Grilled Halloumi At Pars And Nazars: Start Your Summer With The Cheese That You Can Grill

Grilled halloumi with pomegranate molassas

Ladies and gentlemen, start your grills.  Summer is here, and the first thing that you should throw over the coals is . . . cheese.

Not a cheese burger.  Not cheese melting on top of something else.  You need to cut half-inch slices of cheese, drop them on the grill, and let them brown for a few moments on each side.

To pull this off, you need to buy yourself the right cheese.  That's halloumi cheese, a brined white cheese so firm that it keeps its shape even over fire.

A spectacular, simple dish:  Halloumi cheese sliced about a half-inch thick.  Grilled for 2-3 minutes per side until the faces have browned slightly.  Then topped with a few lines of pomegranate molasses.  The sweet, rich molasses contrasts with the salty, warm cheese.  With just a block of cheese and a bottle of molasses, you can create an exotic appetizer or start an easy dinner.

Check out both the cheese and the molasses at the Persian Pars Market or the Turkish Nazar Market -- both near Snowden River Parkway in Columbia.

Of course, that's just a start.  We ate halloumi at Zaytinya in Washington, and it was amazing.  Probably pan-seared, which also makes a crisp, warm layer of cheese.  Then augmented with sliced dates, citrus and mint.  Search "halloumi recipe," and you'll find all kinds of ideas -- halloumi in salads, on burgers, or even serving as the "bread" in a grilled sandwich with a white bean paste inside.

If you're grilling, check out the butchers at Pars and Nazar for ground lamb.  Check out the entire Grilling Week series from 2010 that paired local ethnic groceries with Steven Raichlen's Planet Barbecue.  And you could call the markets before you visit.  Pars sells the cheese so quickly that they were out this weekend.  They get more all the time.

Pistachio Baclava At Nazar Market: It Could Make Your Dinner Party, But It Should Be Your Treat

Don't buy a candy bar when you can snag two quick pistachio baclava at Nazar Market in Columbia.

You're doing errands.  You want a treat.  Treat yourself, but don't just buy a Snickers bar.  Grab a few sweets from the display at the front of Nazar's Market.

This is central Columbia at Oakland Mills Road.  Across the parking lot from Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery.  Down Snowden River from Target or Wegmans.  Nazar has a great halal butcher and a selection of cheeses and packaged goods that draw a big circle around Turkey -- basically from Romanian cheese to a few Indian frozen items with a emphasis on Turkish items from chocolates to grains to juices.

Ooooops.  These didn't get home.

So you could buy a plate of baclava for a dinner party.  You can do great Middle Eastern shopping at Turkish Nazar and the Persian Pars Market a few blocks south.  The baclava -- with their flaky pastry soaked with honey -- could be the crescendo of a meal with grilled lamb kabobs and a pilaf.

But you can also just grab two baclava as you run errands.  They could be your treat.  You could put them on the passenger seat and nibble them down as you drive to the post office or to pick up day care or whatever else you need to do.  Your spouse never has to know.

Unless you blog.

Hey babe!  I'll get you baclava next time!  Most of the great stuff gets home.  Remember the candied fruit from Tere's Latin Market?  Or those burgers with Laurel Meat Market bacon ground into the mix?  Or all those delicious items that I brought home from Roots.

Fresh Dates - Like On The Stem -- At Nazar

Fresh dates at Nazar Market

Grab for the season by trying fresh dates on Nazar Market in Columbia.

Fresh dates like dates just harvested and sold still on the stem.  They're firm and golden, nothing like the soft brown dates that I normally buy.  But they're ripe, and you eat the skin and all.

It's a fresh flavor, the full flavor of the date but less sugary.  The skin reminds me of an Asian pear.  You crunch through flesh like an apple -- slightly astringent at the skin, but then the flavor that is surprisingly rich with honey.

Based on exhaustive minutes of on-line research, these appear to be Mariani dates picked at the "khalal" stage.  The LA Times describes them as the "flavor of coconut, sugarcane and cinnamon."  I wish that I has thought of that because it's a nice description, much better than "full flavor of the date."

Nazar is a market with a halal butcher in the shops at Snowden River Parkway and Oakland Park Boulevard.  You enter from Oakland Park, and Nazar faces across the parking lot at Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery.  Nazar sells lots of Turkish goods -- including candies, juices, sodas, grains, spices and the perfect ground lamb.  Ground lamb was one of the stars of 2010's Grilling Week.

