Are there foods that are hard to find for immigrants in the USA?
Posted by TheShyBuck@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 424 comments
Are there foods that are hard to find for immigrants in the USA? especially the ones living in medium cities
is it hard to find restaurants in the USA that sell cooked meat organs like livers, stomach necks?
CouldntBeMeTho@reddit
WTF is a STOMACH NECK??
Driftmoth@reddit
Esophagus?
FeralGiraffeAttack@reddit
The part of the stomach that connects to the stomach head. Didn’t you learn anything in school?
GalenOfYore@reddit
The human stomach has 4 parts: the cardia, fundus, body (corpus), and the pylorus. Colloquialisms are too numerous to list.
Dorkinfo@reddit
Kinda like a certain someone has a labia neck.
JoshHuff1332@reddit
It's missing a comma. They probably speak English as a second language
TheyMakeMeWearPants@reddit
I was honestly debating between a missing comma or that referring to the part that connects to the esophagus.
Grombrindal18@reddit
That’s probably not far off what a gizzard is.
accidental_Ocelot@reddit
I had a Chinese woman give me a chickens foot. It's not really a food you find in a normal grocery store at least where I am. But I can't imagine it's hard to find a chickens foot being as we slaught millions every year.
HermioneMarch@reddit
What culture? What foods? What region of US? You will find liver and gizzards in the American South, but as for preparing it the way you are accustomed to, I can’t say. There are markets for various ethnic foods in most mid sized cities but without knowing more it is hard to point you in the right direction.
PhilTheThrill1808@reddit
Traditional haggis is pretty much impossible to find in the US, bc the haters at the FDA banned the consumption of lungs in 1971.
Emily_Postal@reddit
I thought haggis was made with a sheep’s stomach?
PhilTheThrill1808@reddit
It’s traditionally encased in the stomach, the filling encased is heart, liver, and lung (plus oatmeal, onion, suet and spices)
CalamityKid_@reddit
Haggis is disgusting and I come from an area where we make and eat scrapple and hogmaw. Haha.
Bubbly_Safety8791@reddit
You don’t have to go that exotic. You can’t get blackcurrants or kinder eggs in the US.
Tizzy8@reddit
Black currants were banned because they spread a fungus that infects our pine trees. It was a successful effort at preventing what happened with Elm trees. Now they’ve developed both a treatment for the fungus and fungus resistant trees so black currants are no longer banned.
Bubbly_Safety8791@reddit
Yes. This is a thread about things that are hard to buy because of past government bans. Blackcurrants, like haggis, are hard to find in the US, because government regulations have affected their availability.
Pete_Iredale@reddit
Kinder eggs aren't specifically banned. You can't have non-edible items in the middle of food items in the US because of the obvious chocking risk.
Bubbly_Safety8791@reddit
The obvious choking risk that for some reason no other country is concerned about.
beenoc@reddit
It's not actually for the choking risk - the "no non-food inside the food" is part of the original Food and Drug Act from the 20s (the one that established the FDA), in response to all the crazy shit going on back then (sawdust in the bread, severed limbs in the ground beef, etc.) It predates Kinder eggs by decades, and nobody ever bothered to change it because, outside of like 20 people on the internet getting butthurt over not getting a specific candy, nobody cares.
Pete_Iredale@reddit
Not worth the effort to change rules, or allow an exception, for one mediocre snack with a throw away piece of plastic inside.
Classic_Cash_2156@reddit
The reason for the ban is simple. It's easier to enforce a blanket rule than it is to enforce one that is more particular.
"No inedible objects can be fully enclosed by food" is a lot more clear-cut of a rule than "only inedible objects that are choking hazards are banned." And therefore it is a lot easier to enforce.
If they tried to distinguish between items that were and were not a choking hazard there would almost certainly be regular fights over whether or not a particular item is or is not a choking hazard. In comparison "that's an inedible object that cannot be seen from the outside of the food item, therefore banned" is a lot clearer.
jigokubi@reddit
You can get Kinder eggs, but the toy and the egg are separated.
Any_Scientist_7552@reddit
Yes, you can.
turquoise_amethyst@reddit
Also Blackcurrants are legal now! I’ve seen them in the PNW! You can buy them here https://nwwildfoods.com/products/fresh-frozen-organic-black-currants-2?srsltid=AfmBOoqQ3SBRV9_vnZ1Y3CJX2JwFRPUtnwLM_JezvRXK_5f55QDUkcO2
GalenOfYore@reddit
Haters? Please explain. The USDA has quite a different explanation.
eyetracker@reddit
It's cargo cult logic: it's banned because there must be a good reason to do so, so it should remain banned. IIRC there's some evidence-free justification that lung is a filter so it must be bad. But ultimately there isn't much of a haggis "lobby," and the general offal lobby isn't strong.
PhilTheThrill1808@reddit
Unless I’ve missed something, I don’t believe that many Scottish people die or get sick from consuming haggis. So I fail to see the problem should someone choose to consume it here.
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
We have friends that butcher sheep and make their own haggis. It's delicious, and utterly unlike the only kind I'd tried before, which was that canned abomination imported from Scotland.
turquoise_amethyst@reddit
And yet we still eat brains…
Intrepid_Practice956@reddit
I thought the rule was we couldn't IMPORT lungs? I could be wrong though as I don't eat them-- domestic or imported.
turquoise_amethyst@reddit
I looked it up, as I’ve mostly seen lungs used for dog treats. Looks like they’re illegal both domestic and imported.
New-Process-52@reddit
Yes bushmeat
oremfrien@reddit
Oh yeah. If I didn't live near New York City, there would be a lot of ingredients that would be struggle for me to find.
swerg678@reddit
Theres a lot of tropical fruits from South America and Asia that are hard to find in the usa
Interesting-Fish6065@reddit
People from Brazil have told me that even some fruits we have here taste so “meh” compared to the same species of fruit back home that they don’t even bother with them here.
HarlequinKOTF@reddit
They breed varieties for US markets that can withstand shipping here. Trade off is they taste worse.
We even did the same to red delicious apples.
redditsuckspokey1@reddit
And tomatoes. My parents swear by them and I have tasted them myself.
Stan_Deviant@reddit
Don't eat apples or sweet corn in California. It just isn't as good at Minnesota.
RadiantReply603@reddit
Most apples in Californian grocery stores are from Washington State, but you can get super sweet crunchy Fuji apples from California farmers markets.
I’ve never been to Minnesota, so I can’t compare. But it’s also hard to imagine apples better than what’s available in California. It’s comparable to Japan.
Sweet corn in California is also super sweet. Corn from Iowa typically sucks because it’s grown for feed or processing.
velociraptorfarmer@reddit
A fresh Honeycrisp apple from an orchard in Minnesota in September will make you weep.
Unlucky-Mongoose-160@reddit
Most of California does not have the climate for good apples. You might think the apples are good, and maybe they are, but farmers market apples for NY or other northern states are just incomparable.
wolfysworld@reddit
I’m in NM and we harvest thousands of apples to press cider for Farmers Markets in our area. I was surprised that this desert climate produces so many orchards. Many run along the Rio Grande and its tributaries.
Stan_Deviant@reddit
MN grows more sweet corn than any other US state and developed apples like the honeycrisp. California is great at growing a LOT of crops but these two just aren't their forte.
(I've lived in both places)
Not_an_okama@reddit
At least for the sweetcorn, ive read that the sugars start breaking down the second the corn is harvested, so you lose a lot of the sweetness if youre not consuming it within a day or 2 of harvest.
Stan_Deviant@reddit
Or freezing/processing it! But even pulling it from the farmers markets in both places is different. Minnesota sweet corn is a different variety than those they grow in California because the weather and soil is different. You have hot and humid days and cool nights in Minnesota and much dryer days in California. I prefer the sweeter, plumper corn from Minnesota to the smaller, more dense kernels in California.
I said it earlier but California slaps for a LOT of produce. I hate oranges that have been through chill now. But there are some things that belong in other states for a reason (some stonefruit are also in that list).
Not_an_okama@reddit
Ive personally only had MI sweet corn but theres definitely a difference between eating it the same day I pick it up from a farmer's stand and when i eat the rest a week later.
Stan_Deviant@reddit
Totally. I've had the advantage of eating it hot in the field from just the sun in both states (but not Michigan) but I was using a more common consumer experience.
Stan_Deviant@reddit
Okay, this has been bugging me so I'm asking in all honesty- are you one of the people tricked into (or you just really didn't know) trying to eat field corn off the stalk when you were in Iowa? I've seen it happen so no judgement. Sweet corn and field corn are two totally different crops and most states grow both. You can tell the difference by the top of the corn stalk, the tassels.
Think of it like commercial soybeans vs edamame. It is the same base plant but completely different breeding.
john_hascall@reddit
In Iowa we know the difference between sweet corn and field corn!!
Folksma@reddit
I've found the apples in the DMV are just not worth buying. Even fresh from the farms in Virginia
They just...aren't as good as the ones from Michigan. So much smaller and less flavorful
PawPawsLilStinker@reddit
A friend of mine has a red delicious tree that is around 100 years old and it tastes great
gard3nwitch@reddit
I wonder why that would be, since all the trees are identical clones of the original.
PawPawsLilStinker@reddit
You know I was thinking about that and I don't know. Maybe just being old? It's also a standard, so maybe that influences the flavor? I'm sure the root stock is different than you'd find on a modern one.
Or we are wrong and it's not a red delicious
aoeuismyhomekeys@reddit
It's the soil the tree is growing in
PawPawsLilStinker@reddit
Certainly could be, it was next to an old cow lot
HarlequinKOTF@reddit
Tree branches are not 100% genetically identical. These mutated branches have a variety of the original apple which is similar but not identical to all the others. If that stock is selected for cloning only that new branch continues on and future mutations arise from that mutant branch. Do that enough times and you can get strange apples from one variety.
afternoondlight@reddit
I bet the weather and climate probably makes a difference. Like how hot and how much water it gets. I know it makes a difference with grapes that eventually get turned into wine.
MakeStupidHurtAgain@reddit
There are many cultivars of Red Delicious, and a ton of sports (aka mutants), a lot of which became varieties in their own right, and there are descendant crosses as well.
But even the original Red Delicious was a striped red and yellow fruit. That is still grown in some heritage orchards—there’s one in Julian, California and another in Oak Glen, California that grow Red Delicious the old way, and they really are very good.
silkywhitemarble@reddit
It's probably because it's their tree, and they don't grow for commercial use. Anything from your own garden is going to taste way better than anything commercially grown.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
I absolutely refuse to buy blackberries and pomegranates. They just aren't the same as I had as a kid.
ozaudi@reddit
Probably the pesticides that are now banned.
