The spice of life

“We don’t have any fresh Baklava left, but they may do over the road,” says the bloke behind the counter in Al Tayibat. A quick stroll across Camden Street to Spice Land and, sure enough, there’s a tray-full of the sticky nut pastries which taste just as good as the ones I OD’d on a while back in Istanbul.

Looking at the Indian, Mediterranean, Arabic – Egyptian cucumbers, anyone? – and Eastern European grub that’s available in both shops, you realise just how multicultural we’ve become in recent years. Unlike the posh French and Italian delis that have been around since the ’70s, they’re not just here to satisfy the cravings of well-heeled Dublin foodies. As new communities emerge, so does the demand for the same nosh that you’d find in downtown Cairo/Islamabad/Nicosia/Tel Aviv/Delhi/Beijing/Sarajevo (Delete where applicable).

They’re cheap too, with spices, grains, pulses and exotic fruit & veg selling for a fraction of the supermarket price.

Having started out with the small pocket of shops in Parnell Street’s ‘Little Africa’, ethnic businesses are now springing up all over the capital. Unlikely as I am to need my hair braided or a sari made in the forseeable future, I’m more than a little chuffed that I can now purchase Fava Beans with Tahina, Rice Vinegar, Harira Soup, Plaintain Crisps, 3 Horses Malt Beverage and Tikka Seekh Kabab BBQ Mix without leaving the comfort of my own postal district. Or having to spend more than the tenner I robbed from the hotpress petty-cash tin.

Nowhere is the meeting of old and new Dublin more pronounced than in Moore Street where the six-lighters-for-a-pound brigade have been joined by a veritable United Nations of shops selling everything from Dried Catfish to the new Alla Pugacheva album.

Best of all is the hole-in-the-wall Afro-Caribbean restaurant in the Moore Street Indoor Market, which serves up a mean Spicy Beef Pasty.

No 379 words on exotic foodstuffs would be complete without a mention of The Asia Market, the capital’s first Chinese, Japanese, Indian and, well, whatever you’re having yourself superstore which resides in Drury Street.

As popular with the home stir-fry crew as it is the restaurant trade, their shelves are home to such wide-ranging delicacies as Bosnian Meat Stew and Preserved Wild Duck Eggs.

Vive la difference!