A day or so ago on Facebook there was a “test” you could take to see how many strange and unusual foods you had ever eaten. I had a pretty high score but I noticed that most of the items I have not had a chance to eat were Asian. So it was with a sense of adventure and a short shopping list (4 items) my daughter Lisa and I joined one of my new friends, Jana Brown. She had offered to take us to an Asian market, Uwajimaya, in Beaverton, one of Portland’s western suburbs, about an hour from our home.
As we were driving there she mentioned she had heard of another market that sold Middle Eastern foods and had never been. Lisa spent a few seconds on her smart phone and soon had identified Barbur World Foods in southwest Portland. We headed there first, not planning to do much shopping. The joke was on us.
Ha! I can still surprise myself. We saw wonderful vegetables,
Brussels sprouts
interesting choices for meat,
a terrific deli where we bought a few things to munch on,
and then aisle and aisles of food. Lots of olives.
lots of pasta
and so much more! They have tasting events and we look forward to going there at least every other month!
Then on to
where we ate lunch first. They had a number of tasty dishes at their deli counter and a nice eating area set aside. Then we started with the produce,
moved on to where the fish and meat are (you can buy sushi grade to take home to prepare.)
and then the aisles and aisles of other foods.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Uwajimaya also has a bookstore as well as clothing
, tea pots and other cooking needs,
and gifts.
We brought home a trunk full of food, including a packed cooler. And now my kitchen cupboards and frig are full full full full of new things to try.
The adventure continues!
goingplaceslivinglife 
November 7, 2013 at 6:32 pm
If we looked at the faces of all the animals we eat, would we feel differently about eating them?
November 7, 2013 at 8:04 pm
If a person eats meat and if that person has compassion, then they can find a place that processes their animals in a compassionate manner. Having gotten to know farmers pretty well where I lived, and getting to know this group here now, I notice there are some who ship the animals off and others who are right there with them until the last moment. But the decision to eat meat should come before this point. How the animal is raised has a huge influence on the quality of the end product or the amount of chemicals we eat.
November 7, 2013 at 3:30 pm
The Duck! Yuk!
November 7, 2013 at 5:01 pm
We typically will see duck in supermarkets and even in The Wild Ramp in Huntington packaged like chicken. In other words, feet and head removed. The Asians use more parts than we westerners do, so they want it all. What is uncomfortable in one culture is normal in another and so, the earth spins round and round. *S*