Not_an_okama@reddit
I have family with property in rural northern MI. Lots of wild blackberry bushes in the area. The berries are about half the size of the ones at the store but taste wayyyy better.
Grocery store produce sections sell strains that will hold up to shipping and look the best on the shelf, not nessesarily the best tasting varieties. The generally means larger firmer fruits which often come at the cost of flavor (compared to similar varieties)
Chickwithknives@reddit
Are you sure that they are blackberries and not wild black raspberries?
embarrassedalien@reddit
I don’t buy them ‘cause they grow everywhere here
MakeStupidHurtAgain@reddit
Pomegranates shipped outside of California tend to be sour and pale. But we have a tree and if you let the fruit ripen until the pomegranates bulge, they’re absolutely amazing.
Blackberries you need the PNW for.
freenow4evr@reddit
When I was a kid, red delicious apples really were delicious. Now they are just red. :(
Ponklemoose@reddit
And tomatoes. The big beautiful ones at the store are dreadful compared to home grown, but the ones in my garden have a much shorter shelf life.
stabbingrabbit@reddit
Even our tomatoes dont taste great
natnat1919@reddit
They also get picked much sooner than the optimal so they can “last longer.”
blankitty@reddit
I never buy figs unless I know they were picked fresh which is rarely, so I just grow them myself.
MobileOrdinary6827@reddit
I could say the same about the oranges and grapes in the UK. Spanish oranges are gross. I miss Florida oranges and have tried every orange variety available to me. I have spent ridiculous money on rare seasonal varities and nothing compares to what Florida grows. You would never find a concord grape in England. Welch's juice is like triple the price here so I only buy it when it's on sale.
nycago@reddit
The limes are simply fantastic in Brazil and why you can’t get a good caipirinha in the USA.
juanzy@reddit
I used to buy limes from an entirely locally sourced store near Boston. The taste of those limes was absolutely insane compared to normal supermarket limes.
Gabriel_Collins@reddit
I live near Boston. What’s the name of the store?
juanzy@reddit
Pemberton Farms in Somerville. Their produce in general was excellent, but those limes were something else.
Cilantro Lime rice with the produce coming from them always slapped.
OutrageousPair2300@reddit
Limes grow just fine in the US, why would they taste any different? We don't import limes, that I'm aware of.
rich84easy@reddit
What? We get huge amounts of them from Mexico
theexpertgamer1@reddit
Most fruits in the U.S. taste like shit especially if they’re grown here
OutrageousPair2300@reddit
That makes no sense. Imported fruits often taste bad because they're not allowed to ripen properly and/or are special cultivars bred to be easier to ship, but for locally-grown fresh fruit it's literally the same kind as is grown elsewhere. Being grown in the U.S. versus being grown elsewhere wouldn't make any difference.
Perhaps you are just buying shitty cultivars that are the kind intended for export. New Jersey has berries but I think not a lot of other local fruit, and almost certainly not any citrus.
Fresh limes grown in Florida (and not of the kind intended for export) should taste exactly the same as ones grown in Brazil.
theexpertgamer1@reddit
Im Brazilian, I used to live in Florida and I’ve been to almost every state. No American fruit comes close to the fruits I eat in Brazil. It’s not even close.
OutrageousPair2300@reddit
For most other fruits I can absolutely believe that, but as limes are grown in various parts of the US it was those in particular where I was skeptical.
As u/NekoTheSpookieCat points out though, even for locally-grown varieties intended for local consumption, the limes grown in the US may not be the same varieties as grown in Brazil.
theexpertgamer1@reddit
So every single Brazilian that has visited the U.S. and said the same exact thing is delusional? Right right…
OutrageousPair2300@reddit
That's a lot more plausible than the same exact type of lime tasting different because of which country it was grown in. The plants don't know or care what country they're in.
theexpertgamer1@reddit
They do if the soil is bad and pumped to the brim with chemicals worse than anything used in Brazil and to top it off it’s “watered” with what is equivalent to a concoction of heavy metals. Even tap water in Brazil is better you think I’m going to believe our fruits aren’t going to be worse?
solidspacedragon@reddit
Isn't Brazil's heavy metal pollution really bad?
Any_Scientist_7552@reddit
Sure, Jan.
theexpertgamer1@reddit
What don’t you believe?
Any_Scientist_7552@reddit
I live in Washington. Where a good portion of the world's apples come from. Our fruit is great, you just don't know how to shop.
nycago@reddit
Look at the wine industry. Things just taste different grown on different continents.
Dear-Bet5344@reddit
We import a lot of limes from Mexico. A lot
Skiceless@reddit
We import most of our limes from Mexico. Or at least used to, not sure now with tariffs
NekoTheSpookieCat@reddit
Different varieties - the US doesn’t allow unapproved varieties to be planted or brought into the country. There’s a good reason for this; seeds or root stock can harbor parasites or fungi that US strains may have no defense for.
American products are shipped all across the country, and have been bred to travel better. US shoppers are pretty familiar with the thick-skinned lemons that were bred to survive transport. They look lovely but are maybe only half is actually edible pulp.
OutrageousPair2300@reddit
Ah, thank you! I had suspected point #2 might be the case, but it hadn't occurred to me that there'd be different varieties for local consumption as well.
Clancepance22@reddit
There's no such thing as a bad caipirinha. But, I agree, homemade Brazilian caipirinhas with fresh limes are amazing. My wife is Brazilian so when we visit her family, of course we have real caipirinhas with churrasco
InevitableRhubarb232@reddit
In fairness, I don’t bother with a lot of the food we have here 😔 like what the fuck is going on with the strawberries that you can get at the grocery? They’re horrible.
cheesybitzz@reddit
Dried pineapple and mangoes are a huge thing as far as this goes. My ex would send me fruit packages from the Philippines and the dried pineapples here taste like shit compared to them
Due-Department-8906@reddit
Yeah, mango is the big one I thought of too. Probably because we can't let them get properly ripe or they'll spoil in transport. Fresh mango is like heaven. Our mangoes are decent.
enigmanaught@reddit
I live in FL and grow my own pineapples. The difference between the fresh ones and those from the store is even bigger than with oranges. The whole house will smell like pineapples and not a trace of acid.
bcece@reddit
Yup. Brazilian fruits are so much more vibrant with the exception of apples. That was the only fruit I couldn't find when I lived in Brazil that wasn't superior to the fruit in the US.
Far-Lecture-4905@reddit
I do agree on this with a few caveats.
I also think that there is some variance of taste too. My Brazilian friends here think that a lot our fruit, especially grapes and pineapple and oranges taste too sweet to them. Your average American sees sweetness in fruit as an absolute good, so this wouldn't even cross their mind to consider "too sweet" as a negative for fruit.
benk4@reddit
Mangosteens were phenomenal when I was in the Philippines. I couldn't stop eating them. Then I got really excited to see them in a store here, but they were awful.
crasho7@reddit
Almost all of our produce is pretty meh. It takes me 2 or 3 months for food to taste ok again, after I return from living elsewhere.
CascadianCaravan@reddit
*Supermarket food.
May I introduce you to the humble farmer’s market. Or even better, the earth in your own yard.
crasho7@reddit
I can also afford local, better produce and live in an area where it's easily accessible. But, supermarket food is what is most accessible and available to most people. Our produce is bred for shelf life, not health or flavor. May i introduce you to people who can only access and afford a family dollar?
CascadianCaravan@reddit
I am sympathetic to this argument, but I am more inclined to think it is a choice and a habit. I acknowledge that food deserts exist. And dollar stores spread like a cancer. But prices at farmer’s markets are extremely fair. It’s much cheaper to bake bread. I think it comes down to healthy habits.
scoschooo@reddit
not true at all - not sure where you live
I can get amazing fruit and vegetables here - but I go to places I can get it - like better grocery stores and farmer markets.
Amazing oranges, peaches, tomatoes, etc.
Maybe where you live you can't get good produce?
GoodAd2455@reddit
I’m from Maine but briefly lived in Phoenix. I hated it there but the produce quality was far superior to what we get trucked into the north with the exception of our locals like apples and potatoes. And so much CHEAPER omg. Avocados in Maine are like 1.50 each and I could get four for a dollar there that weren’t on the brink of decomposition.
q0vneob@reddit
Idk if its even the location, I think people that say this shit just dont know how to buy stuff season. Like its great we can get tomatoes and corn and stuff year round but dont expect them to taste the same in January...
scoschooo@reddit
yes true
Beginning-Damage-555@reddit
This is even true within the US. Moving from the Central Coast to KS was brutal. Even in WA I couldn’t find half of what was easily accessible in CA
Meat_your_maker@reddit
Or even closer… I had a Mexican coworker who kind of shook his head when I was buying a jicama, so I asked if he didn’t like them. And he said, “ Sí me gustan, pero estos no tienen sabor.”
Barutano74@reddit
One of the fruits from my childhood that I love is níspero. I had never seen it anywhere in the U.S. then one day around 7-8 years ago I was walking into the Buford Highway market in Atlanta and thought, “boy wouldn’t it be awesome if they had níspero” and 15 seconds later, boom, I was looking at them. It’s still the only place I’ve ever found them
ghostfrogz@reddit
Oh, wow! Crazy to see that placed mentioned. They have all sorts of international foods, it’s amazing. I might check and see if they still sell them.
Barutano74@reddit
When they’re in season, they do. I was there in December.
singing-mud-nerd@reddit
Join the r/Atlanta renaissance!
singing-mud-nerd@reddit
I will always upvote Buford Hwy Farmer's Market. It's one of the reasons I moved here.
For those reading, only 1/3 of the labels are in English and the produce section is a delightful adventure of "How do I cook this thing? Lemme look up a recipe."
singing-mud-nerd@reddit
I will always upvote Buford Hwy Farmer's Market. It's one of the reasons I moved here.
For those reading, only 1/3 of the labels are in English and the produce section is a delightful adventure of "How do I cook this thing? Lemme look up a recipe."
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MakeStupidHurtAgain@reddit
Níspero is loquat in English. There are so many loquat trees in Southern California that you can literally just ask if you can pick them. Very few people eat them, and because they bruise so easily, they’re almost never found in stores or even farmers markets.
Barutano74@reddit
This one?
https://casadecampoliving.com/nispero-small-deliciously-sweet-fruit/
I’ve seen pictures of something (else) that looks sort of like an apricot.
Is there anything that doesn’t grow in California??
MakeStupidHurtAgain@reddit
Yes. We have the yellow variety mostly, but it’s the same fruit and the same tree. And the other zapotes grow here (mamey, zapote negro, etc.) just not commercially because they require too much water.
