The culture of supermarket aisles always fascinates me.
For instance, in the Southwestern U.S., most supermarkets have a section - maybe the greater part of an aisle - that features Mexican products. That may not sound remarkable, but in the most Hispanic areas like El Paso or the Rio Grande Valley, this section is distinct from another aisle that has the more mainstream “Mexican” goods like Pace Picante sauce and Old El Paso beans. (You even see “Mainstream Salsa” vs. “Ethnic Hispanic Foods” or other such awkward labels).
There is usually a Jewish/Kosher section - even in places with fairly small Jewish communities - mainly with Manschiewitz products, even in places that - at best - have a few dozen Jewish people. Perhaps these are nationally distributed?
Most supermarkets have an Asian section - varying from very rudimentary mass-market sauces in areas with few Asian Americans to more elaborate selections with products labelled in various languages.
Are there any other such regional variants? Are there any very localized variants, like maybe an Scandinavian aisle in rural Minnesota or a French Canadian section in Maine? Do any supermarkets have a Soul Food/African American aisle?
In Bath Maine well of the beaten path I found a section that contained even Tibet and Laotian food. Also French and English specialties, probably 20 countries represented in that aisle.
While anywhere within 300 miles of Mexico one hears Spanish all the time, there only 3 hours from Quebec I only heard French 3 times in 18 months.
In Astoria our grocery store had a huge Middle Eastern section, a huge Greek section, a huge Eastern European section, a huge Indian section and a moderate sized Caribbean section. This is in spite of being wedged in between Titan Market and Euromart. It even extended out to the produce. They carried a lot of random stuff that seemed ethnically driven (it wasn’t an ethnic market either, they had a regular middle aisle deal going on as well) like green garbanzos, date fruit and Malabar spinach. There was just that much demand, I guess.
In JC we live in a neighborhood with a primarily Hispanic population and our local grocery is pretty much entirely aimed at cornering the market/taste demands. And then they’ll have really random stuff like quail eggs. Very poor on other cuisines but it’s easy to drive out to surrounding communities to get our fill of Indian groceries etc… We do go back to Astoria for some specialty stuff though.
For some reason (not that I’m complaining) the local grocery stores have a rather large British section in the “International” aisle. If I ever need Lyle’s Golden syrup, I can get it locally.
We have Scandanavian and French-Candian food here, but it’s just considered standard food, there’s no special aisle or sign. The lutefisk is right there next to the other fish, the juustoleipä is with the other cheese, and the pasties and tortière are in the freezer section.
We have a pretty reasonable section of Hispanic food – lots of Goya products – which is surprising since there are not that many Hispanics around (6.4% of the population, about a third of the state average).
There is a specialized Italian section (lots of Cora products), but Italians are a big ethnic group in the area.
Suburbs of Chicago here. I live near a large supermarket that in addition to the standard American fare, they have big special ethnic food aisles for various Asian countries, Italian, Mexican, various Eastern European countries, Middle Eastern, and Indian, as well as a kosher Jewish section. Most supermarkets will stick to small selections of most of these (maybe leaving out a couple altogether).
Toronto has a big immigrant population (particularly East Asians, South Asians, West Indians), so almost every supermarket has large ethnic departments, plus there are specialty supermarkets that cater to specific groups.
I wish there were more European specialties; I was surprised upon coming to Canada and seeing how few British foods are offered. Also, there are lots of halal items for sale, but in six years I’ve yet to see anything labeled kosher.
Smaller shops cater to Russians, Germans, Brits, but you have to look around for them. Mexican and Cajun specialties are also hard to find.
In Moscow (Russia, not Idaho), you can find Caucasian, Central Asian, and Korean stuff at almost any supermarket. Sushi is, for reasons I’m unable to fathom, also very popular amongst the Russians.
That **has **to violate some regulation - EPA, OSHA - something!
Lots of people shop Andy’s Fruit Ranch in our neighborhood in Chicago for their selection of fruits and vegetables used in other cuisines. I took my nieces on a tour of it when they visited. I have to admit, the goat’s head squicked them out.
I live in a suburb of Chicago and the supermarket I usually go to has a small section of British food, and one of Polish food with a few German products as well. There is a large Polish-American population here, of course.
In South Texas, the HEB does have a tiny British section - just a shelf or two really with some things like Heinz Beans (the less sweet British variety)…and “Spotted Dick” (which probably mainly ends up as a gag gift).
A few areas here in California have supermarkets that are entirely Asian, like Ranch 99 and Zion Market (Korean). They have a wide selection of sauces, spices, dried food of various sorts, unusual produce, cuts of meat not found in run-of-the-mill grocery stores, and live fish and seafood.
Bedford has an African market. I’ve been tempted to stop in to see what an African market sells. One morning, I saw an Echrich Sausage truck unloading there, so I know they have Echrich Sausage.
I also live in D/FW, and pretty much EVERY store has a Hispanic aisle that’s a couple steps past the mass-market Ortega and Old El Paso stuff. Most Kroger stores typically have an “International” aisle that has a number of sections- usually a British one, an Asian one, and a sort of Middle East/European one that sells stuff like tahini, real Polish pickles, Turkish coffee, Italian pasta, German canned herrings, etc… Some Krogers have a “Texas” aisle or section of an aisle with local items like barbecue sauce, salsa, pastries, etc…
Places like Super Target and Wal-Mart pretty much only have the Hispanic stuff. Places like Central Market and Whole Foods do a pretty good job of having gourmet international ingredients, and having local stuff as well- but it’s one of their marketing points, so it’s not so surprising.
The very best ethnic aisles are at the ethnic markets, but what makes it interesting is that Fiesta (a hispanic grocery) has a great African and Indian section, and that the local Asian markets often have European items not available elsewhere, as well as sections for all of Asia.