By Claude Mills, Staff Reporter
From left: Fresh apricots; Snow peas, asparagus and crooked-neck squash. - Cole Publishing Group/Universal Press Syndicate
What on earth are artichoke hearts and bottoms? Where in the world does a kiwi hail from?
How does one cook tortellini? As for squash, escargot, and feta cheese, most Jamaicans are out to sea on how to prepare these imported food items that have been appearing on grocery store shelves and in the refrigerator section. Supermarkets these days are offering a taste of the world. Some have whole sections dedicated to Indian or Asian cuisine, for example. Food this week serves up a bellyful of some of these unfamiliar, but tasty offerings.
AS THE 21st century barrels merrily along, it appears Jamaicans have expanded their culinary vocabulary to include a range of exotic items that challenge the powers of enunciation and tickle the taste buds.
Fettuccine. Tortellini. Artichoke hearts and bottoms. Asparagus spears. Escargot. Oven-ready Lasagne. Pita bread. Mushrooms. Squash. Peaches. Kiwi. Veggie mince. Mediterranean flat bread. Croissant. Tofu. Cheeses of all shapes, colours and smells. Edam. Parmesan. Gouda. Feta Cheese.
Most of these items are available in Kingston supermarkets like Sovereign in Liguanea; Public Supermarket in Manor Centre; John R. Wong in New Kingston; and the newly opened PriceSmart on Red Hills Road. Larger supermarkets in rural areas will carry items like yoghurt that are not a traditional part of the Jamaican diet.
"Fettucine is a big hit with my customers. They also ask for egg powder, Santa Rosa chicken loaves, Monaco corn oil, Nariel coconut oil. I don't know what the attraction is, but surprisingly, if we have these items, they sell off pretty fast," said Herbert Hagi, manager of Public Supermarket.
"I don't know why the taste of Jamaicans has changed so much, it could be the influence of the cable because a lot of customers have come into the pharmacy here to ask for Centrum because they see the ads that suggest it improves performance," he said chuckling. "But on the food side, interestingly, Italian foods seem to be the hip thing now," Mr. Hagi said.
Public Supermarket also has a popular Indian food section which has gained a loyal following since it opened three years ago. " The Indian section is very popular, items like Basmanti rice and Chapati are the most popular items."
Sovereign Supermarket is one of the few supermarkets in Jamaica that carry escargot (snail). "I'm not sure we have any in stock now, but we try to get stock in when we can because it is one of those popular items," said a manager at Sovereign.
In the meantime, the watch-what-you-eat-to-live-forever- health-food-culture has helped to pump up sales of bulgur bread and soy products in one Duhaney Park supermarket.
"People are going for a lot of wheat and soy products. Bulgur cereal is very popular, people are buying it a lot, I don't know if it's because of the health-consciousness push or what," said Winston McKenzie, assistant manager of Shoppers Fair Supermarket. "Earth shakes -- a soy product -- normally just an average seller, has also seen increased sales."
Mr. McKenzie also revealed that "tofu, veggie mince and veggie burgers were doing well" in his neck of the woods.
Low-cholesterol items have been gaining in popularity. "People are going for things with less cholesterol so we are finding that low-cholesterol butter and other low-cholesterol items are the ones that are flying off the shelves. Plus, people are going for more vegetables rather than meat," said Richie Chen of KC Supermarket in Ocho Rios, St. Ann.
However, the foreign-food-wave has not hit some rural environs.
"The country people don't go for those items. They are not used to those sort of fancy things, and the prices are just too high," commented a worker at Joong's Supermarket in Morant Bay, St. Thomas. "However, we have salad dressing, and yoghurt here, but nothing like fettucine, you have to go to Sovereign and the town supermarkets for that."