Apricot Paste At Nazar, Super Grand, Etc.

I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with dried apricot paste, so I have been slicing off chunks and eating it by hand.

Imagine adult fruit leather.  Apricots, pureed and then dried into half-inch-thick sheets with a little sugar.  It's sweet, chewy, and a dessert that tastes like fruit not candy.

My first sheet came from my father's client who brought it home with him from Turkey.  That's how I noticed it for a few bucks at Nazar Market in Columbia and at the Super Grand in Laurel.  It lasts for weeks in the fridge, and I use a big knife to cut chunks that I eat by hand.

Now, I have to figure out some other uses.  Chowhound suggests rolling the paste into chicken dishes.  Another Web site says people make a drink by melting it into boiling water.  These folks talk about using it in French toast and hamantashan.

Whatever you do, it's definitely something to pick up if you check out Nazar, Super Grand or (I assume) Caspian Market in Ellicott City -- a little exotic, but basically a sweet staple that will lasts for weeks in your fridge.  They're bringing the world to your door, so cut yourself a piece.

What The Heck Is Freekeh? Or "How To Find Ingredients When The Grocer Doesn't Know Them"

I'm not the only one who loves Nazar Market in Columbia.  Since the Turkish market opened this year, I have found myself a regular for meat, breads, snacks and lots of ingredients.  (Click here for all the Nazar posts.)

So has Kyle.  The regular HowChow contributor has been working through some Turkish food, and he finds -- as I have -- that the guys who sell ethnic groceries rarely actually cook with the ethnic groceries.  They're shopkeepers, not cooks.  But Kyle has kitchen skills, so he went from recipe to freekeh to pilaf:

Back in September, the Washington Post food section did a front-page article with back-page recipes on Turkish cooking. So I naturally thought of Nazar. Even though I already had a lot of Turkish ingredients, there were some I did not have. So off to Nazar I went with paper in hand. I wanted to make the Post's green wheat pilaf.

The recipe called for some unique ingredients:  freekeh, Aleppo pepper, red pepper paste and coarse bulgur. I already had Aleppo pepper from Penzeys (internet or trip to Rockville), which was good because Nazar didn't stock it.  It's slightly chewy and oily with a nice burn. I think the Maras pepper is the best substitute to be found at Nazar's.  Both Nazar and I have coarse bulgur (also known as bulgur #3 or #4), so my search was for red pepper paste and freekeh.

At Nazar, my usual guy wasn't working, but two new ones were. I told them I was looking for roasted green wheat, freekeh. You gotta love an ingredient that has "freak" in the name plus a smokey taste. First stumbling block: These Turkish guys had no idea what I was talking about.  I had to show them the recipe. They ended up recommending peeled wheat based on the picture. I was pretty sure that was wrong and picked up a bag labeled "firik bulgur (firik wheat)." They weren't sure what that was but again recommended the peeled wheat. They had no problem finding the red pepper paste. It's called "Biber Salcasi (mild pepper paste)."

When I got home, I looked up freekeh  and, lo and behold, the Turkish name for freekeh is firik. Apparently freekeh is the Arabic word -- a still more interesting than "firik." Back to Nazar I went later that week. My usual guy (I really should learn his name) was there, and I told him about my quest for freekeh aka firik. All he said was basically that he carries firik, people buy it, but he has no idea how you use it. I told him you make green wheat pilaf. He said that the Post was good for business since  he had three people buy red pepper paste in a single day.  They were making another recipe, green lentil soup with noodles and mint. Even though the Post recipes recommend Iranian markets, I had less luck at Pars Market down Snowden River Parkway.  I love the attitude of the guy who works there but they just don't have the variety of Nazar.

I guess Turkey is like America; one region may not know anything about ingredients in another region. Try looking for okra in New England. The green wheat pilaf was good. You could really taste the smoke. I didn't return the peeled wheat, I can make something  called noah's pudding with it. And you can make the green wheat pilaf recipe for yourself.

Tiny Lamb Chops At Nazar - Tell Me About Them

Nazar Market in Columbia offers tiny lamb chops for about $6 a pound.  They're butchered on site, and they look like "product" that could become a delicious dinner.

Just not at Casa de HowChow.  It turns out that everyone here isn't up on eating lambs.  Something about Mary and images of frolicking pet-sized sheep.

So I'm working through Steven Raichlen's Planet Barbecue, but I'm skipping the recipes for lamb chops.  Instead, I point them out for you because Nazar's butchering seems to leave them ready for a quick grill or some other preparation.  And I'd love to hear a report if you try them out.