As for what doesn’t grow here: I have been trying to make haskaps (Lonicera caerulea) grow and set fruit in my garden for years. Also rhubarb is hard to grow because it doesn’t get cold enough, blueberries are only the hot-weather high-bush varieties that don’t taste as good, and cloudberries are impossible.
GlitterRiot@reddit
Oh dang they grow all over Florida. There's even a festival for it in NPR.
Barutano74@reddit
To be clear, I mean this one:
https://casadecampoliving.com/nispero-small-deliciously-sweet-fruit/
?
GlitterRiot@reddit
Yup, that's it.
aachensjoker@reddit
I’ve seen Durian in a US -based Asian grocery store.
I’ve had it overseas but not that interested in having it here unless I was with friends
So, depending on what youre looking for, I think its possible to get most stuff in the US.
And there’s also stuff you can get shipped to you. But the costs may be prohibitive or more.
Scavgraphics@reddit
You can keep your Durian far away from us.
CheekyPunker@reddit
I like durian
78723@reddit
Got durian in my fridge right now. Absolutely delicious.
Any_Scientist_7552@reddit
Do you like eating road kill, too? /s (not really)
78723@reddit
I pity you almost as much as I pity those with the cilantro-soap taste gene. It must suck so much not being able to taste how good these things are.
itsjustmo_@reddit
I'm curious where you buy it? Where I live, I have only ever seen durian in a can or jar. Did you find it fresh in a store?
78723@reddit
I have to get it frozen. But it’s frozen at good ripeness and is reasonably good. And I have to go to a specialty grocery like H mart.
itsjustmo_@reddit
The Asian stores where I live are always small enough that I think maybe they just can't keep up with much fresh produce. I excited for you that you have access to an HMart!
Heykurat@reddit
I've seen it fresh in Asian markets, although it is usually wrapped up in plastic to keep the smell contained.
mst3k_42@reddit
They sell whole durian frozen in Asian markets here. And durian candy.
VeronicaMarsupial@reddit
I think durian that has been frozen loses some of its malodorous properties. At least the one that I've tried from frozen wasn't very pungent.
Mad-Hettie@reddit
The fruit selection in the Dominican Republic is incredible and I can't find anything like it locally.
Urbangirlscout@reddit
My sister is going to Colombia next week and I asked her to smuggle me back fruit. It's so damn good and you can't get it here!
Impressive-Weird-908@reddit
You can hit Colombian markets that actually have all the stuff without the legal ramifications.
Urbangirlscout@reddit
I live in NYC and have yet to find anything at the Colombian spots. If you know where, I’m all ears.
Pete_Iredale@reddit
If only you could easily get lulo here in the US. Jugo de lulo is amazing.
t-poke@reddit
You might want to tell her not to, because that is a fantastic way to get fined by customs.
They do not mess around with that. People have been fined for bringing fruit served to them on the plane through customs.
rightascensi0n@reddit
For anyone who isn’t joking, customs likely will stop you especially if they use dogs to sniff out commonly smuggled produce unregulated transport can spread pests
Alert-Algae-6674@reddit
I think fruit variety in American grocery stores is just very low. In many countries there are hundreds of edible fruits that are unheard of over here
RadiantReply603@reddit
US has very little tropical climate areas, so any tropical fruits are either grown in southern Mexico, Central America, or northern South America or shipped from Asia. No matter what, it’s going to take weeks to arrive at American grocery stores.
So some fruits can’t make the journey, or there isn’t enough demand to ship to the US.
paka96819@reddit
Continental USA.
No-Pickle-8200@reddit
It’s SO location dependent. My small city has grocery stores and restaurants that sell ingredients for Hispanic, African, and Asian foods… but there are not many restaurants that would sell organ meats.
We do have a decent number of Puerto Rican, Jamaican, and Vietnamese restaurants…
astralTacenda@reddit
i live in an area that's not quite rural but we're the only town for miles and miles. lots of Hispanic people so we have plenty of mercados! but if i want any ingredients to make japanese and pacific islander foods from my family... shit outta luck. gotta drive 100 miles to the nearest asian market or order from amazon (which i just cant convince myself to do with food stuffs).
most foods from elsewhere are rly hard to acquire where i live. like ive never had access to African food and i wanna try it soooo bad (i know africa is a large place and there are lots of countries and cultures and foods, but ive had NONE OF IT so anything would be a great start).
brenster23@reddit
As I recall some organ meats such as lungs are forbidden for human consumption in the US since 1971 due to disease concerns.
xampl9@reddit
Very much so. My city has a couple of Indian supermarkets but that’s because there are a large number of people here who originally came from India.
If I drive a couple of hours to the next not-small city, they don’t have any Indian markets. But do have a Ukrainian store.
SabresBills69@reddit
this is common. if you have large ethnicities you usually have some form of ethnic grocery stores.
unknowingbiped@reddit
And where im from, you get what ethnic stuff they carry in walmart. There are a few specialty stores across the border though.
lechydda@reddit
I’m an immigrant to New Hampshire from California and I can’t find a decent burrito or carne asada to save my life.
Proof-Ad3637@reddit
Depends on the area—— lots of Asian in San Francisco but not much in Las Cruces NM
Fangsong_37@reddit
Living in Indiana, I can say that the selection of seafood we can buy is very limited compared to what's available in many other countries. It's usually shrimp (frozen or fresh), tuna (canned or in a pouch), salmon (usually frozen or in a can), or cod (often breaded and frozen for use as fish sticks). If I want something different, I have to go to a restaurant or an Asian grocery and pay heavily.
Low-Landscape-4609@reddit
I don't think that's true. I've been to seven foreign countries and I've been all over the United states. The great thing about America is that it's very diverse. You can usually find what you're looking for.
You can be in the middle of nowhere in Kentucky and you'll see an authentic Indian restaurant ran by indians.
It's crazy because when you travel the world, you typically don't see stuff like that. You can go to some foreign countries and trying to find a hamburger ain't going to happen. However in the united states, you're usually never too far from multiple different authentic restaurants.
athensslim@reddit
Twice I had a hankering for Mexican food while on extended business trips in Germany.
Twice I had the worst Mexican food I’ve ever had.
I did not get a third hankering.
singing-mud-nerd@reddit
There is a legit Mexican restaurant in Salzburg that I want to try.
butter_milk@reddit
There’s a not bad (so long as you aren’t vegetarian) restaurant in Munich called Condesa. Actually founded by a Mexican.
They still run into the problem of sourcing correct ingredients, but at least they’ve actually seen a real burrito before.
mp85747@reddit
Mexico is a huge country and food is regional, like in any big country, to some extent. People are used to what is offered as Mexican food in the US. Most ethnic food anywhere is quite different from the food in the country itself.
While I'm not a fan of Mexican food in general, I do have a few favorite dishes . One of them was "molcajete" I used to have in Nogales, Mexico (border town). That's actually the name of the stone bowl it's prepared in. It was made with beef, or pork, or chicken, or squid, with ham, cheese and delicious sauce. When I saw it on a menu in Quintana Roo, I ordered it, expecting something at least similar. It had absolutely nothing to do with it, not even the dish!
And you know how I discovered it when I first moved to the US and went to that border town? I knew I wasn't gonna like anything, so I ordered a boring steak, just to eat something. Then, I saw that piping hot and deliciously smelling bowl being brought to the table next to us! I asked what it was and it wasn't even on the English menu, but I learned my lesson and that's what I had when going there ever since. I live in Europe now and won't have that ever again... :-(
Not a very good picture, but that's the molcajete I loved:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-oasis-nogales
This kinda looks like what I got in Quintana Roo:
https://thisishowicook.com/mixto-mexican-molcajete-recipe-chicken-beef-shrimp/
ConfidentHope@reddit
I lived in the PNW of Washington State and finding Mexican food there was tough. Ironically, not too far off, Vancouver, BC had excellent tacos.
h4ppysquid@reddit
I’ve lived in the PNW my entire life (western Washington) and it’s never been difficult finding good Mexican food. The nearest town has multiple good taquerias in addition to the more traditional “Mexican restaurants”, and even in the smaller towns you can find the “tamale man/lady” (though tbf, I don’t remember this as much in my childhood.)
I went to DC and tried the Mexican food there. PNW Mexican food is leagues ahead of what I had over there.
Pete_Iredale@reddit
The only people who complain about the Mexican food in the NW are people who've lived in a state that actually borders Mexico. Much of the rest of the country has it significantly worse than we do.
h4ppysquid@reddit
I feel like we (in the PNW) are closer to the real thing than a lot of other places in the country are, excepting the border states like you said. From California, it’s a straight shot up the coast to the PNW.
Also, there’s a lot of immigrants who come from Mexico and other Latin American countries and seem to settle here. Lots of Mexican grocery stores. I am very grateful that they are here!
SabresBills69@reddit
where did you live? I lived between Seattle and Tacoma which is a majority ethnic minority area with a large mix Hispanic population. finding real tacos was easy.
ConfidentHope@reddit
Between Seattle and the border.
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
Eastern Washington has some of the best Mexican food I've had-- Tri Cities, Spokane, Yakima. Great stuff, especially from food trucks and smaller places.
Any_Scientist_7552@reddit
You have to hit the taco trucks and the pop-up stands here, they are fantastic.
Ok_Concentrate4461@reddit
I want to know more about awful German Mexican food lol
mdf7g@reddit
I ordered enchiladas that came out with canned peaches and hollandaise sauce.
The waitress, who was extremely nice, was like "schmeckt alles gut?" And I just had to lie to her.
Drew707@reddit
If the peaches were on the inside and I confused the Hollandaise as some kind of nacho cheese, the first bite surprise would infuriate me. Like the first time I ate a yam thinking it was just a different potato. Or when the server told me collard greens were essentially the same thing as sauteed chard. Or when I first had kimchi because someone told me it's just like sauerkraut.
I am not a picky eater. There are very few things I avoid. But even worse than eating something you don't like is eating something you aren't expecting.
Chickwithknives@reddit
Like expecting chocolate cake and it turns out to be gingerbread!
Drew707@reddit
I am not a big sweets person, and there are very few cakes I tolerate, but this is a perfect example. I can handle a small slice of chocolate cake, but if it turned out to be gingerbread, I would lose my shit.
shelwood46@reddit
There is a kebab/gyro/shawarma shop near me in PA where all the food is great except the tabouleh. I love tabouleh, I often make my own. But for some reason they put honey in their tabouleh. There should not be honey in tabouleh. It is horrifying.
ComprehensiveEar6001@reddit
Jesus tap-dancing-christ
Ok_Concentrate4461@reddit
Like, the internet exists. wtf.
mdf7g@reddit
Honestly I think that was the issue. Whoever designed the recipe had seen photos of enchiladas, and just... got a bit overconfident.
