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Lotte has nice fresh fish and crabs and some nice veggies. It is not too big though. (There is a Lotte in Fairfaz too I believe) If you are looking for big, there is a Korean/Oriental Market which I forgot to add to the list: called Korean Corner, and that too is in Maryland, but I forget the area's name. If you are on Randolph Avenue (off of Rockville Pike), you keep going straight till you hit a strip Mall on your left where Korean Corner is, I believe it is called Veirs Mill Road. They have all sorts of goodies like lotus leaves and garlic flowers, much like Lotte but a larger variety and on a larger scale. They even have a small cafe where you can eat excellent chap chae or spicy squid (it's not too fancy though and some may find it a bit 'messy').

Please let me know your thoughts on the Med Bakery if you venture out there!

Suvir if you want good Fetoosh you should go to some of the Lebanese restaurants in Washington DC- Fetoush being one of them! (sp. may be diferent), Lebanese Taverna and Neyla. The trick is to add the crisped pita bread at the end as it gets really soggy otherwise.

SteveKlc, Thank you for raising this issue. Being a food lover, I thought it was assumed that: "the same high quality products can be found here as in higher priced markets or sources." I love and enjoy looking for specialty high quality products at lower prices because I just don't see any need to spend, for example, $2 at Fresh Fields on a packet of fresh mint when I can get the same, for 50c at Yekta Irani market which is, in addition, even fresher and more fragrant. Quality reigns supreme, but do we really have to pay extortionate prices to get the product we want? The list I provided is for people who want to spend less, buy more specialised goods and not compromise on quality. Another example- I buy my shiitake and oyster mushrooms at Lotte (Korean Market) as well as my lemongrass. Again, cheaper than Fresh Fields and quality is perfect. In answer to your question on the buffalo milk mozarella from Via Reggio: I bought the same product made by the same producer in Campania from Sutton Place at a lower price. No compromise on quality. As for the Med Bakery, please make a trip there, I think you will really like it if you like the Lebanese Taverna. They have, in my view, the best olive selection. I keep Greek Kalamatas and the small bitter Lebanese olives in my pantry at all times which I buy from there. All my Arab friends shop there religiously, in fact, even the ones who live in Arlington and have easy access to the Taverna (The Bakery is slightly bigger than the Taverna). They have excellent halva, fatayer and lahmajeen. They have excellent fresh lebneh as well. I do not know about making fresh phyllo dough. Their spice selection too, is excellent. I bought za'atar and sumac from there for a fraction of the cost Dean and Deluca was charging me for a special order. And again, quality is perfect. You will like it. International House- the Indian/Pakistani store- I would not buy my spices from anywhere else except maybe the Indian Spices store in Arlington. I would never buy a garam masala for example, made by Fresh Fields, it just isn't authentic. I have not been to the Italian Store in Arlington but have frequented Via Reggio and Vace. Sometimes you can special order some things for example, I ordered a bottle of Mirto, What specific goods do you buy there? A lot of people look for mortadella (apparently quite good at the Med Bakery, too) and prosciutto, but since I don't eat pork, I am not interested in these products. I buy fresh pasta (sometimes) from Via Reggio. I used to buy my favourite San Pelligrino Limonata from there as well but now I have found it for less at Trader Joe's. I buy my olive oil from Dean and Deluca, not from Via Reggio- I use Ravida, which I did not find at Via Reggio. I would like to know what everyone likes to buy from Vace or the Italian Store specifically. I hope this helps.

Suvir, This is basically it to make fettoosh.

Tea with fresh ginger.

Jodi- Ovaltine and Milo my faves from prep school days! The best rice that I have had in the US is at an Afghani restaurant on 9th Avenue. The rice was long and thin, I have never ever had anything quite like it. At the Afghani restaurant they serve it with butter and sumac, it is exquisite. The name of the restaurant is Afghan Kebab House (9th Avenue, 51st Street) if anyone wants to do some rice research and find out where is was imported from. It is really worth it....and if you find out, please let all of us know!

Suvir, I think you are being too magnanimous. A caped chef could have articulated his thoughts better than just lashing out without an explanation. This website is supposed to have a "fun factor" in it, no, for all of us who come home after a day's work, be it as a chef or an economist??? From A caped chef's comment it seems I was mistaken, this is an "elitist" website for professional chefs only, I am sorry, I thought it was for food lovers as well. These are the sort of mean comments which make people never want to log onto egullet again....I for one will not be checking this thread again....