At the far end from these tiny chops, you can buy thick loin lamb chops at J.W. Treuth in Oella.

Honey-Nut Sundaes WIth Nazar's Balli Cerez

Repurpose some Turkish nut spread by using it to create a honey-nut sundae with vanilla ice cream.

The Omak brand balli cerez is a thick spread made of crushed nuts soaked in honey.  Crushed pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts and more fill the small jars at Nazar Market in Columbia.  They're doused in honey, and I have no idea how Turkish people use them -- other than that they're a "snack," according to the guys at Nazar.

I used them as a sundae topping.  I spooned a few tablespoons over vanilla ice cream, then poured on a few tablespoons of honey because the balli cerez is more nut than sauce.  That made for an ice cream parlor dessert -- crunchy, sweet and way more natural than that Magic Shell that I loved as a kid.

Nazar Market has become a delicious source for unique items.  You get fresh meat -- including ground lamb -- from the halal butcher, along with many Turkish items that are great on their own or work well in recipes.  Plus, you can walk across the parking lot for a sandwich at Bon Fresco.  Check out all my Nazar posts.

Coffee Flavored Sparking Water At Nazar Market

Coffee-flavored soda is one of those ideas that would sound forced if I heard it from Coca-Cola but seemed rakishly exotic in a Turkish grocery store.

Sarikiz actually makes coffee-flavored mineral water -- along with a green bottle of the mineral water on its own.  It's a real coffee flavor in a small bottle.  Not the milkshake that Starbucks sells as a bottled frappachino.  It's a carbonated soft drink with the refreshing pull -- especially if you're just looking for something different like buying the Turkish sour cherry nectar and mixing it with sparkling water.

Nazar Market in Coumbia sells all of these items along with a variety of other Turkish, Middle Eastern and Persian foods.  Consider checking out their refrigerator to accompany a sandwich from Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery, which sells spectacular sandwiches and breads right across the parking lot.

If nothing else, consider the bottles if you want a coversation starter for guests.  Nazar Market sells small cases along with the single bottles in the fridge.  The bottles -- with their small size, real bottle caps and Turkish provenance -- would add a little flair to a buffet or a dinner party, but still provide flavors that should please almost anyone.  I had meant to buy a case of the mineral water for Mrs. HowChow's office party, but I just realized that fell through the cracks when we hosted the party last month.

Ulkerin Chocolate Wafers At Nazar Market

I have been thinking about the sugar wafer cookies that I loved as a kid, but that turned out not to be so delicious.

Rectacular, waffled wafers with a chocolate cream -- or a white vanilla or a pink something else -- in the middle.  I remember loving them, but realizing later that the wafers were dry and the filing wasn't great.  This was about when I discovered Milanos and realized that I could afford adult cookies.

Now, I'm back to those sugar wafers thanks to a Turkish bar that took that cookie to the next level.  Ulkerin bars take those sugar wafers and fill them with a hazelnut cream.  Then the whole thing gets wrapped in chocolate.   It's halfway between a cookie and a candy bar.  I ate through an entire bite-sized bag of Ulkerin over the past three weeks.  Two bucks for a few dozen little bars that I tossed in lunches and chomped after dinner.

You can find the Ulkerin chocolate wafers at the Nazar Market in Columbia.  If you considered checking out the new Turkish market for the baklava, the sausages, or the ground lamb, then just go for the chocolates and see what else catches your eye.

Sour Cherry Nectar At Nazar Market

We stumbled on Turkish cherry nectar at the new Cazbar Kepab House in Columbia, and it has become a fun

Let's be honest: This isn't juice.  It's water, sugar, then sour cherry concentrate on the ingredient list.  But it's a cherry flavor just a touch sour enough to be unique.  It's more soft drink than a health food.

But it's a fine soft drink.  We first drank cherry nectar with sandwiches at Cazbar.  But Nazar Market in Columbia sells a bunch of varieties -- cans to drink right away or boxes that pour from the fridge.  Several brands, even other flavors of nectar like mango.  Definitely an easy buy if you're looking to check out Nazar for the first time.  Try it full strength.  Try it cut 50-50 with water for a lighter flavor.

Ground Lamb At Nazar Market: The Easiest Way To Add A New Flavor To Your Grilling Routine

I went back to Nazar Market last weekend looking to solve the problem from my last visit.

