Shopping For Dinner In a New York Minute

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

I have bittersweet news, dear readers. I have left New York, possibly for good. After seven years of East Coast living my frigid bones are in need of some serious defrosting. I miss the sun, my family, the year-round produce, and yes, driving a car. So after some monumental cleaning out of my closet and my life, I took my kitchen to UPS and hopped on a plane to California.

As certain or uncertain as I may be with my move, I know the internal debate may never cease. A part of me will always be very California, just as I leave a huge part of me behind in New York. As much as I may miss the California agricultural harvest, there are many culinary parts of my New York that I will miss in no small way. For instance, it is with only a minute amount of shame that I admit my first whimpers of sadness prior to the move were not in the arms of a dear friend but over a last meal at my favorite noodle restaurant (Note, I am not completely cold and heartless; the tears shed for my friends were many once they came).

Even with the bounty of California's agriculture and its abundance of artisanal producers, I will be hard-pressed to find a neighborhood as diverse in its goods as my East Village was and is. The beautiful part is that there was a place for everything you could dream up. You could take care of your grocery list with some one-stop shopping at one of the tempting and gorgeous gourmet markets. But with a little walking and some intrepid shopping, you could often find not just good ingredients, but the best of the best, and at prices that will make you forget you live in the most expensive city on earth.

The following list of my old neighborhood favorites won't be of much direct use unless you happen to live in or plan on visiting New York. However, there are lessons to be learned from each of my old haunts to help you bring a better meal to the table in a New York minute.

East Village Cheese (3rd Ave at 9th St.): If one has ever set foot inside the papered windows of East Village cheese, I would doubt you would ever buy your cheese elsewhere again. Or your olive oil, imported proscuitto, smoked salmon, or nicoise olives. This cash-only gem buys in bulk and close-outs and passes the savings on to the consumer. Deeply discounted prices make experimenting with cheeses you have yet to try a painless process. In your store, look for weekly specials and take advantage. If a store will sample you cheese, do a mini-tasting and make sure what you are spending money on is quality purchase.

Meat Market (2nd Ave at St. Mark's): A team of Ukranian men chopping racks and hanging smoked sausage all dressed in matching white coats and caps? Does it get any more authentic? They smoke their own sausage and pickle their own pickles. And they know just they right thickness for the perfect lean bacon for Sunday brunch. Make friends with your own neighborhood butcher, even if it is at your supermarket. Once you're in, he will reward you with the best center cuts and even special order when you are looking for a cut of meat not normally in stock.

Green Market (Union Square): This is the city's biggest farmer's market. It draws small producers from as close as New Jersey and as far as upstate New York. Wanting to support them all and overwhelmed by the variety of strange and wonderful produce, it is easy to find yourself bogged down with a fridge full of leeks and a mountain of heirloom tomatoes. Look for your local farmer's market or produce stand in support of your own farmers. Or, for a little farmer's market adventure in your own supermarket, pick up a vegetable or fruit you have never cooked before, bust out the dusty cookbooks and try something new.

Associated Supermarket (14th St. at First Ave.): This may be one of the lower-end super markets, but these definitely have their appeal. First there are the staples: flour, eggs, and milk come with price tags a fraction of those found at their flashier competitors down the road. Secondly, the Associated is next door to a Puerto Rican and Dominican community, meaning they stock certain ethnic foods that are hard to find elsewhere. Finally there is their meat department, and although there is not a butcher to speak of (or to), amidst the styrofoam and plastic wrapped containers are delicacies like tripe, chicken feet and ham hock. These items you might have to beg a butcher to procure at a fancier store. If your town has a particular ethnic neighborhood, check out the area's supermarket to find interesting items you might not have at your own.

Most cities in America don't have New York's variety, but cities everywhere are becoming increasingly diverse. Immigrant populations bring with them their specialty markets and farmers markets. Both large co-operative organizations and smaller roadside stands beckon with your area's local and freshest produce. I will continue to miss New York's diversity. But if you follow my example, you too can find your own cornucopia right in your own backyard.

The following recipes were made with ingredients picked up at my various favorite food stores.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 1/2 pound jicama
• 1 mango
• 2 green onions
• 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon jalapeno sauce
• 2 small dried red chiles
• 1 pinch sugar
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Serves/Makes: 4

• 4 Portuguese rolls
• 1/2 pound shredded manchego cheese
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 1/3 pound garlic sausage, chorizo or other smoked sausage, cut in 1/2-inch slices