The nearest supermarket to me is the Shaw’s on Border Street in East Boston. I figured it’d be fine; I relied on a Shaw’s when I lived in Merrimack, New Hampshire, in the 1990s. And there was a certain convenience that the same shopping area included a Kappy’s and a CVS: food, booze, and pharmaceuticals accessible from a single parking space.
Shaw’s
Took me a while to get oriented to the Shaw’s, but then every new and unfamiliar grocery store is a challenge. Their accountants require different layouts and emphasize different inventories. I basically loathe supermarkets. So much stuff and so little food. Start on one side, wind a series of hairpin turns, and head directly for the cashier.
dried currants
Shaw’s was okay, but they didn’t have chopped kale in the vegetable freezer, and, frankly, their selection of frozen veggies was pretty poor. The produce failed to impress. The meats were meh. The store is dark and a little dingy. Overall, I’d give that Shaw’s a “C.” It’s adequate. Nothing more.
They also didn’t have dried currants or my preferred cereal. Maybe that was simply a matter of things being out of stock? Nope. A couple more visits and a consultation with the customer service person established that they simply didn’t carry either currants or Ezekiel 4:9, my preferred cereal. Fortunately, I was able to find frozen kale.
Market Basket
This August marked the tenth anniversary of the walk-outs that protested the change in ownership of Market Basket. Arthur T. Demoulas had been ousted as CEO by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas, and the employees were having none of it. It’s a long story, head to Google if you are interested, but Demoulas prevailed in the end, putting the business a billion and a half in debt to keep the store the excellent, friendly, high-quality establishment customers expected to shop at and staff wanted to work at. That debt has been discharged; tenth-anniversary bonuses were handed out to celebrate the milestone.
I have a faint recollection of this bit of internecine warfare as it was national news, at least in the business pages.
A fellow dog-walker, Josué, had also recommended that I do my shopping at the Market Basket in Chelsea, just over the bridge. It is a bit further away, he said, but not much. “They have wonderful produce,” Josué rhapsodized. That’s a powerful recommendation. Someone who truly cares about the quality of the produce is a cook.
In Search of Currants and Cereal
Ezekiel 4:9 cereals
The Market Basket in Chelsea is enormous, well lit, and busy with customers. It has a vast and excellent produce section and the tunes piped in are my kind of music. I headed for all those fruits and vegetables. Frozen foods occupy the real estate nearby. I skipped the meats this time, but the cases run almost the length of the store.
Good bakery. It also has an impressive selection of olives in the deli area and—be still my beating heart—stuffed grape leaves. I love stuffed grape leaves. Huh. They were out of quarts of whole milk, which I require for my tea. That’s okay. The choice of canned fruit to go with my cottage cheese wasn’t exceptional. I’ll survive.
Oh no! No currants in the baking aisle! And no Ezekiel in the cereal aisle!
When I made inquiries at customer service I got the same blank stare I had gotten at Shaw’s. No, I have never heard of that kind of cereal. No, I have no idea what currants are. Rats.
Fussy, Fussy
You see, my preferred breakfast is plain Greek yogurt mixed with some cereal and a squirt of honey. It’s also a good choice if I need a quick snack. I’ve used other cereals, but Ezekiel in the orange box or blue box, the “Original” and the “Sprouted” varieties, are superior to anything else.
I have a recipe for Irish soda bread muffins and currants are essential. I’ve used raisins and dried cranberries, and they taste fine, but they are simply too large. My rice pudding and bread pudding require currants as well. Yes. Fussy, fussy.
My bestie in Cleveland, Lynn, shipped me a couple boxes of the Ezekiel Almond that she had found to tide me over. I found the Almond also at a Whole Foods that is inconveniently located. The Almond is not as tasty and satisfying as the Original or the Sprouted, though. My Tattooed Boy, who lives in Maryland, has also promised to buy me some for Christmas.
Can I order these items online? Well, yes, I can. Would I rather just get them at my grocery store? I certainly would.