Test driving Planet Barbecue by Steven Raichlen, I followed a recipe by buying lamb shoulder and then grinding the meat in our food processor.  The kebobs had delicious flavor, but they had chewy texture that we assumed came from gristle or other pieces attached to the meat.

So when I went back to Nazar in Columbia, I wanted to be careful about my purchase.  I talked slow.  I want to buy lamb, I said.  Lamb, the butcher agreed.  I want lamb for ground meant, I said.  Ground lamb, the butcher agreed.  I want to make kabobs, I said, and the butcher nodded and got busy.  He took meat from the cooler.  He started to chop and slice meat from the bones.  I walked away to shop, then returned to find that all those meat chunks had disappeared.

That was when I realized that I was talking to the butcher across a meat grinder.  A giant metal grinder the height of my chest.

I had come to Nazar looking to repeat my mistake -- buy lamb shoulder and grind my own meat at home.  But Nazar's butcher is a professional.  He was grinding the meat himself.  He cut exactly the meat that I needed, then ran it twice through the industrial grinder that I was too much of an amateur to even identify until it was spitting out perfect-looking ground meat.

This is so easy that everyone should try some lamb kabobs.  Nazar's butcher turned out ground lamb that developed a char on the outside while staying moist inside.  A little more fat that my normal ground beef (like a little fire from dripping fat).  But all the authenticity and safety of Laurel Meat Market's ground chuck -- plus a flavor that, if anything, is better than a hamburger.  Planet Barbecue has several kabob recipes, and you can find ideas from three continents if you look on the Internet.

This "order ground meat" option is so obvious that I assume it's available at Columbia Halal Meat on Rte 108 and Caezar International Market just off Rte 100 -- both officially in Elkridge.


Over the next few weeks, HowChow is going to look like Nazar Market's house blog.  I stopped several times and found great items on each visit, including a cherry nectar drink, a coffee-flavored sparking water, and jarred pickled cabbage that goes great with a burger.  I'll post those later.

Dried Limes & Lemons As Seen In The NYT

Dried limes were last week's "power ingredient" in The New York Times, and HowChow's official NYT correspondent sent me an email saying that we should give them a try.

Hard to find dried limes in the hinterland near Gramercy Park.  But Howard County is a food mecca.  I had them two hours later from Pars Market and Nazar Market in Columbia.  They're $3 a bag.  I mailed a sample to The City.

Nazar had bags marked "dried lemons."  Pars had "dried limes" and "dried lemons."  They looked the same to me, and no one could explain the difference.  Still no chance to try them, but John Willoughby has recipes for chicken stew, lentil salad and broiled shrimp.

Grilling Week At The Halal Butcher: Lamb Kabobs Are Delicious, Even If I Can't ID The Cut Of Meat

In the short history of HowChow, the single greatest introduction to local food has been the halal butcher -- first Caezar International, then Columbia Halal Meat, and now Nazar Market.

Beyond the religious imprint for Muslims, the butchers open new opportunities to anyone who wants goat or lamb.  Ironically, the hardest part for me has been figuring out how to talk meat.  There are some language issues when the butcher was born in Turkey or Pakistan, but the real problem is that I was born in a world where meat comes wrapped in plastic.  I barely know how to order steaks, so I'm at a loss about what to do with a lamb shoulder.  Actually, I'm not sure that I had a lamb shoulder.

Let Steven Raichlen start you off.  All week, I'm posting about Raichlen's Planet Barbecue because the new cookbook's recipes offer gateways into Howard County's ethnic shopping.  Lamb kabobs should be your gateway into the halal butchers.  With one problem that I'll explain below, Raichlen gives you a hamburger alternative -- a ground meat patty flavored with parsley, onion, coriander and cumin.  The skills are nothing harder than forming a burger.  The flavors are new, but still accessible.  And you get to grill with long flat skewers that you can call "my swords."

Nazar Going More Meat, Less Produce

The new Nazar Market is Columbia is bringing on the meats and dialing down the vegetables, according to HowICook.

Nazar opened just off Snowden River Parkway as a Middle Eastern market with Turkish concentration.  It opened as Nazar Produce Market, but the produce turned out to be less profitable than expected, the owners told HowICook.  Instead, HowICook reports that they have added a halal butcher:

The butcher is packaging the meat and putting it in the case next to the sausage. He's not good at labeling but one of the guys said wait a week or two when they really get going. The open air butcher and packaged meat is not what I'm use to at ethnic markets but it's cool. I still think this place has promise.

