Traveler's Pantry

Asian, Middle Eastern, European, and Indian—explore Tucson's international food markets

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By Karyn Zoldan | Photography by Jackie Alpers

Tucson may not have its own Little Italy or Chinatown, but it does offer a multitude of ethnic food markets. It's a buyer's market—from halloumi cheese to halvah, blini to bangers, and a cornucopia of global products in between. Tucson foodies have a wealth of ethnic and specialty markets where they can gather once hard-to-find ingredients. These family-owned stores carve out a niche catering to people who want to re-create dishes from their homelands, capture food memories of past travels, or simply explore new culinary horizons.

That's amore

Drive west from the Father Kino statue on Kino Parkway, and depending upon which way the wind blows, your nose may lead you to Roma Imports. Born in India, raised in Israel, and a former cook all over the world—even in Greenland—Lilian Spieth has been the busy proprietor for 10 years and is genuinely excited to talk about her food.

At Roma Imports, Spieth interacts with her customers. If they have a request for a certain product, she will try to locate it to sell in the store. Customers come into the store with cryptic recipes their grandmothers made, and Spieth will research how to make the dishes. She once re-created stromboli for a gentleman who cried the first time she made it. Stromboli, a calzone-like sandwich filled with sausage, is now available in the store on weekends.

The shop bursts with all things Italian—items such as spicy sausage, vegetarian vodka sauce, and roasted garlic/parmesan sauce to be paired with breaded eggplant, gnocchi, or ravioli. Anchovies are king here, along with imported pepperoncini, fresh ricotta cheese, bagged polenta, rounds of Italian bread, and the best-seller—meat lasagna. Roma Imports offers hot entrées, sandwiches, cold soups, summer salads, a world foods section boasting Indian, Greek, German, and French food prepared on premises, and a coffee bar. Besides offering catering, Roma also hosts three gourmet dining events, called feasts, throughout the year. Buon appetito.

More than meze

In 1987 the Khalifa Solieman family saw the need for a Middle Eastern grocery in the community, and since then Caravan Middle Eastern Foods has grown. As you enter the store, a wave of intense spices permeates your nasal passages. Products from Africa, Eastern Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of India line the shelves and bins. Caravan's bestselling items include cheeses, olives, breads and pastries, spices, phyllo dough, and grape leaves.

Like most owners of mom-andpop stores, Solieman wants to know what his customers need and to keep up with dining trends. Some of his customers do most of their shopping there—especially around a Muslim holiday—and other people come in for one or two ingredients, such as nuts, since his selection is varied and the prices are good. Solieman says, "Middle Eastern food is very healthy. Dip bread in zaatar (thyme) and olive oil." Here it's pre-mixed with sumac and sesame seeds.

Bins abound with bulk olives from three continents. Walls of shelves bursting with every kind of tea attract serious tea drinkers, as do tea accessories including goldrimmed crystal goblets like my Russian grandmother used to have. Exotic syrups flavored with quince, lemon, and orange blossom pique the senses. Cheese lovers might consider exploring the eclectic array in the cheese case. Try the salty sheep or goat kasseri cheese, perfect for grating or sauteéing in butter, then igniting with brandy for the classic flaming saganaki appetizer. Choose something adventuresome to enjoy at home with a glass of wine.

From masala to lassi

People who may be a bit tentative about trying new things or hesitant of what ingredients to buy are in luck. At India Dukaan (dukaan means store), owner Sukanya Bhat will enthusiastically provide a tour of her compact store located in the Campbell Avenue corridor. She patiently introduces you to spices and ready-to-eat products and gladly recommends easy, nutritious recipes. When Bhat found out there were more than 25 families from Sri Lanka in Tucson who drove to Phoenix for Sri Lankan products, she began carrying them in the store.

For a quick meal she recommends semi-ready-to-eat masala (spice) blends combined with meat and vegetables of your choice, washed down with a soothing mango lassi. Frozen mango pulp is particularly popular and can be mixed with yogurt for a refreshing and healthy "milkshake."

East meets Northwest

A perennial Phoenix favorite, the colossal Lee Lee Oriental Supermart boasts dedicated aisles teeming with goods specific to numerous countries and continents. While Asia dominates with Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, and Filipino foodstuff—the Middle East, Africa, India, Australia, and the Americas also claim adequate shelf space in this 51,000-square-foot mega-international grocery utopia.

As far as the eye can see, there's a blur of teas, sacks of rice, noodles and grains, hot sauces, pastes, frozen ,dumplings, canned tropical fruits, instant ramen soups, soy sauces, spices, coconut milk, pickled products, and a vibrant valley of produce. Claiming an entire back wall, neon signs announce fresh meat and fish sections. Along with everyday cuts of meat are the harder-to-find game hen, quail, pork snout, pork ear, and duck gizzards. Two giant fish tanks house the freshest catches of the day.

Shoppers can observe employees expertly gutting and prepping the fish as well as consider 100 different varieties of fresh and frozen seafood. An enterprising tour guide knowledgeable in the gastronomic nuances of many nations would be a welcome perk to channel us globally curious cooks through Lee Lee's ingredients.

It's time to discover the world of Tucson's ethnic food diversity. Start by taking a bite out of some of these markets.

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Karyn Zoldan puts mint chutney on everything, including potato latkes with sour cream. She's a partner in the sassy circleoffood.com/blog.