Sunday 3 August 2008

Veggie shopping in the US for dummies !

The first few weeks after i landed in the USA, i had to give myself a refresher course in veggie shopping.... forget the fact that everything here, including fruits and veggies, has enough number of variants to confuse you and make you want to tug your hair... the names themselves can make you frustrated, the first few days.

To begin with, having entered your local grocery store, if you are searching for a section marked 'fruits' or 'vegetables', chances are that you would'nt find it, though the store might be carrying quite a huge selection of the same....simply because, fruits and vegetables are fashionably called 'produce' !
having located the 'produce' aisle, what are you looking for next ? some veggies for your everyday cooking ? before venturing any further, take a good look here, if you were brought up in India, like i was....

Well, lets start with the veggie that in India goes by the rather dainty name of "ladies finger" (you would expect something with such a name to be handled with care, but nay, it gets broken all the time, by many a lady's finger !! ) - here, in the US, its called "Okra" - sounds rather like the name of some greek godess, doesn't it ...

and of course, brinjals are eggplants... though i personally prefer the european "aubergine" - has that french twist, which makes it sound exotic !
maybe the americans find capsicum quite a mouthful - they are called bell peppers(classified into green, red or yellow -according to colour) !
And if you are looking for some coriander leaves to season those dishes you cooked up, please look for "Cilantro" - oh yeah, i got it right, that's the word !

If you are looking for tomatoes, it should be easier, they are called just tomatoes - you just have to make a choice - between cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, campari tomatoes, roma tomatoes, sweet tomatoes...to mention just a few...not to mention a "tomatoes on the vine" option...
And if you thought that nothing could go wrong with something as simple as potatoes, think again. you only have to choose between white potatoes, red potatoes,(i even saw purple or blue !), idaho potatoes, russets,
eastern potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, baby potatoes, and baking potatoes....phew !

well, as of now, i am tired of quoting from memory all the variants i can remember...will update the list whenever i am reminded of more....