The Chef Goes Shopping: Finding Persian Delicacies In Caspian Market On Rte 40

As Bill Parcells once said, "They want you to cook the dinner -- at least they should let you shop for the groceries."

The Unmanly Chef blog has been a new, steady source for posts about cooking, especially Persian food.  But the local blogger offered to shop for some groceries at Caspian Supermarket on Rte 40 in Ellicott City -- and to make practical suggestions about things that you could check out in the store or at Pars Market in Columbia.

This is part of a series of guest posts by some new Howard County bloggers.  For local food blogs, check out the HocoBlogs food page.

Caspian is on the south side of Rte 40 just behind the Burger King and Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt.  As an Iranian-American and Howard County local, the Unmanly Chef frequently shops there for essentials of Persian cuisine.  I have been a few times for past posts on saffron ice cream and other delicious items, but the Unmanly Chef offers a comprehensive tour of items that you could ask about there and then cook using recipes on his blog:

The owners of Caspian, Ali Nazarian & Roya Radfar, are a husband and wife that have been fixtures in the local Iranian American community since they opened in 2006.
An international grocery store can be intimidating, especially if you don’t know what is what in the store. I’m here to give you a nice guide from the Persian perspective. 

Roya Radfar or “Roya Khanoom” as I call her was gracious enough to give me a tour as she highlighted items that many of her non-Persian customers often miss.   They are always willing to help you should you have any questions.

Butcher Shop: Caspian has halal lamb, organic beef, and organic chicken. They will also do custom ground blends for you, if you want to make a special kofte or Koobideh kabob they will blend lamb and ground beef for you. I highly recommend using them for any lamb dish you plan on doing.  (I went to get some lamb shanks and tongues.)

Breads: Persian breads are underrated; they go way beyond your standard pita (which isn’t Persian at all) or naan (Indian/Pakistani). I really recommend trying some of their Barbari bread or Lavash. And if they have some in stock, Sangak Bread (Noon-e-Sangak in Farsi, meaning bread of little stones as it is prepared on little pebbles).