In San Mateo, there's a good Russian grocery called "BZ Bee Market". I went there after my friend Vladimir gave me one of the most delicious snacks I've ever had, a piece of bread slathered heavily with butter, with salmon caviar on top. Actually, I've since learned it wasn't salmon caviar, but a similar Russian fish. I asked him where he got the caviar, and he said he got it at this Russian grocery, which is around 24th Ave and El Camino Real.
A few weeks later, I went there to check it out for myself. It had lots of Russian products, from eggplant caviar, to strange looking vacuum-packed fish. It had this type of caviar in three different grades. Vladimir had told me that the best kind are all whole eggs, and you know it's good when you can burst each egg against your teeth to release the juices. So I had to get the best kind. The little tub of caviar had "24.99" written on it, so I assumed it was $25. Expensive, but it's worth a try once. And it was a lot of caviar. I went to the counter, and the owner of the store rang it up as something like $17.50. The following conversation ensued, (imagine a Russian accent on the part of the owner):
Me: Oh, is it on sale?
Owner: Sale? What do you mean, sale?
Me: Well, it's not $24.99.
Owner (growing visibly annoyed): It is not on sale. What is this sale?
Eventually, the owner realized that the problem was I thought 24.99 was the prices, when it was actually the price per pound. I was happy and went away.
This weekend, I went back with my friend Ben and got some more stuff. This time I not only got caviar (the owner came up to me to point out that it was per pound, not the price written on it), but also a little "duck pate sausage", and a loaf of rye bread the owner recommended. I'm eating all that now for breakfast. The rye bread is very good. It's made from organic flour, and is dense without being heavy. The pate was not exactly a sausage except in shape. The caviar is wonderful as usual. I'm going to have to do this again.
Posted by ahyatt at May 27, 2003 07:17 AM