Shopping for Middle Eastern Ingredients Locally
In most parts of the U.S., you can find a Middle Eastern grocer within driving distance. In your search for ingredients, your first stop should be to look in the phone book. Look in the yellow pages under "ethnic grocers", "gourmet food", or "specialty food".You can also try to search online by entering "middle eastern food stores" or "arabic food stores" in any search engine with the name of your city and state included.
Finally, ask around! If you dine at a Middle Eastern restaurant, ask you server. They may know of a place locally.
If you find a Mediterranean or Greek store, chances are you will be able to find what you need - Middle Eastern and Greek food are very similar.
Finally, check out your local supermarket's ethnic and gourmet food section. If they don't carry what you need, ask the manager. Many supermarkets will special orders items for you at no additional charge.
Shopping for Middle Eastern Ingredients Online
If you can't find ingredients locally, or don't have the time, the internet can be a wonderful resource for you. There are hundreds of Middle Eastern grocery stores online that carry everything you will need. Most of them are located in the United States, and shipping is relatively inexpensive. These stores import from the Middle east, so you will be getting authentic goods.There are stores online that are located in the Middle East, but shipping can get expensive.
There isn't much of a price difference in goods online or locally. In fact, some on the online retailers are less expensive than local grocers.
