when I was in Czech Republic for a month. And mostly everything I bought had ingredients in both Spanish and English, so navigating an unfamiliar store was the most difficult part.
I bought some things (adobo sauce) not for the soup but just to have on hand. When I'm at Meijer, I question the authenticity of some products: does Ortega's taco sauce taste anything like it should (mmm...high fructose corn syrup); is La Preferida (based in Chicago since its inception) really a heavily Americanized version of the product? So I bought items originating from Mexico when I could, which is really probably the same thing because preservatives always take away from what we should make ourselves. I was a little surprised to see Old El Paso and Ortega taco seasoning packets and beans and sauces right along side everything else. I also noticed that much of what the store sold was made and packaged in the U.S., often in Grand Rapids or Chicago. I guess it's the product and not its origin that's the real concern.
Some things I noticed: fruits I had never seen before (and whose names I didn't write down because I, stupidly, did not bring a pen or paper), music that ranged from traditional-sounding Mexican to something that sounded like Mexican opera, huge tomatillos (there'll soon be green salsa in my house), lower prices.
One of my friends was concerned that I'd feel out of place, but the last place I lived was 98%-99% nonwhite. When I voted in the last presidential election, the kid checking voters in (18 or 19, getting extra credit) literally said to me, "I didn't think any white people lived in this district." Figuring out the layout of the store was the hard part for me, and identifying food was easier than I had imagined.
All in all a good experience and I'll probably continue to go to this store for certain foods that aren't offered at the stores at which I normally grocery shop (one trip to the store is enough for me, so if the food's where I am, that's where I'm gonna get it). Although, the avocado I got was tastier than the ones I buy at Meijer...
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