La Stella Supermarket (Windsor)

It’s not easy adjusting to Windsor when I come from a town where everything I needed was a 5-minute bike ride away. This city is all spread out and I don’t have a car. I will probably get a car once I find a job. Depends on where the job is! But in the meantime, I am getting to know the bus routes and bike paths.

I miss my kitchen. I miss my gourmet condiments, capers, artisanal cheeses, specialty mustards. I miss Vincenzo’s. Knowing that being creative in the kitchen is one thing that can bring my mood up, soon after I moved in I began my search for a specialty food shop. I was out of aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena. I had to explain to my new housemates that what is called Balsamic vinegar at the chain grocery stores just isn’t what I am looking for.

I spent a few hours online searching for a gourmet food supplier in Windsor, to no avail. Finally I asked Sylvain please to ask his Italian friends where they would go to find aceto balsamico.

“Oh, just go down to Erie street,” they said.

Oh, yeah. I’d rather forgotten that this city has a section called Little Italy and a street locally referred to as the Via Italia. I knew there were many a gelateria, bakery, trattoria and fine restaurant. But markets? It hadn’t occurred to me. Duh.

And so yesterday I set out on my bike for Little Italy.

And found it.

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

Who would guess that hiding behind this modest facade is every culinary item a good Italian kitchen needs?

There are so many kinds of pasta in this store, they overflow an entire aisle and spill into the next aisle. They have acomo pepe, bucatini, bumbola, cannelloni, capelli d’angelo, capellini, conchiglie, cavatappi, cresti di gallo, ditali, ditalini, farfalle, fettucine, fusilli, gemelli, gnocchi, lasagne, linguine, lumache, lumaconi, macaroni, mostaccioli, orecchiette, orzo, penne rigate, perciatelli, quadrefiore, radiatore, rotelle, ravioli, ricciolini, rigatoni, rotelli, rotini, spaghetti, tagliatelle, tortellini, trenette, vermicelli and ziti!

And they have more than one brand of each of those! There is pasta shaped like wee tiny stars. That goes in soup. Who knew?

One aisle over from pasta are the biscotti and amaretti. Once again, I’ve never seen such variety in my life. There must have been over a hundred different types of these dry biscuits and cookies. Some are frosted, some are chocolate, some have almonds in them. Oh, gracious.

I didn’t even visit the butcher counter.

They have produce. Oh, and basil! They have a pail full of water near the door with entire basil plants ready for you to take home for that night’s cooking…just $3 per bush. That’s a lot of fresh basil leaves for $3. You’d want to share some with your neighbour!

There is an aisle with pickled things in jars: olives and artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and garlic heads. Except for the cheese selection, this place most certainly put my old Vincenzo’s to shame. La Stella’s cheese section is not shabby by any means; it is simply limited to Italian cheeses, whereas Vincenzo’s in Waterloo carries cheeses from all over the world.

And why was I there? Oh, yeah! I needed aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena. That’s right. Well, I found it. But now I had a new problem. There were so many, I didn’t know which one to get. This one has been aged in oak for five years. This one ten. This one says aged in wood but doesn’t specify oak. Should I care? Oh, dear.

While reading the labels, I learned something new. Italians use this sweet, smooth concoction not only on salads and meat and in a variety of dishes, but they also put it on fruit and ice cream. Is that the craziest thing ever? Vinegar on ice cream? Really? I HAVE to try it now, of course.

La Stella has espresso roast coffee beans, oh so many brands! There are even green coffee beans… I guess that’s if you want to roast your own?

Olive oils! There are bottles of it in one location and big cans of it on another aisle. Then–this being Canada–there is an aisle with Tang and Kraft Dinner, of course. Do you need patron saint jar candles? They have those, too.  Oh, and espresso machines, orzata, anchovies preserved in every manner imaginable, polenta, arborio rice and Italian soda pop.

By the time I came out of La Stella with my extra virgin olive oil and my real balsamic vinegar, I was too tired to do the rest of Little Italy. I guess we’ll have to explore the bakeries and other delis another day.