Patidar Supermarket, Bridgewater
The new flagship store of this small chain of Indian markets is not just a stock-up spot for South Asian ingredients, but a place for shoppers less-versed in the region’s cuisines to be educated – and entertained by the excitement of the unfamiliar.
Markets Valued
Where the strawberries, the asparagus, the spinach, the gloriously decorated cookies, intriguing preserves, meats and fishes and cheeses, babkas and salad mixes are – that’s where you need to be. A gaggle of major farmers’ markets, including those in Asbury Park, Brick Township, Collingswood and Hunterdon County, just reopened for the season. Herewith, a report from the frontlines.
Kasia Market
Korean-dominated Pan Asian groceries and prepared foods give this expansive locally owned marketplace in the Belle Mead section of Montgomery Township its name and its soul. While Korean fare dominates, there are provisions from India, China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries in the East, South, Southeast and Far East of Asia. Bring your culinary passport and idle through its aisles.
The Flying Pig Market
In downtown Asbury Park, a new food market stocks necessities and specialties that meet the needs of a neighborhood that both year-rounders and part-timers call home. It’s where you can find selections that speak to mindful sourcing and a love of highly flavorful eats.
Winter’s Wonder Lands
Now is the season for winter farmers’ markets, the prime places to go for stock-ups, meet-ups and a spirit of true Garden State community. Here’s an idea particularly suitable to a food-centric outing: Tack onto the gathering of comestibles at the stalls of our farmers, bakers and food artisans a post-shop stop at a nearby restaurant and make the day a fine food-intensive adventure.
Shoppers’ Paradises
We all know about High Summer in the Garden State and how its produce shapes our meals during that season. Now comes the time to employ a different kind of procurement plan, one that feeds our needs for a succession of holiday dinners and get-togethers and aids in neighborly gift-giving and family stocking-stuffing. It’s officially High Food-Shopping Season and we’re offering recommendations on where to score favored eats from authorities throughout New Jersey.
On-Farm Stores
Garden State farmers are setting up shops, not just roadside stands, on their farms, spotlighting their own produce as well as condiments helpful to home cooks and foods from neighboring artisans. It’s consumer-friendly convenience that makes getting a wealth of local foods on the table easy as pie – which is sold at some stores as well.
In Season Now: Farmers’ Markets
Along with Garden State asparagus, strawberries, peas, spinach and lettuces come the new vintages of our farmers’ markets. They’re ever-more prevalent, diverse and geared to weekly stock-ups. It’s truly where the smart and savvy shop for food.
Burlington County Farmers’ Market: Pre-season Edition
Stock right up at the early birds’ version of one of the Garden State’s best farmers’ markets. There’ll be three more after this year’s inaugural foodfest, so let these highlights motivate you to mark your calendar post-haste.
A Bounty of Food Gifts
Whether you want to give a primo ingredient, bring a more-than-respectable prepared dish to a party, or make something heartfelt from scratch for a host, here are three dozen sources for gifts that will be well received and just as well used.
Balkan Market
For New Jersey residents of Balkan heritage, the fundamentals of home-cooked meals often depend on procuring critical ingredients made in their homelands – ingredients that, fortunately, are imported and found in the Garden State at small, family-owned and independent groceries, such as this shop in Manalapan run by Timi Marke and his family.
Woori Mart
For the Kim-Lee family, it’s kitchen and community first as its members put a very personal stamp on their Korean-leaning Asian market in Mercer County. Whether you come for the top-tier prepared foods or a weekly stock-up (or both), an education in culture awaits.