InfidelZombie@reddit
My town in Austria had a Mexican restaurant where everyone ordered their signature dish, a baked potato topped with zucchini and corn.
CommandAlternative10@reddit
All three are Mesoamerican foods! But um yeah….
InfidelZombie@reddit
I think that's what makes it extra silly, like they got a list from Wikipedia and just threw a few of them together.
CommandAlternative10@reddit
Even for planning your menu like a middle school book report, the lack of beans is wild. Only two of the three sisters? Phoning it in.
Far-Independence8364@reddit
Went to grad school in Canada, and some friends and I took a spring break trip to the US, and all of the US students in the group turned to each other as soon as we crossed the border and said, "Mexican food!"
t-poke@reddit
All I know about German Mexican food is I was in Frankfurt and saw a restaurant called Chidoba.
I can only assume they have a competitor named Qpotle.
Big_Somewhere9230@reddit
All I want is for this to be true.
turquoise_amethyst@reddit
I tried Mexican food in Japan… it looked right? But as soon as I ate it, the flavors were all wrong, there was zero spice, and it was oddly sweet.
athensslim@reddit
I have actually had excellent Mexican food in Japan, but the owner was an ex-pat from Monterrey. He told me the most difficult thing was getting decent avocados.
Dapper_Buffalo_7843@reddit
I think there’s an episode of the taco chronicles that takes place partly in Japan
jigokubi@reddit
I didn't know they had it. My wife had never had Mexican food until she came to America..
tenehemia@reddit
I lived in Germany for a while and finding decent Mexican food was one of my most important day to day activities. I tried a lot of awful stuff but did find one very tasty Mexican spot in Berlin after a couple months and I think I ate there three or four times a week for the rest of the time I lived there.
GuadDidUs@reddit
I had Mexican in Spain once and it was the least spicy Mexican I ever had.
mesembryanthemum@reddit
To be fair most Sonoran food is savory, not spicy.
firelock_ny@reddit
> Twice I had the worst Mexican food I’ve ever had.
My sister lived on Okinawa when her husband was deployed there with the US Marines.
She says there was one Mexican restaurant on the whole island. By the way she described it, it was as if an Okinawan had gone to America, walked into some hole-in-the-wall strip mall Mexican restaurant, looked around for a few minutes, grabbed a couple of menus and then came home - and with deliberate bloody-minded ignorance on anything beyond that, went all in on building what they thought a Mexican restaurant ought to be.
The food was terrible. The experience was surreal.
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
Hah! I had "Mexican" food in Munich once with a group that was tired and wanted to eat quickly, close to our hotel, and wouldn't go for kebabs. It was funny as hell, worse than the worst "American" Mexican food-- not Taco Bell level, but bland and tasteless, mostly melted cheese on things.
qwerty_ca@reddit
Haha, reminds me of the time when I ate salsa at a Mexican restaurant in Helsinki that had a base of - and I'm not kidding when I say this - tomato ketchup.
athensslim@reddit
A friend of mine swears that the salsa in a place he and I used to travel past with some regularity (El Ducko in Strasburg, Ohio) was ketchup based.
I never got brave enough to stop there. Not surprisingly, El Ducko is no longer in business.
No-Road-9176@reddit
Hankering for a hunk of cheese.
MelodiousMelly@reddit
I had Mexican food in Edinburgh when on vacation. It was so hilariously bad that it's become a big part of the family lore about that trip.
beamerpook@reddit
My husband came from a tiny town in the back woods of Mississippi, like super deep South, where even the closest restaurant regular restaurant is 20 minutes drive away, much less an ethnic restaurant.
Exotic_Resist_7718@reddit
Ok but also, when you’re talking about the US, what does “regular restaurant” even mean.
I live in the middle of nowhere (northeast) and the only restaurant in town is a cantina and Thai place.
beamerpook@reddit
To me, a regular restaurant is a typical one, with a menu and hired staff. I don't really think Uncle Joe's diner out on his front yard, where Grandma is in the back cooking and the slow cousin washing dishes is a "regular" restaurant. I guess there's an overlap, but I think most people would know what I mean.
Thereelgerg@reddit
What's a "restaurant regular restaurant" and what restaurants don't serve some type of ethnic food?
beamerpook@reddit
Lol, where are you from?
By regular restaurant, I mean an actual restaurant, and not Uncle Joe's Diner that he's running on his front lawn (this is in rural area area where people own acres of land)
And at least where I was, restaurants serve one type of food, mostly deep-fried. And if you ask them for any ethnic dishes, they will look at you like you have 3 heads
Let me put it this way... Until I visited, most of them have never seen a real life Asian person before. What ethnic restaurant do you think they would have?
Thereelgerg@reddit
Do you think there are some people who do not have an ethnicity?
beamerpook@reddit
Oh if you just want to nitpick, you can have fun doing that. I'm out.
Thereelgerg@reddit
Way to dodge the question.
angrysquirrel777@reddit
Sure, this exists to even more extreme dergers on the west side of the country where distances are longer between towns.
However, I would bet you could get quite a bit of variety of food if you drove an hours or hour and a half from that town and that can't be said for a lot of places in the world.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Mississippi is in the eastern part of the US.
angrysquirrel777@reddit
I know, I was just relating to being far away from stuff. Quite a few towns out here are hours away from even small cities like in rural Mississippi.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
I have been to rural Mississippi. I understand. I also live in western Texas.
beamerpook@reddit
You know where Stonewall or Meridian is?
Cinisajoy2@reddit
If I remember right we went through Meridian on the way to Union.
beamerpook@reddit
Lol out in the boondies, right?
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Oh yes.
beamerpook@reddit
That's true, but I wouldn't consider a few hours of driving "not too far"
angrysquirrel777@reddit
Yeah, if you're talking about wanting to eat Thai food for dinner then it's crazy. If your bucket list is to try Thai food it isn't so bad.
beamerpook@reddit
Ah yes. If you have reason to go to a bigger city that has other food available to try, I would much rather that than Cracker Barrel or other chain restaurants that you can find just about anywhere
CranjerryBruce@reddit
But Reddit would have you believe it’s terrible place with rampant racism and lack of diversity and the most evil of places. Despite being better off than every other country in the world regarding racial equality and diversity.
Scavgraphics@reddit
I have about 5 different varieties of Asian cuisine in a mile from my apartment in my small colorado town. Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai, Mongolian, various fusions...sadly, none of them "great"...just "good enough" (actually, the Indian and Thai might be "great"...I don't have enough experience to judge them...)
DosZappos@reddit
This is very true. I know of a great Thai place in Moline, IL and a great sushi place in Toledo, OH. I would probably die before I found a decent burger in Amsterdam or serviceable Mexican food in the UK
SexualDepression@reddit
Kotobuki in Sylvania?
...twas our go-to sushi spot when we lived in Toledo.
Fabulous-Detective45@reddit
i adore america's diversity, but this is absolutetly not the case in many places. unless ur definition of "never too far" is different from mine.
Euphoric_Ease4554@reddit
Yes
ActuaLogic@reddit
It would depend on location. Where I live, there are a few "international" grocery stores that specialize in food from other countries, but most places don't have that.
Master-Collection488@reddit
Unless you are out in a rural area it's less about "can you possibly find it" and more likely about "would you know where to look for it."
Your average big box mainstream grocery store might have an "ethnic" or "international" aisle. Don't expect to find durian unless you have a LOT of Vietnamese living in the area. Smaller specialty grocery stores can be found in cities and even suburbs if the demographics and the demand calls for them.
HurtsCauseItMatters@reddit
I mean considering I'm from Louisiana and can't even find tasso at the store in Tennessee I can't imagine how bad it is for people from outside the country.
OkContract2001@reddit
Decent basic cheap meat pies. The kind you buy in a six pack in the grocery store in NZ and you just microwave or heat them up in the oven.
forestinpark@reddit
Can't find whole cow head or brains.
Good lamb, also lamb head.
Dizzy_Dust_7510@reddit
Most restaurants in the US do not sell organ meat or offal. But, if you're looking for a particular type of ethnic food you can probably find it in larger cities. If that food type has that type of meat they might have it. For example, beef tongue is very uncommon in typically American cuisine but very common in Mexican food. Most Mexican restaurants by me sell it. We also have a lot of Asians so you can find some more traditional Chinese or Vietnamese dishes in those restaurants.
ThrockAMole@reddit
You can get liver & onions, fried chicken livers or gizzards, and fried bull, lamb or turkey testicles in the South
Dizzy_Dust_7510@reddit
Sure, you can find turkey necks and pickled pigs feet too. But, they're not common in restaurants.
BoSKnight87@reddit
I would say it depends on your location. Where I live there are tones of different grocery stores with wide varieties of items from many foreign countries
ZephyrProductionsO7S@reddit
Here in Central New Jersey we have every Indian and Chinese ingredient you could possibly need. We’ve also got a lot of Egyptian stores as well.
WaldenFont@reddit
Laugaweckla are virtually unobtainable here. I haven’t had one in over thirty years
bonzai113@reddit
If you are ever in Fairfield Ohio, check out a store called Jungle Jim’s. It has an absolutely huge international section with products from all over the world.
Aggravating_Fishy_98@reddit
I work at a very well known super store and we sell livers and gizzards in the deli. I’m not sure about stomachs. Also I think they’re raw not cooked so I don’t know if that’s okay
Filing_chapter11@reddit
I have a really hard time finding biltong or other South African dried meats. You can order them online but it’s expensive and a lot of it’s crap
isakitty@reddit
Dude, I’m an American from the South, and I live too far north to get the kind of syrup that I like even though I STILL am living in the south.
Traditional_Trust418@reddit
Of course there are. People come here from all over the world. We don't get every product they might miss from home from every country someone could have moved here from. Lol
In fact, I moved from one state to another state that borders my old state and there are still products I miss that I can't get easily anymore
AdamOnFirst@reddit
Yes, especially very very specific spices or produce. It’s easier here than anywhere else in the world, but there are things that can be a hunt, even at ethnic stores
quietly_annoying@reddit
My mother in law learned how to make cheese, because she couldn't find quark to make German-style cheesecake.
Bulky_Employ_4259@reddit
My wife is Filipina and she’s mentioned a few things. We’re missing several varieties of banana, plantain, sweet potato, fish, egg, ice cream, and a bunch of different vegetables.
Donald_J_Duck65@reddit
Without being "that" immigrant, how would I know?
What I do know is there is a market for every ethnic group I can think of within a 20km radius.
JuanMurphy@reddit
Dog and horse are, I assume, are hard to find.
doubtinggull@reddit
Depends on where you are and what you're looking for. Areas with a lot of immigrants tend to have grocery stores that serve those populations but you can't always find everything. And some fruits don't travel well (though there are a lot of options and I would to plug ZZMango for shipments of amazing Indian mangoes). But for organ meats and stuff you can probably talk to a local butcher and they'll help you out.