Chicken Broth from a can, (I feel verrrrry guilty about this), esp. when I use it for adding to a lovely asparagus soup or a risotto I am making. Sour shrimp paste (for Tom Yum soup, but I make my own thai curry pastes, so I guess that outweighs the "cheating")

Broil anything for more than one minute! I have burnt two beautiful gratins already!

BettyK, I will post the recipes for kheer and firni soon, things have been hectic. Again, I am awful when it comes to providing exact measurements, so please don't expect super fancy recipes! I think that is the beauty of this type of food!

I have not been to the Italian Store in Arlington but have been to Vace. I find the prices to be quite higher than the other specialty stores in Washington. For example, the Sun of Italy brands, for example, are found in even a local Giant food store now- in comparison the prices at Vace are much higher. The buffalo milk mozarella from Campania that Vace carries can be found at Sutton Place Gourmet and is cheaper there. The San Pellegrino drinks (Limonata, for eg.) can be found at Trader Joe's for a lower price as well. The fresh pasta at Vace is good I must say. I went to Two Amy's pizzeria last night and will not be returning there again. The pizza at Pizza Paradiso is much better. We first ordered a vesuvio which was supposed to be prosecco with grapefruit juice. Seemed to be the appropriate drink for a humid Washingon evening. We sat outside, which was the only redeeming feature of the place. The interior had black and white bathroom style tiles....When the drinks arrived, much to the disappointment of my Mediterranean friends, the grapefruit juice was not fresh, but straight out of a can. In addition, the effervescence from the prosecco was non existent. When the pizza arrived the edges were too "puffy", the crust a bit too thin and soggy and the toppings were scattered sparsely. It did not seem to have the same chewiness that the pizza at Pizza Paradiso has. The best part of the meal was the escarole salad!! I wish they still had the panna cotta on the menu, unfortunately they didn't.

I thought it would be helpful to post the names of some specialty food stores (which are quite reasonably priced) in the Washington area for everyone, as I know how valuable it is to have this sort of information. I hope others can offer some tips as well. (I have been looking for a Thai grocery/spice store but have been unsuccessful.) Lebanese/ Mediterranean Mediterranean Bakery- South Picket Street , VA., near Landmark Mall Assadour- Off Rockville Pike, Randolph Street, MD. Irani and Mediterranean Yekta- Rockville Pike, MD. Indian/Pakistani International House- Rockville Pike, MD. (all the spices and sweets you can think of, and extremely cheap. A friend of mine runs the place, she is a Burmese lady.) Italian Via Reggio- Connecticut Avenue (I still find Sutton Place to be cheaper, eg. buffalo's milk mozarella there vs. at Via Reggio, as well as the Mediterranean stores, where the olives and cheese selection is wider and cheaper). Korean and other South Asian specialties Lotte- Nicholson Lane, Rockville, MD. (excellent fresh fish) Chinese and other South Asian Specialties Maxim's- Rockville Pike, MD. Oriental Market- Rockville Pike, MD. (good duck, reasonably priced)

Crisco is excellent for crisping up flatbreads, especially the ones from Pakistan/ North India, for example parathas and cornmeal based ones.

A slice of warm toast with slices of brie and the best and thickest raspberry jam there is. And a cup of cardamom infused tea. Heaven.

Suvir we hope to start with your recipe first!

I just add a cup of hot boiling chicken stock (or store bought chicken broth)to a cup of couscous and cover the container for 10-15 minutes. It is simple really. I won't spend unnecessary money on a couscoussier. I have many variations- my favourite is to add slow roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, chick peas, pignolia nuts and spinkle with hot Hungarian Paprika before serving.

To add to everyone's already comprehensive suggestions: Kibbeh Nayyeh (my favourite, it is raw meat, closest analogy- steak tartare) Oven crisped pita bread spinkled with za'atar, serve with Labneh (the thick yoghurt; kefir cheese) and bitter, jade coloured Lebanese olives. Lahmajeen (Lebanese style pizza topped with mince lamb or spinach and cheese) Fettoosh- a salad made with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, small pieces of pita bread which has been broiled to a crisp with za'atar on it, and then dress the salad with lemon, olive oil and sumac. Fool -the quintessence of egyptian street food. I inhale it. Lebanese make some nice reds now in their Bekaa Valley, I am not saying they are first growth Bordeauxs, but it would be nice to keep the Middle Eastern theme going, and don't forget Almaza, the Lebanese beer, it is quite good actually!!

