Columbus' Little Gems

For a while I've been meaning to go to the Mediterranean grocery store just north of the OSU campus. In fact, it's conveniently located next to the liquor store that serves the campus area. Anyway, it's a place that from the outside looks sketchy or like it may not even be open. They tend to keep the blinds closed, so you can't see inside. I love places that look crappy but end up being awesome. It feels like you've discovered something special, a hidden gem. 

Mediterranean Foods Imports, 2647 N. High St.

This place definitely was a gem. It has a wide variety of foods from Europe and the Middle East. Some products were even mysterious, with their labels written only in Arabic. They have a fantastic looking olive bar with a good variety of olives. There are also several types of dates, fresh feta, and huge containers of spices. I ended up buying both cous cous and bulgur in bulk, a huge bottle of olive oil, tahini, and some pita. I also got a little bit of sumac to try out since a few recipes I've wanted to make use it. 

I happened to have a giant can of chickpeas, so since I bought olive oil and tahini, I made my own hummus when I got home. I added garlic, lemon juice, and a bunch of fresh basil from our garden, and it was very yummy :-)

Quite a while ago I also found an Indian store, India Grocers on Sawmill Rd.,  where I stocked up on TONS of spices. They sell a lot of different things in very large quantities for very little money. There's basically an entire spice aisle. Love it! I found things I use normally like peppercorns and cracked red pepper, and then I bought some essentials I was lacking for Indian cooking -- garam masala, green and black cardamom pods, fenugreek, tamarind, black mustard seeds, dried chiles, etc. I've been making Indian food every few weeks since then and trying to perfect my skills. For new recipes it usually has to be weekend cooking because most Indian dishes have a lot of ingredients, take a lot of time, or are complicated in some way. I'll have to post on that another time, though. 

I've recently noticed that there's a small Indonesian store in Clintonville near the farmers' market. I'm hoping to check that out this weekend. Surprisingly, I also have yet to try any of the other Asian markets in Columbus. I know where the Japanese market is, but I've heard there's a Korean and a Chinese market elsewhere.  I've heard there's good kimchi at the Korean one.  Anyone out there who has tried these?