A Field Trip Fit for a Foodie

This weekend I am visiting my alma mater, which is located in Indiana, just on the border of Ohio. Those of us who were lucky enough to have cars while attending college took advantage of this by taking day trips to various locations in Ohio, including Dayton, Columbus, and Oxford. If you were anything like me, though, you lived for the rare trips to Jungle Jim's, a large international supermarket located by Hamilton.

There's no words to describe the feeling you get when you walk inside Jungle Jim's for the first time. Depending on how old you are, it's likely that your first stop will be their liquor department. To say that it is well-stocked would be an understatement. They have wine, beer, and hard liquor from everywhere. And I mean everywhere. I picked up a bottle of red bicyclette rose wine, which is from the pays d'oc region of france. I wanted to get a bottle of funky llama shiraz, which is from argentina, but they were out of the shiraz. My bottle of French wine was only $6.

Their grocery section is also mind-blowingly well-stocked. They have an incredible selection of hot sauces, some of which are kept under lock and key. I easily spent 20 minutes trying to decide on coffee beans (I ended up getting a bag of Jamaican coffee and a bag of Kona blend coffee).

But here's the best thing about this store: if you look around, the prices are very reasonable. I bought an eight ounce resealable container of yellow curry for $2 and a large packet of thai fruit flavored agar (vegan jello...I'm not vegan, but I don't eat gelatin) for under a dollar. I also bought a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce, a large container of whole wheat sweet potato gnocchi, a bar of venezuelan chocolate, a small box of salted margarita caramels, a package of dried kiwis, and a decent sized bag of pumpkin seeds. My total came out to something around $40.