2008-07-24
Bodega Snacks
Although not as often as I used to, I find myself defending my choice to live in Jamaica Plain, both to well-meaning relatives who question the "safety" of living in the city (it's a hell of a lot safer than living in some of those 'burbs, I'll tell you what, and I encountered way creepier people growing up on the South Shore than I've ever dealt with here), as well as people who live on the other side of the river who would have me believe that getting here is more difficult than getting to an Alaskan outpost.
I smile at these people, assure them that I'm perfectly safe here, continue to invite them to my parties even though I know they won't show up, and remind them again that I've been here for many years now and don't plan on leaving, and one more time -- it's Jamaica PLAIN, not PLAINS.
My great-grandparents came here from Ireland and lived on Round Hill Street. My grandparents lived on Egleston Street. My folks lived first on Everett (right around the corner from where I live now) and then Rossmore Road. I was born here, and although I spent my formative years on the aforementioned South Shore, I am more at home in JP than I ever, EVER felt there.
The joking way my family refers to my move here as the "return to the ancestral homeland" notwithstanding, I feel connected. I love the pond, the Arboretum, and Forest Hills Cemetery. I love that there's not a Starbucks, a Chili's, or a GAP to be had here.
And I love me my bodegas. Oh, God, I really don't know how I'd gotten along all those years without them. I have a number of dietary staples now, in large part to these fine establishments, dotted throughout JP. To wit:
HOLY CRAP THESE ARE THE DELICIOUSNESS.
Basically, a large part of my diet is made up of GOYA products. Their condiments kick the ass of just about everything else out there. And the cookies...God. So good. If you like your cookies ridiculously sweet, you won't be into these all that much. They're biscuits, but dusted with cinnamon and sugar and they are seriously the BEST THING EVER. Although...
Not long ago I picked up a package of these (the chocolate/coconut variety, in the green wrapper), because the bodega closest to my house had run out of the cinnamon biscuits (probably because I bought them all). These are also quite insanely delectable; I can polish off a whole sleeve of 'em without even thinking about it. Again -- not particularly sweet. They have a slight devil's food taste to them, with a thin white coconut stripe in the center. Honestly they're like compressed, crispy Devil Dogs. They have changed my life for the better.
When I was first getting sober, I LIVED on Jamaican-style ginger beer. I craved fizzy things (although I was coming off of a long bender involving hard liquor, not beer), and drank a lot of flavored seltzer, but this stuff delivered the goods. I kind of burned out on it, but recently I've picked up a bottle here and there. It's good. Wicked spicy.
What originally drew me to this was the INSANE packaging. Like Mrs. Doubtfire's offering you some PCP-laced cocoa. But I have to tell you - after a winter of making hot chocolate with this stuff, I don't know if I could go back to Swiss Miss. Mish says that this also makes good mole sauce.
So you see -- I can't leave. I just can't.
lisamcc at 7:44 a.m.
2 comments so far
vikkitikkitavi
2008-07-25 16:11:13
I'm not a big cookie fan, but man, give me some weird foreign food pickled in a jar and I will buy it! Spooney and I recently ventured into a Salvadoran restaurant just across the boulevard from where I live. We were the only gabachos in there, in fact, given the animosity between the Mexican and Salvadoran communities, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone in there was Salvadoran, or maybe Guatemalan. Anyhoo, the food was very tasty, and the menu was suprisingly friendly to vegetarians. I suppose that's why I had never checked it out before - trying to determine the ingredients of foreign foods from a server whose English is not great is frequently more of a drag than it's worth. AND, they have crazy things in jars for sale! Pickled tamarind? What is THAT like? I must be brave and get myself a jar next time Spooney and I venture in for a breakfast of pupusas and fried plantains and eggs.
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vikkitikkitavi
2008-07-25 16:12:46
I just made myself so hungry. Damn.
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