Shadow Shopping

Last Saturday I did most of my shopping for the Shadow of the Wind supper.  This dinner's shopping list began with the obligatory trips to my favorite Astoria super market, Berry Fresh Farms.  I'm liking it even more since it's expansion, and I'm so happy the prices are still the lowest I have ever seen in Astoria.  On Saturday morning I purchased a bunch of ingredients there, most importantly, I bought the bacalao since it needed to start soaking.  Once I got the bacalao soaking I head into the city for my much anticipated trip to Despana, which seems like THE place to go for all specialty Spanish foods and products.  Let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint.  Much to my delight, there is also a Despana outpost in Jackson Heights, which is very exciting information, and they also sell tapas right there, so it's just a fun place to be. 

All the goodies from Despana

 So, here's what I got: the bomba rice for the paella-you've got to love the packaging! Choricero Pepper Paste, which is  like a sundried pepper paste, very bland alone, almost like tomato paste, it is used to give the Romesco sauce it's peppery flavor.  Manchengo cheese-like the best ever...Dried chorizo-like the best ever...fresh white anchovies, or Boquerones if you will-like the best ever...and last but certainly not least, the Serrano Ham (seriously like the best ever) that the guy hand cut for me, this costs a little more money than the meat slicer, but seems like the right thing to do.  I was particularly excited about the boquerones since they are so hard to find and something that I really really love.  I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Despana, that's for sure.

The Cava

I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that Despana also has a wine shop next door to it's Soho location.  I was a little worried about finding a bottle of Cava in Astoria with my limited time, so it was great to walk right in and have the very friendly and handsome wine guy help me pick out a bottle of cava.  I walked out very pleased.  FYI-it was very good cava...

My Paella Pan!

My final stop on Saturday was at The Broadway Panhandler, it's really a great store if you love cooking.  They also had some sort of a sale going on, and it was hard for me to just leave with the paella pan, a sizzle plate and a much needed loaf pan, that we used for the coconut flan.  My hands were pretty full at this point, so I made my way back to Astoria.

Of course, the next morning I went back to Berry Fresh for round two, but other than that, my shopping was pretty much done!  Quick and easy, and lot's of fun to shop in Despana and the Broadway Panhandler, I definitely recommend both establishments!