LA Dystopialand

Food, shelter, transportation. Necessities for life in Los Angeles. The problem is Ralph's, Vons, Safeway, even Jons does their darndest to suck the life out of the shopping experience as they maximize profits. The search for good produce rivals an old time safari for thrills and danger. That may be extreme, but the search for good veggies at a good price has led me to explore some interesting places.

Tops on my list is the Korean supermarket. You can find them all over LA these days but I like making the trek to Koreatown to enjoy the whole out of LA experience. The immersion is total once you enter one of these emporiums. Built to provide an immigrant community products and services from home they also provide a glimpse into crucial wants of the customers. Most of the products sold are available here in one form or another. Even Kimchees and noodle products are made here. It's the reassurance of home that these stores provide that is more significant.

Maybe the collar butts in Korea are more shouldery than what can be found here. The type of cut and its preparation is the important point. Food prepared like mom's mom used to make. Qualities from the old country that are worth celebrating- a validation for people far from where they grew up.

The fact that cucumbers need to be pickled before wearing that name is of little concern in the face of simply having cukes from home. The food grown and processed here does not taste like home. It gets close, but not exact. I've been to Korea and tried the cuisine- excellent, I must say. I have Korean food here nearly every other day, not just my wife's (an excellent cook) but from all possible sources. Also good, but just not the same. I went to Argentina in July and the food there (again excellent) was not the same as the food I grew up with. The point is that these markets- every ethnic community has their own- provide a connection, a reassurance that what they experienced during their impressionable times is still somewhere they can access. For some, a memory is enough. For others, it itches at them until they feel they have to do something, either visit the homeland and embrace it or separate themselves and negate the experience.

Mini water melon is the literal translation for the Korean spelling. These are not miniature melons made of water, but the Japanese translation is correct. Culture determines not just what we consume, but how we consume it. The significance of one fruit over another has layered meanings for some, for others, its just something to eat.

Jumbled spellings aside, The exotic grocery shopping experience can enlighten or just as easily benumb the participant. The strange foods with equally strange packaging, the frustratingly small portions, odd terminology- they all reveal an inherent need for connections.