PinchedTazerZ0@reddit
Chitlins and liver and onions are in many spots still
I have like 5 or so restaurants in my city that do grilled heart
But not very common. You can buy it of course through request or smaller shops but you'll most likely be cooking it yourself
mst3k_42@reddit
Chitlins and fried gizzards and such are already common in my state. And liver mush.
supern8ural@reddit
Today I heard the phrase "liver mush" for the first time. After a quick google, it sounds like a cross between scrapple and liverwurst so now I have to try it. Fortunately at least I'm squarely in scrapple country. (I didn't realize that scrapple actually doesn't extend significantly farther south than Baltimore, until I moved to NoVA...)
mst3k_42@reddit
Oh yeah, you can find Scrapple here. And liver pudding in addition to livermush. One you can’t seem to find outside of Cincinnati is goetta.
A town in North Carolina even has a Livermush Festival, lol.
supern8ural@reddit
I always understood scrapple to be centered around PA, glad to hear you can get it down there! My only connection to NC is an ex of mine grew up just outside Ft. Bragg so that's really the only area I've visited more than driving through.
mst3k_42@reddit
We can also get Taylor ham now, which is a New Jersey thing.
supern8ural@reddit
LOL I'm well aware, one of my good friends/coworkers is from NJ and apparently her family is right in the middle of the great Taylor ham/pork roll divide :)
I didn't mention, my ex's dad was originally from PA so when we went to visit we'd always bring a pile of Lebanon bologna, good for bonus points :) if we had time to get them (you really can only get them in central PA) we'd take some Middleswarth potato chips too.
mst3k_42@reddit
Yeah, we visited my husband’s family in PA a couple of years ago and I remember them grabbing Lebanon bologna for someone at the store.
dh1971@reddit
I know people who use the term Liver mush and Scrapple as the same thing.
supern8ural@reddit
My understanding is that the pork component of scrapple is just "bits" not uniquely liver, it can also include tripe, snout, rectum, heart, kidney, etc...
As a person of German heritage I strongly believe two things
a) sausage is delicious
b) sausage is much better when someone else makes it, out of your view
donuttrackme@reddit
There's also goetta which is very similar to scrapple/liverwurst that is more of a southern Ohio/northern Kentucky thing.
GillianOMalley@reddit
Livermush was featured on Top Chef a couple of weeks ago. First I'd heard of it.
Honest_Conference_69@reddit
Yup! You can find pretty much anything you're looking for meat wise here, even in the smaller areas. I think going in a Hills meat section would shock a good bit of people all its own, lol.
PinchedTazerZ0@reddit
Oh yeah gizzards for sure
FEMA_Camp_Survivor@reddit
I always thought chitlins were made at home. I live in the south and can’t recall seeing them on a restaurant’s menu.
Cool to know they’re out there because cooking them is less common. My parents and grandparents occasionally make them around New Years but we younger generations pass.
PinchedTazerZ0@reddit
This spot near me has some interesting stuff
https://imgur.com/a/PsgqH8A
GandalfTheGrey46@reddit
You can get just about anything anywhere in the USA due to online grocery stores like Weee!
shammy_dammy@reddit
You'd have to find the right kind of restaurant for offal dishes, but they do exist. When I lived in North Central Texas there was a small restaurant on a gravel parking lot that served the best fried chicken livers and gizzards.
Quenzayne@reddit
Decent Chilean food is very difficult to find.
Ever since I moved back from Chile with my wife, we’ve lived in the Los Angeles area and Florida, two hubs for Latin American culture and cuisine in this country, and it’s a rare find.
It sucks too because Chilean cuisine is very similar to a lot of American foods, there’s just so few Chileans in the US.
budgie02@reddit
Black currant is super difficult to get anything of in the U.S. mainly because it was hugely invasive, and all the flavors it would’ve used for like it is in other countries are grape flavor here instead.
If you head to the south you’ll find organs more frequently but they’re also here. Liver and onions can be found at a lot of steak places where I am, and chitterlings are an African American cuisine made of chicken intestines.
ImNotToby@reddit
Horse meat
Commercial_Picture28@reddit
My family is Haitian American and I like a lot of ethnic foods. I live in a melting pot area so it's not hard to find ethnic grocery stores. These stores are typically smaller in comparison to most grocery stores but I happen to love across from a large store and there's only two of them in my whole state but several in NY. Nowadays, grocery stores have ethnic aisles or sections typically featuring Jewish, Asian, Hispanic or Mexican, and sometimes Caribbean ingredients but these are very limited in selection. As far as restaurants go, you'll have a harder time finding those ingredients unless you go to a restaurant that specializes in that cuisine.
njred87@reddit
A truly fatty Confit de Canard is not easy.. most of the restaurants in the USA that has this on the menu will serve one that is too lean.
Teithiwr81@reddit
I'd kill for some proper British sausages.
WrongJohnSilver@reddit
Quark and clotted cream are hard to find in the US.
TheSauceOx@reddit
Tropical fruit can be a hard one, but in Chicago at least exotic vegetables are quite easy. I have seen durian though
sundial11sxm@reddit
Southerners in the U.S. love livers and gizzards. Not an uncommon sight, really.
ShoddyCobbler@reddit
I live in a suburb of a major US city. We have an incredibly diverse immigrant population in my area. I live basically equidistant (about 1.5 miles each way) between two large international grocery stores which carry a wide variety of import items from all around the world, plus excellent fresh produce and meat that is usually cheaper than at the regional US chain grocery stores
EagleCatchingFish@reddit
It really depends on where they're immigrating from and where they live. On the West Coast, you can get a hold of decent asian groceries in medium sized cities. You can also find a decent amount of good Mexican groceries in California and cities next to agricultural areas.
It's apparently pretty difficult to find mutton. Arab groceries might have it, but otherwise you're pretty much only going to find lamb.
MakeStupidHurtAgain@reddit
There are very few restaurants that serve organ meats regularly. The exceptions are Mexican restaurants that serve menudo (tripe). Liver is uncommon but not unheard of, it’s usually served as pâté. I haven’t seen gizzards except in soul food restaurants. I actually preserve gizzards in my house so I can use them for salads along with lettuce, tomato, bacon, potatoes cooked in the duck fat from the gizzards, and a Pommery mustard vinaigrette.
feisty_squib@reddit
I live in a small city (30,000 in city limits, the town itself serves about 90,000 in the valley and nearby small towns). Until Winco came in a few years ago, you wouldn't be able to find organs anywhere in town. Winco is pretty much THE place to go for ethnic ingredients. If you want to have true ethnic meals, you need to order things online.
Darth_Lacey@reddit
Winco is the only place I’ve ever been to that had fresh epazote this far from the Mexican border
nippleflick1@reddit
No one's tomatoes taste good and haven't for decades! I grow my own, and even those are not that good !
emmathyst@reddit
I don’t know if Western NY is unique for this (at least in the north) but you can get liver & onions at nearly every diner here. And thank god, because it’s my mom’s favorite. Tripe and other organs are limited to Mexican restaurants in my area.
FriskyBrisket12@reddit
Organ meat isn’t particularly common at restaurants outside of greasy spoons selling liver or chittlins in the South or French places selling sweetbreads and various pates. Chicken and beef liver is easily available in grocery stores. Turkey necks are common enough, especially smoked. Chicken necks are sometimes sold in bulk or just packed with the whole chicken.
Really depends on where the immigrant is from and where they are in the US. Lots of North African immigrants in the Midwest, easy to find that stuff near their communities. Latin stuff is easy to find everywhere. Latin supermarkets will have tripe and cheek meat and stuff. Large Asian communities on the west coast and in larger metropolitan areas will have well stocked Asian grocers.
bestray06@reddit
speak for yourself, in the midwest there are still a bunch of places selling fried chicken liver and gizzards. Not as many as there were 20 years ago but I regularly see it being advertised by local places. In a 10 minute drive from my apartment I can have everything from Drunken Noodles to Lengua Tacos and Breaded Pork Tenderloins. Not to include the 5 Indian Restaurants and a Korean Place and I'm not in a big city like Chicago, Minneapolis or anything
donuttrackme@reddit
Yes of course, but it depends on the city and the immigrant. And the specific type of produce. There are 300+ million people that live in the US.
6530bbb@reddit
It depends on where you live, and what exactly you're looking for. It there's a sizable population of your ethnicity/one that uses similar ingredients, you're good.
My Filipino friend has no issue finding traditional veggies, meats, and spices in my area, but I can't find the German sweetsbajd sausages I grew up with for the life of me.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Have you checked the Texas Hill Country?
6530bbb@reddit
That's a long drive for some plum butter
LetterheadClassic306@reddit
i feel you on this one. specialty ingredients can be tough in midsize cities but ethnic grocers and carnicerias often stock things like liver and gizzards. asian markets are great for offal too. for harder to find products from specific countries, international food online store ships most places. what helped me before was asking the butcher counter directly since they sometimes keep organ meats frozen in back instead of on display.
BoBoBearDev@reddit
I haven't seen dog meat, not that I would have the heart to eat it.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
I would imagine it would be work to get armadillo meat with all their armor.
Ballmaster9002@reddit
Of course and not even for immigrants, you can't really get Grandma's Pie or garlic knots outside of the NY tri-state region for example.
Generally speaking, no, Americans do not eat organ meat. You can easily find organ meat at supermarkets and you can almost always find niche "culture X" supermarkets in major cities or areas with big immigrant populations.
Americans also generally don't eat horse or goat, though sheep and rabbit can be found at 'fancy' restaurants.
Again, that said, it's very easy to find goat or ox tail at ethnic restaurants which are extremely common and found throughout the US. Even modest American towns are likely to have something like a Thai or Indian restaurant with goat on the menu.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Texan here. Cabrito is very popular.
Thalenia@reddit
I used to get oxtail in the regular big chain supermarkets all over south Florida. Popular enough in South American cooking that it's stocked regularly there (my wife and mother-in-law were from Brazil, and they used them to cook with black beans pretty much all the time).
I just checked, it's available here in the midwest at Cub, which is a huge chain. Not sure why that surprises me really, but I'd have bet against it.
mst3k_42@reddit
We have Halal butchers here that have various cuts of goat meat. I’ve eaten seen frozen goat stew meat at Walmart.
Ballmaster9002@reddit
Agreed, I can buy a whole variety of "exotic" animal and organ meats from my regular, everyday, normal American supermarket. But I wouldn't expect to find most of those on the menu of my neighborhood generic restaurant.
mst3k_42@reddit
Around me, in generic restaurants, sure. But those here that specialize in traditional Southern food, absolutely. One southern restaurant by me has chitterlings, oxtails, pig feet, and pork neck bones on their menu, in addition to fried chicken, meatloaf, smothered pork chops, etc.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Which immigrants?