You are right Suvir in the distinction you make between pulao and biryani. However, I think when one refers to pulao in Pakistani circles, this usually means rice which is cooked in a stock such as chicken or goat, and there is no addition of tomatoes. ("Yakhni wale chawal", rice with stock) Of course this word is used loosely and we refer to a lot of things as pulao, for example the chicken curry/rice concoction I spoke of earlier in this thread. My grandmother used to make the most gorgeous Kabuli pulao, but this did not use chicken stock and often we used to facetiously refer to it as the "fake pulao", ("phoka pulao!") even though it was scrumptious!

I always use Basmati rice, once a friend of mine used arborio, but I thought it was too starchy. If you like kheer you would love firni, also a rice based dish, except that the rice is crushed before it is added to the milk.

Expensive? $3.49, I would say not, however, you will have to pay shipping and handling as well. If you found a bazaar best to buy it from there. It will be the real thing and you can also smell it to see it if has that smoky sweet fragrance. And remember to use just 1, otherwise it will overpower your food. Good Luck!

Just a word of advice for the spice shoppers: Please go to an Indian or Pakistani store if there is one near you to buy spices like black cardamom, I know that the prices online can be quite extortionate sometimes. Even the prices at specialty food stores are quite extortionate.

As for my bread pudding, - I take a few eggs, let's say three- or four and whisk with around a cup of sugar till it turns a pastel yellow. In another saucer on medium heat warm some milk and cream, (you could also use half and half). I would say a cup of milk and a cup of cream. Also add about a teaspoon of vanilla essence, or if you want to be more fancy, add vanilla caviar from the bean. Temper your eggs with the warm milk and cream mixture. Your custard is ready. I usually use a baguette for my bread puddings, but use any type of bread you like- challah maybe? Even the plain sliced bread we have for breakfast would work and I never cut off the crusts. Cut the baguette into 1 inch slices, dip into the custard mixture and layer in a buttered baking dish. Top with blueberries. Layer again with the custard dipped bread and sprinkle blueberries again. Pour the rest of the custard over the baguettes and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour. (If you don't have time and need to pop it into the oven immed, go ahead, it will come out just fine, no worries...) Bake for 45 mins on 350 F. Make a blueberry spice sauce to round this dish out. Just boil some blueberries with a little bit of lemon juice, some castor sugar, water and nutmeg and cinammon. Going a bit off the subject of blueberries, I would like to add: The great thing about bread puddings is that you can make up your own recipe as you go along. Sometimes I use only egg yolks, sometimes I use 1 yolk and 2 eggs. It is really up to you. Sometimes you can change the recipe and add white chocolate bits to the pudding , or dried cranberries or even sultanas with apples. It is so versatile. Once I was really pressed for time and did not have any time to warm the milk or temper the eggs. I just whisked some milk, cream, sugar and three egg yolks together and poured it over some sliced bread and sultanas in a casserole dish and baked it. It turned out fine! Blueberry Fool is just a fancy way of saying- stew blueberries with some lemon, sugar, nutmeg and cinammon, then puree, and when it has cooled off, fold in some whipped cream and serve in a fancy dessert dish!

Thanks Suvir. Actually I don't make a keema. I just buy beef, my butcher calls it "chuck beef", it is about bite size pieces of beef I would say. Since the beef in this country can be quite tough, I first soften it (boil it, but I am trying to avoid using that word!). I add black cardamom, salt, black peppercorns, a lot of ginger, one tomato and 2 cups water and let the beef stew in this for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. If I don't do this the meat is just too tough. Once the meat is tender uncover the lid of the pot and let the water evaporate, you don't want to throw away any of the wonderful succulent juices the meat has been stewing in. Take out the black cardamom though. Take out your karhai (wok) and add quite a bit of oil, this dish requires a lot ... Add a lot of slivers of ginger, freshly chopped thai bird chillies, the meat and stir fry for about 10 minutes. Add more salt if you'd like, but not red pepper, I feel the taste of green chillies is unique. When the meat looks golden, add three chopped tomatoes and stir fry on high heat for a minute. Not too much though, otherwise the tomatoes get soggy, I really dislike that. Immed take off the stove and add lots of mint. In another pot, add some previously prepared white rice, in a layer, layer with the karhai gosht, and then sprinkle lots of mint, layer again with rice, more meat and more mint....so on and so forth. Place in the oven on 300 F for about 15 minutes. Use a teacup saucer to take the rice/meat "biryani" out of the pot and layer on your serving plate. Hope this helps!

Actually a genuine chicken pulao or meat pulao I believe, is supposed to be made with a chicken or meat stock. Making it with a chicken curry laced with tomatoes is I believe, not the genuine pulao.