The new sign -- Nazar Market -- is up.  For more about Nazar, read my initial post and all the comments, including a long one from HowICook.  Don't leave with trying the soujouk to add to your scrambled eggs.

Soujouk at Nazar Produce

It is only with the upmost gravity that I compare anything favorably to bacon.

Ah, bacon. . .  The thick-cut bacon from one of Howard County's butchers is one of the best tasty treats that you can give yourself.  Two slices can turn breakfast or other dishes into something spectacular.  Now, you need to pick up Turkish soujouk from the Nazar Produce Market in Columbia.

Soujouk is one of the halal meats in Nazar's refrigerated section.  It's a spicy, dried beef sausage.  I wouldn't have known what to buy or cook except that the guy who cuts my hair turned me on to scrambled eggs with onions and soujok.  This is the Turkish bacon and eggs, and it is just as delicious.

Let's repeat:  Just as delicious as bacon.

I bought the soujouk that comes in six little salamis because Nazar's owner pointed out that you just use one at a time and save the rest.  (He says they last months.  So far, I'm eating through too fast to test that theory.)  You saute some onion in butter until it softens.  Peel the paper casing from the soujouk, then chop it and add to the onion.  In a few minutes, a light film of oil has rendered out, and you cook scrambled eggs.  Soujouk tastes of spice and meat.  Strong spice to balance the eggs with no risk of the fattiness or the burnt section that you can get from bacon.

One small salami serves a hardy breakfast for two.  You could add less, but it's like bacon.  You'll miss it when you scrimp.

(Update:  Mrs. HowChow correctly notes that today's photo is horrible.  But I'm snapping with a cell phone in our kitchen, and it would have been her eggs getting cold if I had stopped to run a photo shoot.  Trust me that the soujouk tastes better than I made it look -- and I'm always open to photographers who want to build clips by shooting for a blog.)

If you are going to Nazar, you have to try the baklava.  They generally have several varieties.  Ask for the burma or the saragi burma variations.  And check out HowICook's comment that includes discussion of Soujouk and other items you can buy at Nazar.

Nazar Produce Market Opens In Columbia

Nazar Produce Market wants to sell you a complete diet of Middle Eastern food -- and if you are a good eater, you get a spectacular desert.

Nazar opened this month -- at the same time that the Pars Market opened a few blocks south on Snowden River Parkway -- in the Columbia space that used to house Caezar International Market (then called Sizar's).  Nazar completely renovated the space, making it bright and airy.

Now, the space is filling with all kinds of Middle Eastern food -- bulgar, beans, spices, olives, etc.  If you're interested in food, this is a fun place to walk the shelves.  Many of the items are Turkish, which makes the selection differ from Caezar and Pars, which sell all kinds of food but have lots of Iranian offerings.  I'm not sophisticated enough to identify all the difference or all opportunities.

Nazar sets itself apart from most small ethnic groceries by having basic produce, including some nice zucchini and fresh cilantro that I used in chili last week, and a variety of halal meat.  At the start, they didn't have the butcher like Columbia Halal Meat or Caezar's, but the freezer and the fridge have a variety.  Sour cherry nectar drink.  Frozen ribeye and filets.  Frozen chicken.  Halal chicken hot dogs.  Soujouk (great in scrambled eggs).  Three kinds of halal beef mortadella.  Three?  I'd love to know why this little store has three varieties of mortadella.

(Update: Nazar made some changes.  They cut back on the produce, but they added a butcher that looks a lot like Columbia Halal Meat or Caezar.  It's an option for goat, lamb, chicken hearts, and many other cuts that you won't find in a supermarket case.  You need to try the ground lamb or another meat for kabobs.)

In addition, Nazar sells frozen pastry leaves.  Some in a rectangle and a Yoruk brand in triangles.  I'm sure those would be key to making some authentic Middle Eastern dishes.  But they could also be an interesting tool in the hands of a creative chef.  What could you wrap up and fry?

Since you have eaten your meal, you get your dessert, and the dessert is reason enough to drive over to Nazar.  These guys had a half-dozen varieties of fresh baklava on display each time that I visited, including pistachio, "double pistachio" and a long thin variation that I think was called burma.  (Or maybe kadayifi.  I got different answers on different trips.)  Each variety was superb -- a fresh crunch to the pastry, a thick honey flavor, sweet nuts.  The burma and a variation called saragi burma have a shredded pastry instead of the thin layers of baklava.  If anything, that's my favorite.