HarlequinKOTF@reddit
Organ meat is hard to find in general.
Any immigrant food which uses spices not common to western cuisine will be hard to find.
Immigrant fruits, especially tropical ones are almost unheard of.
Worstmodonreddit@reddit
Organ meat is easy to find at the butcher
HarlequinKOTF@reddit
I'm gonna hazard a guess that most americans cannot find their nearest butcher
Worstmodonreddit@reddit
Why would you guess that?
HarlequinKOTF@reddit
Because I have lived in around 10 small to medium cities and in those I have only ever known where 3 of my butchers were and I like finding a butcher to buy meat from.
BelligerentWyvern@reddit
Organ meat in restaurants is pretty uncommon pretty much everywhere. You'll have some luck in the South with it though. Southern and Afro-southern cooking incorporates it more than most places.
Liver is probably the most common organ meat eaten here. Other than that, offal is up there. In PA we have scrapple which is organ meats like hearts, off cuts and heads from pork mixed with corn flour and/or buckwheat flour and made into a loaf.
Remarkable_Table_279@reddit
Like going from one area or the world to another there are things that are difficult or just really expensive. I’ve sent my bestie in Brazil marshmallows cause they were that expensive.
Tizzy8@reddit
This will depend on where you are. My husband’s friends two states away desperately miss things he can get at our local super market.
BigBearOnCampus@reddit
So in Detroit they have plenty of fish fry places that sell fried gizzards. Cattleman’s (a meat and produce market) sells tongue, liver, stomach, feet, ears, heart, lungs etc. so honestly it’s depending on the state, city, and sometimes even municipality
DropEdge@reddit
I live in a town of 2500 in Arkansas. Within 15 miles, I can access two Mexican grocery stores. Within 30 miles, I can access a Filipino grocery. And within 60 miles, I can access multiple general Asian groceries, two Indian, and one African.
You can find beef liver and onions at local cafes as the lunch special at least once a week. Fried chicken livers and gizzards are so common that you can buy them at gas stations. At least in smaller local grocery stores, you can get organ meat to prepare yourself with no problem.
peterdfrost@reddit
Duck, goose, rabbit, pigeon, mutton and goat.
Carinyosa99@reddit
Definitely fruits and vegetables. My husband's family is from Nicaragua and one of my SIL's favorites is jocote and they can't find it fresh usually. My MIL has been known to sneak it in from her visits back home.
chodeobaggins@reddit
Chitlins, chicken livers, pigs feet, beef tongue etc are very easy to find in the south at restaurants and grocery stores (even Walmart has them). Chicken hearts are a little harder to find. There are several taco shops in my city that have head, cheek, tongue, and stomach on the menu. We have two huge Mexican/South American grocery stores and one giant asian store that have in house butchers with everything I listed above and more. There are dozens of smaller "ethnic food" shops around town too.
Invisibleolderwoman@reddit
I live in Florida and the more urban areas have small markets with specialty foods: halal, Vietnamese, Indian, Chinese, South American, Mexican, etc. Organ meats are definitely available at the butcher shops/meat markets. I love this about my state.
No_Peach6683@reddit
Fufu
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
Americans consume shit-tons of organ meats actually, but they are almost always in sausages. Hot dogs specifically. The labels on cheap hot dogs often state "with variety meats" or might even list "meat by-products." Those are organ meats, and google tells me the US consumers 20 billion hot dogs per year, or 70 per capita.
Adventurous-Chef8776@reddit
I find you can order most things off the internet.
SpaceFroggy1031@reddit
Outside the South, you'll be hard-pressed to find gizzards. Tripe is common enough in the Southwest. Folks like their menudo. The most difficult ingredients we have trouble tracking down are cheeses. I have to go to the nearby larger metro for paneer, as we don't have an Indian grocery. Same with shanklish. Have to go to Middle Eastern grocer over there, as well. Spices like pippali and fenugreek, and syrups like pomegranite molasses, I just order online.
Honestly, the more frustrating thing is trying to find regional American food in other parts of the country. It's really difficult to find a decent jarred salsa or frozen/ jarred chile outside New Mexico. And, you can't really get fresh muscadine grapes outside the South =(
JamesMarM@reddit
You can find goatmeat, but it is very unusual. Lamb is in almost every large grocery stores, but we really don't eat much of it compared to other countries.
Cassava is obviously a staple in large parts of the world, but hard to find outside of major cities I think. Oddly, I only see it as Asian grocery stores.
ameis314@reddit
In a medium city, I can't think of something that I wouldn't be able to get, it just may be more costly than you'd think it should be.
If you give me some examples I'll try to figure out how difficult it would be.
Small towns are going to be a lot different.
Major cities are going to have more variety.
Dependent_Home4224@reddit
I can’t find taro leaves anywhere here. Just wanna make some pork like I had in Hawaii.
jigokubi@reddit
If I'm not mistaken, you can't get horsemeat.
bigasdickus@reddit
There's a nut called the pili nut that only grows in one certain region of the Philippines, in Bicol. My wife and I have a house there and always stock up when we visit. If you're in that region, pili nuts are everywhere, but hard to find otherwise, especially outside of the Phillipines. Tastes something like a pecan mixed with a pine nut, very delicious.
No_Advertising_9355@reddit
Kinder eggs are illegal here.
Intrepid_Practice956@reddit
The regular ones, yes, but they have redesigned kinder eggs to be legally sold here. (Lots of FDA and USDA friends). My understanding is that basically you can't put a non-edible choking hazard in something designed to be edible for kids. So they redesigned kinder eggs so that it opens into halves...one half has the edible part and the other half has the toy and scoop if you don't want to lick the hazelnut/chocolate cream out of the plastic shell.
No_Advertising_9355@reddit
And the original ones are not a choking hazard. They are a hollow egg with a plastic capsule inside. The capsule is very large you are not going to accidentally swallow it.
Intrepid_Practice956@reddit
I don't know the wording. It sounds to me that they weren't, but according to the definition they are...even if they arent by logical standards. I like Kinder Buenos better anyway :)
No_Advertising_9355@reddit
The wording of the law was along the lines of "no non eatables are allowed in confections ". Or close to that. Been a few years since I looked up the law.
No_Advertising_9355@reddit
The real ones don't have a hazel nut filling at all. If you find the kinder bars the original eggs are mad the same as this. Outer dark chocolate inner white chocolate. You can get them in Canada. I used to eat them in Germany. And yes it is from a law passed in the early 1930's.
Additional-Software4@reddit
Pitaya which is the fruit from the stenocereus cactus. Not to be confused with dragon fruit. Found in Mexico. Similar to prickly pear cactus fruit, but better.
It only grows naturally in Southern Arizona. Its season window in Mexico is very narrow and I doubt it ships well so Ive never seen it for retail sale here.
getElephantById@reddit
I have asked some coworkers what foods are hard to find here. Alphonso mangos is one I remember. They also name some random Indian convenience foods I can't recall the specific brands of. In that last case, I am convinced you could find them, because there are plenty of importers, it's just that you'd have to do some legwork.
Flimsy-Recording-770@reddit
Yes it is difficult to find some of those things unless you go to cultural restaurants or grocery stores. For instance, a Mexican grocery store might sell tongue and you will sometimes see it on the menu at some Mexican restaurants. But regular grocery stores will not carry that. Liver can also be difficult to find. You might see Foie Gras on a restaurant menu and usually a French or fusion restaurant menu or other types of liver. But you generally can’t find it at the regular grocery store.
Any_Scientist_7552@reddit
The Safeway down the street from me carries tongue, pork and beef liver, ham hocks, and tripe, amoung other things. Also venison and duck. Can't get much more mainstream grocery than that. You are very mistaken, but might just be your area.
Flimsy-Recording-770@reddit
I’m in the Chicago suburbs. Here it depends on your neighborhood.
TacoNomad@reddit
Often at markets or butcher shops you can find these things though.
Flimsy-Recording-770@reddit
Yes, that’s generally true. But you have to have those around you.
bourbonandcheese@reddit
I live in a medium-sized midwestern city, and our big grocery chain always carries the popular offal like tongue and liver.
Flimsy-Recording-770@reddit
I live in the Chicago suburbs. Our’s only do depending on the neighborhood.
Round_Rooms@reddit
Organ meats aren't popular because they don't taste great.
North-Finding-3542@reddit
They taste great when they are cooked properly.
Round_Rooms@reddit
I think that it's more with what you grow up eating, menudo makes me gag but some people love it.
maccrogenoff@reddit
I live in Los Angeles, CA. We have a huge variety of restaurants and grocery stores. I can find almost anything with some exceptions. Less diverse areas of the country have less culinary diversity.
Some foods are illegal in the U.S., such as lung so no haggis, raw milk cheeses that aren’t aged at least sixty days, etc.
I haven’t seen certain fruits such as durian and mangosteen although I’ve heard that they can be found.
Cooked liver is common at Jewish delis. My mother used to cook chicken necks; as they are so little meat and so much bone, I can’t envision them being served in restaurants.
Intrepid_Practice956@reddit
Im in a large city with a lot of immigrants and long term international visitors. So we have pretty good international food representation in grocery stores (and even better in specifically International grocery stores like Lotte or H-mart. Often the stores sell durian fruit frozen whole. I have no idea about the quality.
I know I've seen less common meats (organ meats, chicken feet, head-on shrimp) at Lotte and H-mart (H-Mart especially since I go there more often and the seafood and meat departments are proportionally bigger). I don't eat meat though so I don't spend much time perusing it.
Least-Day4482@reddit
Patsa. It's Greek tripe soup. I absolutely love it, but most Greeks I know despise it. The restaurants that do have it don't have it every day. If you try and look it up sometimes it'll just autocorrect or only come up with results for pasta
Original-Split5085@reddit
Well I'm not an immigrant, but as an American who lived in the UK for a while, I have never found a true equal of real British Ale, the type where they have to 'pull' the beer. There are some bottled ales available but nothing I've found comes close to the taste of ale from the tap. I'm a little surprised no craft brewery I've been to replicates it, but I've never found one.
JimmyGymGym1@reddit
It all depends on the demand. Plenty of cities/towns with a high concentration of a certain ethnicity have small stores that cater to them and those stores often import items, but the cost might be pretty high.
EmmalouEsq@reddit
My husband has a hard time finding Sri Lankan curry leaves.
int3gr4te@reddit
Depends on the food, the originating country, and the location in the US. It's always going to be easier to find more variety and specialty things in cities, especially those with a significant immigrant population from the original country. People in rural areas will probably have a harder time tracking down less-common stuff.
