International markets give cuisine spice

Specific items — like the variety of dried chili peppers available at Mi Ranchito on North Chapel Street — get lost amid the aisles of Tastykakes and Cheerios inherent to typical supermarkets. However, there are a number of international food markets in the Newark area, and although they don’t see much student traffic, they do offer ingredients that make it possible to cook meals above and beyond the college staples of pasta and macaroni and cheese.

“I feel like your typical student would order Chinese rather than make their own rice, but if they did want to do that, the international markets have really good meats and things,” says Caroline Booze, a senior dietetics major and the secretary of the Food and Culinary Club.

Booze said she turned to the yellow pages when she was trying find international markets in the area. Chow’s Farms on Kirkwood Highway  offers a well-priced selection of produce, dumplings and other Chinese food, she says.

“I really like eating sprouts and you can’t find them in too many places, but they have a really good price on sprouts at Chow’s,” she says. “I use them in stir fries and things.”
Relatively few students shop at Wang’s Oriental Food Store, located at the East end of Main Street, says junior George Xia, whose parents own the store.

“It’s Asian-Americans and people straight from China that come to the university,” Xia says of the customer base. His parents opened the store over 13 years ago.

According to the Wang’s Oriental Food Store Web site, the store carries a variety of products that are essential to the cuisine of Southeast Asia, including foods from China, Korea and Thailand.

“We sell a wide range of Asian cuisines,” Xia says. “There’s sushi, miso soup, ramen — like what you think of Asian restaurants is what we have.”

Yeni Lopez, who has worked at Mi Ranchito for seven years, says more students are coming into the store than in past years. However, they don’t usually take advantage of the store’s selection of tortillas, beans and produce.

“It’s more juice,” Lopez says, referring to the refrigerators containing Arizona Iced Tea and Jarritos, a Mexican soda.

An advantage of area international food markets is that they tend to be a little less expensive than supermarkets.

Booze says the Newark Farmer’s Market on Kirkwood Highway is a great place to find inexpensive produce and dried goods. She says apples at the market are approximately 78 cents per pound — compared to approximately $1.79 per pound in supermarkets.

“You dont see too many students there,” she says. “There are a lot of Mexican and Asian people because they have Mexican and Asian things.”

“One thing that I really like from the Farmer’s Market is the dried cantaloupe,” Booze says.
Milk at the Newark Farmer’s Market is only $2.25 per gallon, Booze says, but the low prices, she says she rarely sees other students there.

Beyond low prices and atypical offerings, Xia believes international markets have an added appeal.

“I think [the shoppers] do enjoy the selection. It’s also like a community I guess, because a lot of people go,” Xia says.

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