The guy who cuts my hair -- shout out to Rafet's Hair Salon in Arundel Mills -- says this is the best baklava around.  Before his friends opened Nazar, Tim and other Turkish families would pool together to buy this baklava wholesale from New Jersey.  But then, Tim is friends with the owners of Nazar.  You can't just rely on his say, can you?  Don't you think you need to test yourself?  Don't you need some baklava today?  Or now?

If you shop at Nazar, I would love to know what you buy.  I have tried a few items, but I am sure there are some convenience foods for a weeknight and also the basics to learn some Middle Eastern food.


(Update:  There are terrific comments below, including a detailed one about learning Turkish food and  another about halal cuts of beef.  There are also a series that I think are fake and appear to be someone trying to promote Pars Market.  If Hasan, Suat or William Smith are real people, then they're welcome to email me directly.  For now, I assume they're part of a fake campaign here and on some other posts.)

(Update II: There are some anonymous comments below from someone who appears quite reasonable and knowledgeable about this kind of food. I loved the baklava, but the commentor says that the best were just average.  You can still taste-test the baklava.  Not such a bad afternoon.  I'd love other thoughts.)

Nazar Produce Market

6955 Oakland Mills Road, Ste A

Columbia, MD 21045
410-290-3464

NEAR: Nazar is in the same store that used to be Sizar's.  It's just off Oakland Mills Road on the west of Snowden River Parkway.  From Rte 175, drive south on Snowden and turn right at the traffic light on Oakland Mills.  Then take the first right into the shopping area.  Nazar is on the right on the ground level.  Look across the parking lot for Bon Fresco.

Nazar -- A New Mediterranean/Middle Eastern Market -- To Open This Weekend In Columbia

Columbia gets a new market for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food when Nazar Produce Market opens in Columbia this weekend.

Nazar Market is opening in the exact space where Sizar's sold Middle Eastern food until last year when it moved to Elkridge and changed its name to Ceazar International.  I stumbled on the new market Monday night when I was picking up dinner at Bon Fresco.  When I stuck my head into Nazar, the folks inside said that they would open this Saturday.

Based on the signs and the Web, Nazar will be open 10a to 8p daily.  That will fill a gap in the Columbia shopping, where you can get Mexican items at Lily's Mexican Market and Indian at a bunch of places, but had to go to U.S. 1 for Middle Eastern.  (Click here for a prior post about ethic shopping.)

The place has been completed rebuilt.  The signs are up.  The decor is modern and bright.  All the shelves and fixtures look new.  The folks there said they'll sell Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food, and the store's Facebook page suggests that the owners are Turkish.  (As in, some of the posts appear to be in Turkish.)  Packaged goods were already on some of the shelves.  There is a place for cheeses and a huge display at the entrance for baklava.  A wall of baklava!  Now, I just have to hope that Nazar will stock pistachio nougat!

(Update:  After a few weeks, Nazar dropped the "produce" from the name.  They added a halal butcher, which makes it a fine spot for lamb and goat.  Try this post about lamb kabobs.  The cooler also has delicacies like chicken hearts.  Personally, I keep going back for dried fruit, sausages like soujouk, and Middle Eastern ingredients like beans, bulgar, and dried lemons.  We also discovered Tamek sour cherry nectar, which is an uncarbonated soft drink that you can buy by the can or larger packages.)

Is it possible that two Middle Eastern markets are opening at the same time?  There was a comment last month saying that a market appears to be opening next to Royal Pizza on Snowden River.  I drove by in the dark last night, but I didn't see anything -- and didn't have the comment with me to know that I should actually stop at look in the windows next to Royal Pizza.  Anyone know about that?  (Update: Pars did open, and it's a Persian alternative in Columbia.)

For coupons, click on the Nazar Produce Web site.  For more, become a fan of Nazar on Facebook.  With Nazar, the local Middle Eastern market scene includes Ceazar International Market (the renamed Sizar's) in Elkridge and Aladdin Food Mart in Laurel.

Nazar Produce Market

6955 Oakland Mills Road, Ste A

Columbia, MD 21045

NEAR: Nazar is opening in the same store that used to be Sizar's.  It's just off Oakland Mills Road on the west of Snowden River Parkway.  From Rte 175, drive south on Snowden and turn right at the traffic light on Oakland Mills.  Then take the first right into the shopping area.  Nazar is on the right on the ground level.