We live pretty far from any major cities, and it took me & my South African immigrant spouse FOUR grocery stores to find chutney. Not any particular type - any chutney at all. We struck out at my regular supermarket, the upscale neighborhood supermarket, and an Asian market. Finally found exactly 2 jars of it at the local "natural foods" store, so not much selection, but at least it does exist.
Can't say the same for lots of other imported stuff though. We last were able to find Milo and rusks at an Indian market while passing through a big urban area, and the correct brand of chutney at a specialty "imported goods" shop also in a city.
No luck yet on boerewors or his favorite cookies, though.
FeignSkill@reddit
There's a lot of places around me that specialize in a specific cultures groceries. I only buy grapes from the Asian market because everywhere else only sells seedless. Just go to Google maps and type ""insert culture" grocery" and you will get a list.
Divinityemotions@reddit
So you can find livers and gizzards in some grocery stores in most cities. But in restaurants, no. Only if it’s a big city like NYC or Chicago etc where they might have more specific restaurants like, Romanian restaurant do serve chicken livers and tripe soup.
Ix_fromBetelgeuse7@reddit
Organ meat in particular I would say is extremely hard to find, but it's possible if the area has a big enough population from that culture to make it worthwhile. In general US cuisine, organ meat is not a very popular choice. Even liver which I remember as a kid has fallen out of fashion. But around my area there are a smattering of international groceries which mostly have things like spices, packaged goods and candy. If it isn't grown or cultivated nearby, then it probably doesn't travel well and wouldn't be worth shipping over long distances. That said, stuff from Mexico is more common than other regions just because of its proximity.
SabresBills69@reddit
o eatchedcacstanleybtucvi episode on nat bro with Italy. segment focused on non Italian food from immigrants to the area and he talked about some restrictions Florence had in place. thus restaurant was a mix of Japanese and Italian.
you see these type of places in many diverse metro areas where you might see Latin cooking use Asian aspects.
limbodog@reddit
Yes, organ meat is uncommon. You will usually have to go to an ethnic restaurant for that, or an ethnic grocery store.
Also Americans eat pork, beef, chicken, and various seafood. Animals outside of that are less common. But you can sometimes find bison, deer, lamb, turkey (especially in November), and duck. Other meat sources are significantly less common, and may require finding an ethnic grocery store/restaurant. (I'm probably forgetting some)
We also will often refer to common items by different names. If you're looking for curds you will want to find yogurt, for example. Can't find the swede? We call those rutabaga. Don't see any ananas? We call them pineapples.
Some spices may be harder to come by as well.
Thalenia@reddit
Turkey at least is super common all year round everywhere I've lived (both coasts and the midwest). It's a very popular deli meat. Whole turkey is slightly less common outside holidays, though I'd bet it would be pretty easy to track down.
limbodog@reddit
Oh yeah, i forgot about the deli meats. Yes, that's true. Whole turkeys are pretty limited to one month.
Special-Reindeer-178@reddit
It can depend on location. Central Ohio? Youre gonna be hard pressed to find authentic Asian ingredients. They exist, but its limited.
Vs someplace like San Francisco with entire Asian communities and full on Asian markets
esaule@reddit
Yes, there are plenty of foods that are really hard to find in the USA. And you don't need to look for particularly exotic things. If you are looking at land animals, in the US, past cows, pigs, and chickens, everything becomes harder. You will find duck, goat, and lamb, but you will already have to look at specialized stores. If you are looking for horse, rabbit, bear, it just might not be available around you.
If you are looking at sea food, you are going to be in trouble. Mostly because a lot of the country is not close to the coast. So sourcing the seafood is difficult, and culturally it is not consumed a lot, so the volume of sales is going to be low. So the quality is going to be bad. For instance, I don't eat oysters in the US, it is always expensive and bad if you are not on the coast.
The lack of culture around some food items is part of the problem very often. I see OP is from Algeria. It is not easy to find a good baguette in the US. The ones that don't terribly suck are quite expensive. I've resorted to bake my own. And it is not a question of unavailability of ingredient, it is a question of difference of culture around bread.
Similarly, you will find Italian cured meats somewhat easily. But Spanish or French cured meats are much harder to find. And so they are typically very expensive. Cheese as well, there is a decent cheese culture in the, but if you are looking for a particular French cheese, you will likely struggle to find it, and pay a lot.
mcgato@reddit
I was back home in small town Minnesota for Christmas one year. My sister-in-law, who is originally from North Africa, volunteered to cook dinner that night. She gave my brother (her husband) a shopping list for the dinner. We got to the store before we checked the list. Our comment was something like, "does she know where she is?" I think we got about half of what was on her list, and tried to make do on the other ingredients.
OlderAndTired@reddit
Italian Fanta. It’s my favorite soda, and no one ever has it!
CanadaCanadaCanada99@reddit
Cherry Sauce! Impossible to find as a Canadian, I have to get my parents to send it down to me. Crazy to me considering the whole famous George Washington cherry tree story and how cherry flavor in general is fairly common here. In Canada (at least my province of Newfoundland and Labrador) this is a basic sauce most people have.
blipsman@reddit
While you can find most foods/ingredients in the biggest cities, you'll find it harder to find everything in less international cities. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, DC will likely have availability of most ethnic cuisines. Next tier cities may have some immigrant groups represented but not others depending on population centers of immigrants. West Coast cities may have extensive availability of Asian foods, but less Caribbean or African, for example. But then you have certain concentrations in cities, like Somali and Hmong in Minneapolis, Middle Eastern in Detroit, Vietnamese in New Orleans. Many cities have large Mexican and Latin American populations. As cities get smaller, it'll be hard to find most immigrant cuisines, at least authentic ones cooking organ meats and such. If you find an Indian or Ethiopian restaurant in a mid-size college town, for example, it's likely pretty Americanized versions.
incazteca12345@reddit
The only aji amarillo I can find for Peruvian dishes are all frozen.
saucehoee@reddit
Chicken salt
current-seven@reddit
Doubt it, I'm from a city of 400,000 that's surrounded by farmland, we have tons of southeast Asian food spots, Indian, Mexican, Greek, Italian etc.
sail0r_m3rcury@reddit
This is so location dependent. It’s going to depend a lot on the diaspora in the area.
Many areas have grocery stores dedicated to sourcing foods from different areas of the world and sometimes they are just as big as a “standard” American grocery store.
A lot of the regional foods in the US are passed down from whatever country most of the people in the area immigrated from. Many cities have small areas with a large population of people from a specific area of the world and there you can find tons of authentic restaurants.
A mid sized city on a coast is going to be different than a mid sized city in the middle of the country, and which coast you’re on will also change what you get pretty significantly.
natnat1919@reddit
As a Costa Rican, I find almost nothing from my country (but I’m referencing specific product/brand wise). Ingredients themselves, not really.
asteriskelipses@reddit
Jugo de cas is impossible to find. I have gone from tienda to tienda looking for it and not finding it ever. Maybe in Miami, or Brownsville tho.
It is a really localized juice though from a localized fruit. So amazing!
tranquilrage73@reddit
Quark. German bread.
LABELyourPHOTOS@reddit
Chicken and beef liver is super common. Tripe (beef stomach) is common. Necks? Not so much.
Chicken feet (they are calling them paws now), pigs feet, and ox-tail also common.
mst3k_42@reddit
Braised pork necks are pretty popular here in the south.
LABELyourPHOTOS@reddit
Ah - I was think of chicken neck. I think we call pork neck the collar.
mst3k_42@reddit
I’ve heard of fish collars…
cjdstreet@reddit
Haggis
JMT_325@reddit
Yes, but availability of certain foods will vary widely based on location and population.
uhsiv@reddit
pålegschocolade and marzipanbrød
DesignerOlive9090@reddit
It is for me.
The closest restaurant related to my nationality is almost 3 hours away.
I have to make everything from scratch and even plant my own vegetables to be able to have what I need.
honeybunchesofpwn@reddit
Absolutely!
My family is from Mumbai/Goa, but I was born and raised in the US.
There are many, many things we cannot get for a variety of reasons.
There are fish, fruits, vegetables, spices, and similar stuff that you just cannot get elsewhere.
Hell, there are spice blends my family gets that we only find in one singular store on the entire planet lol.
Conscious_Quality803@reddit
Mutton. I want mutton. Can't find it.
Wise_Old_Joe@reddit
Horse meat is virtually impossible to find
rolexwristflexer@reddit
Like Mongolian Yak nutts?
Syndromia@reddit
I happen to live less than an hour away from a giant international market so I think I have a false sense of how accessible a lot of cuisine is. And this part of Ohio has a large immigrant population, so, theres a million and one Indian grocery stores, Asian groceries, halal markets, etc.
Blackstrider@reddit
Two things banned in the US - pluck for the haggis and kinder surprise...
Snezzy_9245@reddit
Genuine haggis.
Cowboywizard12@reddit
These days if you can't find something in store, you can almost certainly find it somewhere online. That said, I've had a hell of a time looking for Banana Leaves
wilkinsk@reddit
Restaurants, yes. Grocery shops maybe less.
It's all about the community you live in.
Lowell, MA is a medium or less sized city but it's one of the top cities for Cambodians in the country. You can find plenty of Cambodian restaurants and shops there. That and there's a lot of Indians in the county as well as it's has a State University in the town.
But you go to Western MA where it increasely more and more Wasp farmer familys and you won't be able to find much without extensive searches.
Basically this is a long winded way of saying you need to find your community, maybe start with immagrant programs or an ethnic church you belong to. I'm sure you can find a way from there, with the help of their community
Calaveras-Metal@reddit
there are a few kinds of cheese and cured meat that are illegal in the US.
The-Cursed-Gardener@reddit
Many immigrants tend to settle in communities of same or similar ethnic backgrounds as themselves. And they more often than not have specialty stores running those communities that import cultural foods from that part of the world. Typically run by said immigrants. In places where those types of communities are much smaller there are often places that specialize in imported goods from Asia/Africa/Europe. The small city I live in is very remote and people of Asian descent make up maybe 2%~ of the population. But there are still a couple of Asian market stores that stock imported foods popular with people from Asia. Many supermarkets also have an exotic foods isles, or ethnic foods isles dedicated to staples that cater to immigrant or other common ethnic groups in that specific city. I live closer to the Mexican border and many people here are of Mexican descent, so the grocery stores here all have larger Mexican food selections to choose from. It varies depending on what part of the country you are in. Larger cities tend to be more diverse and thus it is easier to buy a wider variety of things from various cultural regions in the shops there.
Scavgraphics@reddit
Honestly, it's like asking "are things hard to find in Europe".
