Jenna Intersimone|MyCentralJersey.com
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The pandemic may have put our travel plans on hiatus, but in culturally rich Central Jersey, the food-curious can always make their way around the world.
And it's not justat restaurantswhere foodies can get a taste of international fare. Now more than ever,people are re-creating their favoritedishes at home.
Central Jersey food markets provideall of the ingredients you need, whether you are cravingAsian, African,Latin orCentral European cuisine.
Here are just a few to check out:
99 Ranch Market, Edison
Nearly half of Edison's population is Asian, and that culture is represented in thetownship's food scene. It's home to tons of authenticrestaurants andstores, including 99 Ranch Market,one of the country's largest Asian supermarket chains.
The 58,500-square-foot Edison location opened almost four years ago. It sells grocery items from Taiwan, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and China, and also has some Thai and Indian products. It also has an in-house bakery and a to-go counter for deli items.
"People who are from Asia say it offers them some nostalgia because we carryproducts that are iconic in Asia and they'rejust ecstatic when they find thingsthere," said Shirley Chui, marketing and public relations representative.
Some of those items include thinly-sliced meats ideal for hot pot cooking or pho; live seafood; fruits and vegetables, such as durian, Chinese eggplant and dragon fruit; snacks such as boba ice cream; and prepared food such as dim sum and roast duck served with orange sauce.
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Chui said the stores attract an even mixture of people interested in experiencing cuisine from another culture, as well as Asians looking for a taste of home.
"I tend to see on our social media people sort of 'fangirling' out and saying, 'Oh my gosh, I haven’t had this since I was a kid in Taiwan,' " Chuisaid."It’s really cool because we are able to give that back to our communities that we serve."
Go:561 Route 1, Edison;732-819-8889,99ranch.com.
Patidar Supermarket, Hillsborough
Whether you're one of the state's 384,000 Indian residents— the largest Asian-American group in New Jersey— or you just love a steaming plate of chicken tikka masala, butter chicken or samosas, Indian food is comfort cuisine we can all get behind.
With 30,000 square feet of Indian grocery products,Patidar Supermarket is a popular place to find vegetables typical in Indian cuisine, a huge selection of frozen Indian foods, Indian snack foods, rice and jasmine.
"Because we have such a large space, we have a lot more new items than other Indian stores here," saidBrjiesh Patel, manager of the 2½-year-old store. "We have a lot of variety."
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While at the store, customers also can visit Patidar's cafe for vada pav(deep fried potato dumpling placed inside a bread bun), dosas (a thin pancake made from a fermented batter of lentils and rice)and dabeli (a sweet snack garnished with pomegranate and roasted peanuts).Indian-style home decor items are also for sale.
Go:649 Route 206, Hillsborough;908-308-5940,patidarhillsborough.com.
Union Pork Store, Union
With 225 types of homemade sausages, most shoppers head to the Union Pork Store to find sausages of literally any variety. However, almost all of them also pick up groceries from Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Denmark, Holland and Austria on their way out, too.
The mom-and-pop shop, run by husband-and-wifeBozena and Leszek ‘Jabi’ Jablonski, sells items such as canned fish, dry seasonings, gravies, marinades, dumpling mixes, biscuits, butters, mustards, cookies, snacks, preserves, pickles and fresh breads delivered daily from local German bakeries.
“Whether you show up at the store for two or 10 sausages, you always grab something from the shelves, too,” Jabi said.
They are constantly adding new items.
“Whenever we see something new, like new ketchups from Germany, we get it," he said. "Whatever is new on the market, we right away want it on the shelf and people go crazy seeing it."
While the shop’s focus is German products,theJablonskis, who are Polish, began bringing in items from other countries when they purchased the place15 years ago.
“We started bringing in other items so the store was for everybody,” Jabi said. “Now, funny thing is, Polish people come in and grab the German stuff and German people come in and grab the Polish stuff.”
READ: Love in the kitchen: Meet the couples behind your favorite Central NJ restaurants
Currently, the store is curbside pickup only due to the pandemic.
Go:2702 Morris Ave., Union;908-688-2628,unionporkstore.com.
Basil Grocery, Hillsborough
When Turkey natives Kevin and April Whitehead started Basil Grocery three years ago, they planned for it to stay an online business. But as demand grew from customers across the United States, they decided to rent a small space to keep inventory.
Still, that wasn’t enough to satisfy the growing market – Central Jersey customers continued to stop by and wanted to enter the space to see the items. One year later, they opened to walk-in customers in Hillsborough with an 800-square-foot space. They recently expanded to the neighboring space, too, so now they have a combined 2,000-square-feet.
“You have to fly all over the U.S. to find some Turkish, Greek and Bulgarian products, so we decided to provide them online,” Kevin said. “But soon, every day I was traveling to collect the items, package them and send them to people.”
Some of their selectionincludes Turkish, Greek, Bulgarian, Polish and Dutch cheese and beef products; chocolates; nuts and other dried products such as hazelnuts and almonds; baklava made in Turkey; and Turkish tea and coffee.
“People are looking for unique items that they can’t find in Walmart or ShopRite, so we are trying to bring them here and make our customers happy,” Kevin said. “If you eat, for instance, a chocolate from your childhood, you feel different than you would if you ate a regular chocolate.”
More than half of Basil Grocery’s customers are Turkish.
“We have customers from lot of different cultures because people love to eat,” Kevin said. “You can’t go to Dunkin’ every morning to get coffee and a bagel. You want to try different things.”
Kevin loves seeing the delight on customers’ faces when they find nostalgic items at the store.
“Just this morning, a young guy stepped in and was so happy to find the Turkish coffee,” Kevin said. “He said, ‘My grandmother loves this coffee I am going to give it to her. She will be so excited to see this.’ ”
Go:856 Route 206 Building A Suite 2, Hillsborough;732-619-6713,basilgrocery.com.
Othermarkets
Filipino:Tropical Hut Catering at3366 Route 9, Old Bridge;732-679-7010, tropicalhutcatering.com.
Greek:The Greek Store at612 Boulevard, Kenilworth;908-272-2550,eatgreek.com.
Latin:Aqui Market at 617 E.Main St., Bridgewater;908-685-9900,aquimarket.com.
Middle Eastern:Afandina Mediterranean Deli and Groceries at545 Route 18, East Brunswick;732-390-9600,afandinausa.com.
West African:Original Kaneshie Market West African and Caribbean Grocery, 520 Ernston Road, Parlin;732-721-0300,facebook.com/KaneshieMkt.
Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA Today Network New Jersey since 2014, after becoming a blogger-turned-reporter following the creation of her award-winning travel blog. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. Contact: JIntersimone@Gannett.com or @JIntersimone.
