Another video: Shopping at an Indian market

I shot this video of Yajan Upadhyaya, the chef/owner of Cumin, shopping at Niva Grocers on Lebanon Road in Sharonville to go along with another Polly Campbell story that's running Wednesday. If you can find it, Niva has aisles and aisles of fascinating food, as you'll see in the video. I was especially excited to see Thums Up, the slightly spicy Indian version of Coke that Cumin serves. I don't have much experience shopping at ethnic markets here -- what's your favorite? (I think Miscellaneous Rodriguez on East Kemper Road has just about the best name ever, although I've never been there.)

Update: Read Polly's story here.

Who's (got) your manna?

Main Entry: man·na
noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek, from Hebrew mān
Date: before 12th century
1 a: food miraculously supplied to the Israelites in their journey through the wilderness b: divinely supplied spiritual nourishment c: a usually sudden and unexpected source of gratification, pleasure, or gain (from www.m-w.com)



I was talking to a friend recently about manna, not in the literal sense, but the concept. I was on the search for it this weekend. I was hoping to discover it in a new restaurant, but I ended up going where I knew for a fact that I would find it: A Taste of Julia's in Fairfield.

What's my manna? Soul food. Injera (seen above) wrapped around just about anything edible in an Ethiopian restaurant (Speaking of which, Emanu is supposed to open this month. Um, I hope it's soon!). Thai food. Indian food. And (wait for it) sauerkraut mixed with mashed potatoes. What can I say... This is what happens when you love food and you come from a hodgepodge family.


What foods (cuisines or specific dishes) bring you pure pleasure?