My friend F and I went browsing, shopping and eating our way around Pike Place Market yesterday. F loaded up at The Souk, our friendly Indian/Middle Eastern grocery store, small in size but with lots of personality and a selction like no other.
It has an excellent selection of Indian, Paskitani, Middle Eastern and African foods, spices, baked goods, music, books, incense as well as scarves, jewelry and decorations. F had lunch while I, having just feasted on my Friday Maharaja leftovers, drank a bottle of water and admired their mounds and mounds of fresh "Loukhoum" or Turkish Delight.
They come in all flavors: Banana, Raspberry, Pistachio, Rose, Lemon. My favorite is their Pistachio but they are all beautiful. A bar of Loukhoum sells for $2.50. They also sell big bags of walnuts, Turkish Tahini and various types of bell peppers and cornichons.
Later on, we walked into Seattle Cutlery. I was looking for a measuring cup in Metric or Imperial to ease conversions. Frankly, the use of multiple measuring spoons and cups when baking and cooking from my favorite European books and culinary websites has become a bit tiresome.
They had a limited selection of gadgets as this is mostly a cutlery shop so I picked up the Emsa Perfect Beaker. The package reads:
Accurate measuring thanks to scientifically calibrated scales.
6 different measurement scales for all your cooking and baking needs.
Tablespoons, teaspoons, ounces, pints, cups, and even ml/ccm for international recipes.
Easy to read markings.
All-around spout for easy pouring.
Extremely durable, shatter proof, Top rack dishwasher safe.
It includes a clear lid for freshness seal (storage of food, salad dressings, etc)
Made in Germany
I just wished it was glass but I'll keep looking. It looks very promising and the price was right ($8.95). I plan to use it ASAP!
From there we walked back towards the market to check out the produce (Baby Bok Choi, Walla Walla onions, fresh garlic) and fish. I shopped at DeLaurenti for slivered almonds (for Kheer) while F picked up package of her favorite Italian ladyfingers. A vanilla soy latte at their café (their pizza is so good too!) and we were ready to go back for some more shopping, browsing, energized for the walk back home.
We left our loot behind and walked up the street to Loews Meridian 16 to see The Day After Tomorrow. Later on, sushi and great conversation at Koji Osakaya. All in all, a purrfect day.
The Souk.
1916 Pike Place Market Seattle,
WA 98101
(206) 441-1666.
9:00-6:00 p.m.
Monday through Saturday
11:00-5:00 p.m. Sundays
Turkish Delight
1930 Pike Place Market
(206) 443-1387
Seattle Cutlery
1920 PikePlace Market
Seattle, Washington
98101
206.441.8988
