# Formerly rare food you now expect your grocery to stock **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 20, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formerly-rare-food-you-now-expect-your-grocery-to-stock/976862 "2022-12-20T20:49:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formerly-rare-food-you-now-expect-your-grocery-to-stock/976862/81 "2022-12-24T09:49:14Z")
I remember when people would buy avocados and take them back east because people didn’t know what they were …oh and grapefruit in the 30s and 40s my grandpa had relatives in Florida so she knew what they were but she was telling stories about showing people in her neighborhood how to eat them and make grapefruit juice she said she didn’t see them in regularly in stores until the late 70s and 80s ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formerly-rare-food-you-now-expect-your-grocery-to-stock/976862/82 "2022-12-24T12:18:19Z")
I can understand that. Good Spanish saffron is ruinously expensive. I buy a one-ounce tin, which lasts me a number of years and doesn’t lose potency. There’s just no substitute. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formerly-rare-food-you-now-expect-your-grocery-to-stock/976862/83 "2022-12-24T12:53:40Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > grapefruit in the 30s and 40s my grandpa had relatives in Florida so she knew what they were but she was telling stories about showing people in her neighborhood how to eat them and make grapefruit juice she said she didn’t see them in regularly in stores until the late 70s and 80s Jimmy Cagney had his own method; [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Grapefruit-james_cagney-mae_clark21a.jpg/220px-Grapefruit-james_cagney-mae_clark21a.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/cc/Grapefruit-james_cagney-mae_clark21a.jpg/220px-Grapefruit-james_cagney-mae_clark21a.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formerly-rare-food-you-now-expect-your-grocery-to-stock/976862/84 "2022-12-24T15:05:57Z")
Arugula? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0vPKpMMapEg/hqdefault.jpg "My Blue Heaven - Arugula, it's a vegetable") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vPKpMMapEg) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formerly-rare-food-you-now-expect-your-grocery-to-stock/976862/85 "2022-12-24T16:07:09Z")
I’ve seen fresh passionfruit here in Chicago (at Pete’s Market) within the last year. I didn’t buy it because it was stupid expensive (IMO) for what it was. Like $5 a golf-ball sized fruit or something. Oddball produce comes through there every so often. I’ve also been able for find fresh cacao fruit, but it’s there for like a week or two, then disappears for months. And I have no idea who is buying it. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formerly-rare-food-you-now-expect-your-grocery-to-stock/976862/86 "2022-12-28T01:44:33Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > Does anyone know why you can’t buy fresh passionfruit in the continental U.S.? Ah-Ha! I spotted passionfruit tonight. It was at Fiesta Market in Streamwood. $12.99/lb. There’s another location that’s easier to get to from I-90 in Mount Prospect. > **[Fiesta Market](https://fiestamarket.com/en/)** > > Fresh Produce [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/formerly-rare-food-you-now-expect-your-grocery-to-stock/976862.md?page=4)