Local, not so local, Grocer!

I went to the grocery store earlier today because i've haven't been feeling too good and have pretty much been bed-resting (alternating between bed and the couch) the entire weekend. I live in the DMV and it is Inauguration weekend and so far I have not been able to go to anything :/ - maybe tomorrow. Anywhoooo, I didn't go to the Giant or Shoppers - I went the Hispanic store and then the Asian market because they have a waaaaay better selection of fruit and produce and can get pretty "exotic". Even more than Whole Foods, but without the Whole Foods prices. I had things I wanted to get, but I also wanted to muse at the interesting things so here goes:

whole dragonfruit

 umngqutshu (for my southern Africans) also eaten by Hispanic people

(remember these in Abidjan)

canned bitter melon

canned callalo

canned eggplant (even though it looks like a "garden egg") from Ghana

canned lychee

fufu powder for my west Africans

all those chicken innards (heart, gizzard, liver and necks)

canned mangosteen

Maggi Arome (bottle liquid msg pretty much)

cream of palm nut for West Africans

So it seems the Chinese have done extensive [field] research and know how to supply something for everyone. They are somehow able to source quite "exotic" selections of produce and all the other canned and bottled necessities that people from all over the world use to cook. If you've been missing the taste of something indigenous to your country or culture you most probably will find it in one of these stores. What I also liked was that a lot of the fruit and vegetable choices are a lot cheaper than the they are at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and the Harris Teeters. They are completely unavailable at the regular "normal" grocers so why not go off the beaten path and find a lot more variety for a lot less. Like anything, however, you have to be in a healthy eating mindset WHEREVER you shop. For example, many African countries like cooking foods using a lot of aroma's, bouillon cubes and powders for flavoring and go so far as to claim they cannot cook without them. What most people do not know is that those are PURE monosodium glutamate (MSG). At best it causes headaches and other ailments. It can be [assumed to be] found in ALL Chinese food, unless otherwise stated and almost ALL canned and packaged foods that require preserving. From salad dressings and seasonings to bags of chips. It also, because of FDA regulation, appears coded as other things. Just be careful and deliberately mindful of what you eat :)