A post yesterday kicked off an occasional series of informal guides to navigating the ethnic supermarket, the mega-store grocery chains catering to immigrants that have become a part of Southern California’s regional landscape as its immigrant communities have grown and evolved.
Guest blogger and L.A. comic Lory Tatoulian started us on a tour yesterday of Glassell Park’s Super King, part of a popular Armenian supermarket chain. We left off with Lory in the meat section, a part of which she reserves a special name for.
Photo by Lory Tatoulian
In the meat section at a Super King in Glassell Park, April 2011
(Continued from yesterday)
Then there is the science project section, which houses strange organs that look like they belong in a medical school laboratory.
These meats are for advanced carnivore consumers and are usually reserved for old Armenian men who classify the more bizarre the meat, the more delectable. In the early morning winter months is it not unusual to see Armenian men, dressed in business suits, huddled over a boiling vat of khash at Griffith Park while having a very loud conversation about world politics. Khash is a dense soup of beef tripe and trotters lavishly seasoned with garlic and also known to induce contentious conversation and cure a host of physical ailments.
Make sure to browse down the olive oil aisle and marvel at the copious collection that is imported from around the world. Noteworthy is the subliminal positioning of the bottles from the Middle East: Israeli olive oil is placed next to Lebanese olive oil and Armenian olive oil is next to Turkish olive oil, a proverbial homage to peace in the Middle East. All the countries that are at odds, living harmoniously together on the Super King shelf.
Drinking coffee and eating seeds are favorite pastimes of Armenians. It’s during these recreational activities that family issues are hashed out, world politics are argued and gossip is exaggerated and spread. Super King has an entire department dedicated to Coffee and Nuts. The sweet girl behind the counter is imitation Kim Kardashian, and she will guide you through the popular selections: salted pumpkin, lemon and squash seeds.
Armenian coffee is preeminent. The muddied coffee is poured into little demitasse coffee cups from a small pot called a jezveh. After drinking, flip your coffee cup over and “translate” the impressions left from the grinds. It is believed that one’s future is etched inside. It’s like reading a Rorschach test, except the readings result in exciting predictions, such as a letter from a faraway land, money, or marriage.
Sweet confections are the best compliment to the coffee. Try halva (a blend of tahini and crushed sesame) rojeeg (walnuts covered in syrup) or pakhlava, what’s also referred to as baklava.
Take caution, though, and stay away from the frozen grape leaves. And don’t buy the cold wax remover or the green tarragon soda.
Now that you have conquered your battle and filled your cart with the best of Indo-European booty, the real battle awaits: Getting out of the parking lot that is an endless sea of SUVs and German luxury cars.
This is when a return to the small Armenian market, with the same products, but more soul, seems alluring.
