Bharat Mirchandani
Garam masala.
If you strolled into your fluorescent-lit grocery store and pulled out your grocery list, and it read:
Arepas
Bisi bele bhaath
Baharat
Mitha Pan
Masala
You might panic. But then again, you might discover that what you’ve got on your hands is rather more interesting that a simple grocery list. It’s a potential adventure, an exploration of exotic culinary experiences to be found … where? In a series of strip malls along Baton Rouge’s Coursey Boulevard.
In three strip malls, all within a mile of each other, the grocery options are half a world away from the stuff lining the shelves of your friendly neighborhood superstore megamart. There’s Montoya’s Restaurante, a Colombian and Latin restaurant and grocery store; Fashion India, an Indian grocery that also carries Indian fabric, movies, music and more; and then, down Coursey a little way is Olive Trees International Food, which carries Middle Eastern goods but prides itself on also stocking items from across the globe, including Europe and Africa.
Montoya’s Restaurante [Editor's note: Montoya's is now closed] features a handful of tables and chairs, which turn this grocery store into a modest restaurant serving a wide variety of Latin food. Intrepid strip-mall visitors are warmly welcomed for a plate of arepas—little breads made with corn that play a major role in the cuisine of Colombia, and Venezuela, and are readily available all over South America in street-side stands and restaurants. There’s also a Bandeja Plate on offer, which includes a sampling of many authentic typical Colombian foods, including arepas.
Montoya’s grocery shelves are filled with Latin staples, including all things Goya, as well as tamales, salsas, and candies with chili powder. The back wall of the store is lined with fridges and freezers carrying produce, from jalapeños to yucca, and a butcher’s case in the back boasts fish, pork and the popular fajita meats.
Next stop, at Fashion India, at the far east of the adjacent strip mall, the grocery aisles, surrounded on three sides by frozen and refrigerated goods, present enough packaged spices to make any curry-craver crazy with foodie-lust. Not sure what exactly to do with the box of pre-packaged spices for Bisi bele bhaath, the traditional dish made from lentils, rice and vegetables? Mercifully, English instructions are included in the packaging of most products.
Indian foodstuffs aren’t the only items for visitors to explore in the Fashion India. One wall displays an exotic rainbow of thin strips in vivid colors, made from the bolts of fabric wedged onto shelves next to each other. A case by the door holds sets of sparkling bangles, and the back of the store spills over with Indian movies, from classic Bollywood to contemporary films.
Finally, across Sherwood Forest Boulevard and down Coursey about a half a mile, is Olive Tree’s, which offers a wide range of international cuisine including spices like Cardamom, Cumin—and Baharat, an all-purpose spice mix found in many prepared savory dishes in Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. Olive Trees owner Monir Almasri and wife Amal, who have been running the store for five years, pride themselves on the store’s thorough stock of canned foods, frozen goods, mixes and more. And behind the counter in their store, the Jerusalem-born couple has a bean grinder for Turkish coffees, dates for purchase by weight, and other hard-to-find goodies.
As an added bonus on the strip mall safari, grocery goers will find, between Fashion India and Olive Trees on Coursey, the Fresh Pickins Produce Market, which carries a wide variety of fresh produce, much of it grown in this region.
So next time your plans call for grocery shopping, know that out there in the wilds of suburbia lie these friendly international grocers, working together to turn on its head the cynics who declare that world peace isn’t just something you can add to the grocery list.
Details. Details. Details.
Montoya’s Restaurante [now closed]
Fashion India & Groceries
11802 Coursey Blvd
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
(225) 293-4719
Olive Tree's International Food Inc.
10979 Coursey Blvd # G
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
(225) 291-2935
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