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Are these things available at your grocer?


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This may sound like a silly thing to ask, but there are some things that are very important for Mexican cooking. Since we will be moving, I want an idea of how difficult it will be to find some ingredients and at what cost. I have decided I will make corn tortillas by hand, and even flour if the kids ever ask for them. So that was the biggest thing.

 

Here are some of the places we may end up in.

 

Sevannah, GA

Boston, Ma

Ny, NY

Somewhere in Connecticut,

and maybe somewhere in Canada.

 

Common grocery items I will be looking for

 

Tomatillos

Dry chiles:

Guajillo

California

Chile de arbol

Pinto beans

Black beans

Peruvian beans

Fresh Chiles

Jalapeños

serrano chiles

Pasilla for stuffing

Fresh (not frozen) shrimp

Canned chipotle in adobo

Nopalitos (Mexican fresh cactus)

Queso fresco

Queso Oaxaca

Queso Panela

 

I am sure there is more, but I can't think of it at the moment.

 

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my question, and hopefully answer it.

 

Danielle

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I know most cities have a Mexican store where I think that you could get those ingredients. I live in a mid-sized town and we have three to five Mexican stores.

 

That's what I am hoping for. Thanks, this is reassuring.

 

Danielle

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Not sure about the dried chiles, but I know I've seen everything but the Peruvian beans and cactus at Wal-Mart. I also know that our town has a Mexican market that carries pretty much everything you listed, and we're not in particularly cosmopolitan area. Certainly a place like NY would have everything you're looking for...at least I would assume so!

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I live in Washington state and all of those things are easily found at the grocery store that I shop at. However, I should mention that the store I shop at is where the overwhelming majority of our Hispanic population shops, so I'm sure they are catering to their customers by offering those things. I don't know how easily those things would be found at other stores in our city. So, no matter where you are I would think that you could find those things, it just may be a matter of hunting down where the local Hispanic people shop.

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We have a HUGE Mexican farmer's market here and I've seen all of those items there regularly. Of course, I'm in Delaware so that doesn't really help you much. ;) I don't know about the grocery stores though; I don't shop there.

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None of that sounds exotic to me. I don't even live in a major city. I do love food shopping in NYC and Boston.

 

On the shrimp. There is plenty of not- frozen shrimp available-- from Thailand. Local or gulf shrimp is only sometimes available, and when it is, $$$$. 15.99/lb I saw the other day. (Gulf)

Edited by LibraryLover
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We have several Mexican stores around here. Honestly, I cannot imagine a decent-sized city in the US that doesn't have a dedicated Mexican grocery store (Canada might be more of a problem?). Most decent-sized cities have Korean grocery stores, and the Korean population in the US is so much smaller than the Mexican population. Now the prices might reflect the fact that it's a Mom & Pop store rather than a chain, but you shouldn't have trouble finding them.

 

Fresh shrimp will be available anywhere that's near the ocean. You can get unfrozen shrimp in the landlocked areas, but in my experience they were usually previously frozen.

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I can find most of those items. BUT they will cost more than you think and are not always the same thing.

 

I love to cook with green chili (hatch preferably :)). We left New Mexico 18 years ago and I have not found satisfactory chilis since. I can find El Paso canned green chili but it is over $1 for a tiny tiny can.

 

When I ask for green chilis in restaurants or food markets all they offer me are jalapenos. Those are not even the same thing.

 

Sorry to be the bearer of mildly bad news. :lol:

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I'm in a mid-Atlantic state in a metro area of 250,000. We have several Mexican grocers. Even the Walmart in a nearby county of 50,000 carries some of those ingredients.

 

Oddly, we've had trouble finding large cans of whole green chiles. When we find them, we stock up. We've also ordered them from amazon.

 

Coming from Denver, CO I was happily surprised to find many ingredients for Mexican cooking here in what I consider to be the sticks.

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Vancouver, Canada:

 

Tomatillos -- sometimes

Dry chiles:

Guajillo -- no

California -- no

Chile de arbol -- no

Pinto beans -- yes

Black beans -- yes

Peruvian beans -- don't know

Fresh Chiles

Jalapeños -- yes

serrano chiles -- sometimes

Pasilla for stuffing -- no

Fresh (not frozen) shrimp -- I think so? Easy to source anyway.

Canned chipotle in adobo -- probably not

Nopalitos (Mexican fresh cactus) -- no

Queso, etc. -- not familiar with the dairy section

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I'm in Savannah and we can get these things at the regular grocery story (Kroger/Publix)

 

Tomatillos

Dry chiles

Chile de arbol

Pinto beans

Black beans

Jalapeños

serrano chiles

Fresh (not frozen) shrimp (pretty sure; I keep kosher, but shrimp is ubiquitous here!)

Canned chipotle in adobo

Nopalitos (Mexican fresh cactus) (definitely available canned; sometimes fresh)

Queso fresco (I've noticed at least this, possibly the others, but I'm not sure because of the keeping kosher thing!)

 

There are also a couple of Mexican groceries here that would carry everything that you listed.

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