Where to get weird ingredients

[antoniojones1968]

I’m on a diet that comes with a lot of great looking recipes but I can’t find a lot of the ingredients at my grocery store. Where do people go to get these vegetables and grains and seeds that aren’t at the average food shop? A few examples I have are celeriac, mung beans, and flax seed flour.

Anyone have to buy these before?

[tammybear]

Have you tried going to health food stores or to bulk food stores? Those are great places to get spices that you haven't been able to find in other areas. i find that they have far better selections than regular grocery stores. Other than that, you might want to check out ethnic food stores. Find out online where the foods come from and then head to stores that cater to people from those regions of the world. Otherwise, I guess shopping online is your next best bet.

[Kyra]

those are good ideas, tammybear. You might also check if your own groceyr store has an ethnic foods section. It might be there, only tucked away where you didn't look.

[Mike]

Ethnic food stores have always worked for me. I never find much in health food stores unless it's dried things like spices. The ones near me don't sell fresh stuff.

[PaulLo]

Have you tried shopping on the internet? I've started to discover that when it comes to specialty foods that I want, I can usually find lots of great places that will sell them online. This is mostly true of packaged products, but every now and again I can find a place that sells fresh stuff, too. It's made a huge difference.

[CuJo1992]

When I want to find an ingredient that I've never heard of, I start off with an internet search. It's good to know if it's just a normal food being called by another name. For example, I was using a british health cookbook and a recipe asked for mangetous (Sorry, my spelling sucks) and linseed. I had no idea what those were or where to get them so I didn't do those recipes for a long time even though the effects looked great.

Then I found out it was just referring to snow peas and flax seeds! I could have bought those at the corner grocery all that time! So a teensy bit of research might take you a long way.

[ChristySmiles]

Then I found out it was just referring to snow peas and flax seeds! I could have bought those at the corner grocery all that time! So a teensy bit of research might take you a long way.

That's a really good idea. I found myself looking everywhere for celeriac once and found out that it goes by a different name, too. Like cilantro has another name, too! Always stay on your toes haha