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Before the plague, an adventurous cook was free to roam the metro, picking produce at farmers markets, sampling cheeses at The Cheese Shop and grabbing meat from the counter at B&B or pasta at Graziano's or wine at Gateway.
And then dark times befell us, and I realized how much I appreciate C Fresh Market.
Cooking is a natural hobby for travelers, and traveling an essential one for many cooks. Because we couldn't wander or see our loved ones this past year, I turned, like many others, to the kitchen so I could explore, if only with my palate.
When grocery outings and contact needed to be limited as much as possible, no market in Des Moines offered so much for so little as C Fresh. Every aisle is an experience, whether you’re there to buy essentials, spices, something from the bakery, or an exotic food you’ve never tried before.
When the Chicago Cubs made it to the World Series, I headed to my favorite international grocery at Eighth and University Avenue so I could make — what else? —goat curry. Same when I made my inaugural run at Peking duck tacos, barramundi with miso and mirin, and quail egg soup.
I grew up in north Omaha and spent the summers of my youth in Washington, D.C., but have lived in Des Moines 24 years. My homes have been downtown, in Windsor Heights and the west side, but curiosity, work and wanderlust keep me in all of Des Moines' 50-plus neighborhoods.
C Fresh brought life to a food desert for a wide mix of families on the north side of Des Moines after it opened in 2013. It's also the no-frills mainstay for many into international cooking, especially southeast Asian.
More: Winner of Des Moines-based World Food Prize uncovers nutritional power of small, native fish
If you talk to the best chefs in town, you discover a disproportionate number shop there, and many routinely make a beeline for Pho 515 restaurant inside when they want someone else to do the cooking.
Most regulars come for the pho — arguably the city's best — pad thai, spring rolls or fried rice. But there’s magic in Pho 515's other Vietnamese fare, like the flavorful grilled pork that comes with vermicelli noodles and eggroll, or braised duck noodle soup.
(Fans of the restaurant, which switched to takeout-only during the pandemic and renovations this year, have only a few weeks more to go before they can sit down again to a new dining room and new menu.)
Now that I'm vaccinated, I'm starting to venture back to different markets across the metro, but I don't get the same feeling wandering their aisles that I do at C Fresh.
My intent when I go there is always to order takeout, then grab enough food to make a meal or two. (I also know to pick up things like lemons, lime, cilantro and spices because they are so much less expensive than at other places.)
Inevitably, though, I walk out with completely unexpected things — blue crabs for $4.99 a pound, shitake mushrooms, soup seasonings I've never tried, duck eggs at the register. I might pass on the chicken's feet, coolers full of mix-and-match fish balls or cooked silkworm, but go home and look up recipes just the same.
It truly is the only place in the metro where you can make one stop and feed a family Vietnamese, Thai, Mexican, Indian and African for a week while spending less than $75.
For the traveling type, it's like taking a trip without leaving home.
When Lee Rood is not visiting Des Moines' neighborhoods or out-of-the-way places around the world, she writes the Reader's Watchdog column, which helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at @leerood or on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.
Read or Share this story: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2021/05/25/c-fresh-market-des-moines-international-foods-like-taking-a-trip-without-ever-leaving-home-groceries/5041149001/
The Link LonkMay 25, 2021 at 06:30PM
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2021/05/25/c-fresh-market-des-moines-international-foods-like-taking-a-trip-without-ever-leaving-home-groceries/5041149001/
C Fresh Market in Des Moines: Every aisle is an experience, from essentials to exotic foods you've never tried - Des Moines Register
https://news.google.com/search?q=fresh&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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