People who aren't from America really don't understand just HUGE it is. (Conversely, I've found Americans have a hard time understanding the small size of like England.) These are just innate things you have living in a place.
I live in what would be called a small town in Colorado. I can find chicken and cow liver easily..pretty much any grocery. Cow stomach..at least the lining...fairly easily. Occasionally I'll see Cow neck bones on sale for stock, but rarely as an item for cooking for itself, if that's what you mean.
BUT, I'm also a small town between 1 city and a MAJOR city....so I could find any of that with a little bit of research effort....there's a giant Asian Market maybe 30 minutes from me with all sorts of curious and exotic looking foods (to my eyes...I'm sure very mundane to anyone familiar with the culture).
My sister lives in small town Mississippi....she'd likely find a lot of the meat organ stuff easier due to the farmers/ranchers actually....But not so much a good range of soy sauce.
Mike_in_San_Pedro@reddit
Where I am at in Los Angeles, it is usually a drive to find specialties, but they are usually within reach. We are blessed with a great number of communities from all around the world.
pixygarden@reddit
The answer to this depends so much on whether the ingredients can be frozen/preserved or need to fresh as well as whether or not there is a significant immigrant population in the city you are asking about for the cuisine you are speaking of. The US is a capitalist county so your answer is based on supply and demand demand. If there is demand, the supply will follow. I am in a relatively small city but with large immigrant populations from quite a few areas around the globe. Those ingredients and restaurants are relatively easy to find. Low population for a nationality will equal low supply. Just do your research on the town or city in question and you will know whether or not you can find what you are looking for. If you are considering a move to the US and this is important to you, I would recommend visiting the area first and seeking out the foods and ingredients you are looking for.
Accomplished_Fig3198@reddit
Yeah, definitely -
Salo/lardo, pork hot dogs, chinotto, celery root (impossible to make a classic mirepoix), banana juice, twarog/quark, parsley root… the list is endless. Also organs are rare to get in general. Even getting liver will be hard in regular grocery stores sometimes
maybiiiii@reddit
I live in a large city.
You need to go to restaurant locations and ask if they have some of things you listed.
Even if it’s immigrant owned, it still caters towards Americans as the majority so most of their popular items get tailored towards American taste.
For example, Shawarma is a popular food in the US. This gets pushed more than other lesser known dishes.
Another example, lumpia is popular in the US. Common Filipino dish. You have a better chance of finding that over Balut in a restaurant.
Akovsky87@reddit
Depends on the immigrant and where they ended up. My family immigrated from Poland to an area with a high concentration of other Polish and Slavic immigrants. So alot of the food was available and part of daily diets long after they assimilated.
This became very apparent when I moved away and couldn't find things like farmers cheese or biala. The only options were hillshire farms smoked kielbasa and Ms T's pierogi.
NegotiationStatus727@reddit
Yes wherever you are from there will be something you can't find. Where I grew up you'd typically get an Italian place or two, a Mexican place or two (most likely not authentic), generic Asian, and like one other specialty place like Thai or Japanesr or Indian.
In a mid sized city like you mentioned you'd pro a ly find all of these types and maybe a few others but certainly not everything.
splynneuqu@reddit
I know not everyone lives near a H Mart but they carry alot of meat and produce you won't normally find in an American grocery store. The one in Frederick, MD sells live seafood kept in aquariums.
dobbydisneyfan@reddit
Probably any meat that isn’t beef, pork, or chicken is harder to come by.
Kellzy1212@reddit
It really is very area dependent. Here in Vegas you can find almost anything Mexican, Asian or Pacific Islander.
In Miami you can find anything Caribbean, Central/South American and west African.
People bring the foods they grew up with when they move. You can look at the census of an area to get a clear idea of what international foods will be easy/hard to find.
sageamericanidiot@reddit
It definitely depends on where you live and access to a diverse city will have more options.
Cooked organs might be challenging, but it's not difficult to find a market that sells them.
I live in a very diverse city that has ethnic pockets all over the place. There isn't much you can't find.
TrapperJon@reddit
One thing you can't get in the US is lung unless you bother and cook it yourself.
Most other things you can get to varying degrees of quality. Pineapple in the US is terrible compared to pineapple in Nicaragua for example.
version13@reddit
I hear you have to work at it to find a good supply of bush meat.
rafaelthecoonpoon@reddit
Yes. Especially "specialty" tropical fruits that don't ship well. That being said, I have lived in towns of 10k where I can get starfruit, quince, hawthorn, nopales, guava, etc and in cities of \~100k where I could buy pig uteri at the asian market.
mst3k_42@reddit
We have some pretty awesome specialty ethnic markets in my area. There you’ll find lots of exotic produce you’ve never heard of. And sooo many organ meats, pig’s blood, and every part of different animals. Last time in one of our Asian markets I saw raw geoducks. I’d only ever seen them on TV. Oh, and live eels swimming around in a little pool.
clydex@reddit
Those types of foods are not typical "American" foods. So the types of restaurants that would sell that type of food would be "ethnic" restaurants. Virtually every mid size city and many smaller cities and towns have immigrant communities from somewhere in the world. So finding unusual cuts of meat would be dependent on which immigrant community is in a city. Tripe is popular food for example for Mexican Americans, that could be found in most small cities.
pinniped90@reddit
I'm not an immigrant, but I know it's hard to find English bangers of the same grind and flavor as what you get in the UK or Ireland.
We have places that claim to serve a "full Irish breakfast" that has the right items on the plate, even the salty back bacon, but the sausage is always a little off... Butcher shops here sell English bangers but it's simply not the same.
Js987@reddit
Meat wise, generally no, with exceptions for things that aren’t lawful to sell or are highly regulated like lungs and some brain products. With effort, even goat which is relatively uncommon here can be found in most medium sized cities, although certain cuts may be unavailable. Some fish can be difficult to find even frozen, and some aren’t available at all.
It’s really fruits, vegetables, and packaged goods that can be unobtainable. For example, fresh calamansi (calamondin oranges, a common Filiipino ingredient) are effectively unobtainable in my experience as they cannot be imported for phytosanitary reasons (they could transmit disease to Florida’s valuable citrus plants) and only frozen pulp or liquid concentrate is available. You have to grow your own.
DontForgetTheDivy@reddit
USA is a massive place with different things available in different places based on populations and cultures. Will depend where in USA you are.
Aggressive_Power_471@reddit
I live in a decent sized city but it is Western USA, not Eastern, so I cannot get culantro easily, just cilantro. When I lived in Massachusetts I could get it in Rhode Island.
Also have to go to specialty markets to get things like jack fruit or guava. we have all the stupid chili peppers you could ever hope for though. ugh.
verminiusrex@reddit
Very location dependent. If there is a demand for food items due to immigrant population, you'll find it in specialty markets or even at Costco. Smaller towns you are less likely to have that variety.
the_real_JFK_killer@reddit
On organ meat specifically, yes this is hard to get in the us because of stringent regulations when compared to other forms of meat.
But in general, you can find almost anything in the US
WolfThick@reddit
Here in Arizona we have several stores one in particular is called lee lees and every aisle has a different nationality. I can get duck eggs squid and mahi mahi all at the same store.
SmoothSlavperator@reddit
Not really. Maybe specific brands of food products but not component ingredients.
Especially animal parts. If you don't see it in the case, just talk to the guy at the meat counter. They'll get it for you.
beamerpook@reddit
Yes. Unless you are in big, dense city with lots of different ethnic background, it can be nearly impossible certain ingredients and foods.
And almost completely impossible in small, rural communities, because there won't be enough people interested in it to make it profitable.
DeliciousMoments@reddit
It depends on the city. Most cities have a couple predominant immigrant groups. For example, in Minneapolis you'll have no problem finding lots really good Vietnamese food and grocery stores but not so much in, say, Omaha, because the latter doesn't have as strong of a Viet immigrant community.
exitparadise@reddit
Yes, if the ingredient isn't common in American food, it will be harder to find in smaller cities.
I live in a medium town and I could find chicken livers. I think even KFC or Popeyes sell them. Necks would be hard to find outside a whole chicken.
I used to live in a large city and was relatively easy to find just about anything. Any organ, Halal meats, all kinds of fish, even whole goat.
MajorPaper4169@reddit
I’m in NYC, the Bronx. You can find almost anything here.
EatFishKatie@reddit
Its almost near impossible to get blood sausage and a variety of Easter European cheeses here in the US.
Luxy2801@reddit
If you're looking for organ meats, talk to small butcher shops. I know you can find haggis, but it's not the same as other countries because you can't get it with lung meat
Powersmith@reddit
is it hard to find restaurants in the USA that sell cooked meat organs like livers, stomach necks?
Yes, because the demand for these things is generally very low.
You can find anything you want in stores though and make them yourself. But restaurants with room for 8 or 12 dinners on their menu are not going to keep an option that is rarely ordered over more popular/profitable ones.
Particular mid-size/smaller cities with enclaves of a particular diaspora often do have restaurants that cater to local immigrant populations and immigrants themselves often open restaurants of their home culture/cuisine.
So if city A has a substantial Ethiopian diaspora community and city B has a substantial Vietnamese diaspora community, city A will probably have Ethiopian restaurants and city B will probably have Vietnamese restaurants, but not vice versa.
redd4972@reddit
It's depends. I've been to grocers in medium sized cities like Buffalo (population about 270,000, 51st largest metro in the US) that are clearly marketed at immigrant populations, but they are going to be marketed towards the specific immigrant population in that community.
Your flair says your from Algeria. So your best bet is to find a city with a large Algerian migrant population.
Alert-Algae-6674@reddit
Not that common in restaurants you can find markets which sell more exotic cuts of meat, like organs.
Odd-Introduction-945@reddit
I’m not an immigrant but I live in a small-mid size city and can never find Chinese sesame paste.
Zziggith@reddit
Yes
MrShake4@reddit
Depends on the size of the cities and the size of the community that lives there.
Basically every Jewish deli will have liver.
I’ve seen beef tongue, pigs feet, you name it, but I also live in a large city.
Outrageous-Host-3545@reddit
Some yes just as it may be hard to find in there native country.
Others depends on the population from what ever country. Some may be exactly the same and some may be close enough.
TorrEEG@reddit
It depends where you live. We have to drive about an hour to find any diverse foods.
SameBodybuilder3263@reddit
If it is hard, it’s not because everyone is hogging them up.
Negative-Arachnid-65@reddit
The US has a very diverse food scene, especially in cities. Any city with a decent-sized immigrant population from a given country/region will have restaurants and grocery stores catering to those specific food traditions.
Whether or not those foods have entered the broader, mainstream diet is another question and somewhat variable.
seajayacas@reddit
Probably far and few between