The grocery stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area that cater primarily to Mexican and other Hispanic customers are more colorful and have more variety than do stores that cater to middle America. There are several such stores throughout this part of north Texas, but the two largest chains (I think) are Fiesta (a standalone brand with a presence only in Houston, the Dallas area, and Austin) and Carnival (a brand of Minyards, whose stores are all concentrated in the Dallas/Fort Worth area area).
When entering either of these stores, one is immediately struck with how much they seem like the street markets in Mexico. Frequently, there are mini-taquerias at the entryways, where all sorts of freshly-made tacos are sold, tacos that one very likely won't find at Taco Bell (I haven't been to a Taco Bell in many years, so I may be wrong, but I think I'm probably not). For example, tacos de lengua (beef tongue), tacos de barbacoa (meat from the head of a cow), tacos al pastor (marinated, slow-cooked pork), and tacos de buche (rather new to me...diced cooked beef stomach) are among the offerings.
In addition to the taquerias, some of these stores have spaces near the front that, I assume, are rented to vendors ranging from cell-phone providers to international telephone card suppliers to people selling boom-boxes and leather goods. Spanish is the language of choice in these places and, in fact, many of the people who frequent these stores and work in them know little or no English.
These stores, and the "street markets" they have fostered around them, have become safe-havens for people who have come to this country looking for opportunities and who have found themselves in the midst of a culture that is complete foreign to them. I imagine going to the grocery store, where there are hundreds and hundreds of others like you who have yet to adopt the language and customs of your new (or perhaps temporary) homeland, can be an enormous stress-reliever. There, among the vendors and the familiar smells and colors and textures of the carnicerias and panaderias, and tortillarias, one can feel at home again.
When I go to these grocery stores and wander through the markets, I'm especially interested in the pescaderias (seafood), carnicerias (meat markets), and the incredible variety of cheeses and fruits and vegetables. I've noticed that seafood, especially, is dramatically cheaper in these places than the typical American-style grocery stores we visit. For example, yesterday we saw very large heads-on Gulf shrimp for $3.99 per pound at a Fiesta market; the same thing at an upscale place nearby goes for up to $15 per pound. Seriously! And what really gets me is the fact that the price differential can make some people think that the cheaper shrimp (or meat or cheese or whatever) is probably not as fresh or is somehow 'unclean' compared to the more expensive stuff nearer to us. Grocery merchants are becoming mor adept at convincing us that higher price equals higher quality, even when higher price is based purely on what the market will bear.
Back to what I find enthralling. The seafood in the pescaderias looks so inviting. Red snapper, tilapia, salmon (somewhat rare in these markets, for some reason), oysters, clams, octopus, calamari, shrimp, catfish...the markets are large and loaded with seafood. Much of the stuff on display has been frozen (and remains so), but occasionally there will be very, very fresh fish (alive, in tanks) available.
The carnicerias have an abundance of cuts of meat that are very different from the typical market I visit nearer to my home. The meat looks redder, fresher, and generally less fatty/marbled than what I'm used to. The typical cuts like sirloin steaks, rib-eye, etc. are there, but there are other cuts whose names I can't recall (frequently, they are presented in Spanish) that look interesting and, I'm sure, with the right recipes, would be out of this world. These markets have offerings that are very, very rarely found in the places that cater to middle-class Americans. During our foray into Fiesta yesterday, we found beef liver, beef heart, beef kidney, lamb kidney, tripe, pig's feet, cow head, and various other things that I would rarely, if ever, find in Tom Thumb stores.
Even the fruits and vegetables are offered in greater variety and at lower prices than at the stores we regularly visit. Calabacitas, a type of Mexican squash, was 30 cents per pound cheaper than yellow squash or zuccini. Another squash, rarely found in nearby stores, called chayote was even less expensive and was available in enormous abundance at Fiesta. The display of peppers of all kinds is always impressive to me, but I'm especially impressed when I see what must be hundreds of pounds of jalapeños piled high on the end of a row of vegetables. Frequently, I see people buy what must be four or five pounds at once and I wonder what they are doing with that much raw jalapeño? I typically buy only 3-4 peppers at a time. Tomatillos, a tomato-like fruit that is green and surrounded by a husk, are always available in abundance at Hispanic markets. Tomatillos are the principal ingredient in many green sauces used in Mexican dishes; they add the tartness and texture that makes so many green sauces so wonderfully flavorful. Even tomatoes tend to be considerably less expensive at Hispanic markets than at the places we tend to shop out of convenience. Ninety-nine cents a pound for tomatoes at Fiesta will probably be matched by $2.49 per pound at Tom Thumb and, at the more upscale Central Market, $3.49 per pound.
I should have taken my camera into the store yesterday. Seeing is so much more impressive than simply reading about these places. Of course, had I taken my camera in, I would probably have been taken down by guys who assumed I was capturing people in criminal acts. Despite my belief that most of the people who make these markets what they are...the people for whom the markets are sanctuaries and places of the familiar...I know that, just like any migration, some bad apples find their way in. There are Hispanic gangs in Hispanic neighborhoods, along with plain bad people who would just as soon shoot you as look at you. That, though, is not much different from any high-income north Texas high school.
My wife and I decided we needed a bit of cheering up, so we're off to see Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf in a while, at the Watertower Theater in Addison. I figure that, once we go listen to George and Martha and Nick and Honey, the minor problems we face, like potentially catastrophic client loss and subsequent bankruptcy, just won't seem so overwhelming. Actually, we have season tickets, so this is an obligatory visit to see the play.
