Coconut Milk in Pittsburgh

I just got back from a week in Pittsburgh. Delallo's had cheaper food than I expected, including a little glass jar of anchovies for $3.33 or so. I should have stocked up. I taught my brother how to make green curry while I was there. It involved buying a tub of it on Amazon then getting some coconut milk. We went to every store and it was so expensive. We checked Aldi, Shop n Save, Giant Eagle, and Walmart. I think the best we found was $1.60 at Target (that was after we got it somewhere else).

Then I looked through this week's Food Bazaar ad back in Brooklyn.

You're looking at Delallo's Fan of the Week

Every week Delallo names a fan of the week based on submissions of memories of the store/brand. So last week I decided to win myself a free t-shirt and this week I won it. I wrote about how excited I was to see their products in Key Food for the first time.

Yesterday I took Greg to Western Beef. Western Beef should name me fan of the year for how many people I've made go there.

Disappointing Delallo. Plus Giant Eagle

I've been looking forward to go to Delallo for a while. It sits at the intersection of my three loves: Pittsburgh, Italian food, and grocery stores. It doesn't hurt that it talks to me on Twitter.  What a let down!

 I was still excited when I took this picture. I hadn't yet walked in the door. Inside I found the produce section and was taken aback. They want $2.50 for basil. You get more for $1 at Jesus. They want $1.98/lb for eggplant. It's half that even at Key Food. Ginger was $3.98/lb. That might be better than Giant Eagle, but it's not as good as even Penn Macaroni. Cabbage was $0.69/lb, which is the same as Key Food, but I consider Key Food's price bad. They have an antipasti bar where everything is $8.88/lb. Maybe that's not bad, but at the East Village Cheese Shop, I get grape leaves for $2.49/lb. And that's list price. I don't think they know how to measure and usually give me 2 lbs for $2.49.

The one good price was baccalà. That was $6.98/lb. I don't know if that had a bone in it. There were also some prepared versions available behind the deli counter for $17.95/lb.  Eep! The mozzarella for $4.98/lb wasn't too bad. Eggs were $1.49 for jumbo, which is the best price I know. But when I got to the frozen seafood section, I got positively angry.

 At Food Bazaar, you get a pound of octopus (they call it "pulpo") for $3. THIS IS OVER 4 TIMES THAT! Maybe because Pittsburgh is so far from the sea. I don't know.

 I don't actually know what a good price for cuttle fish is. I do know you'd have to pay me more than $6 to cuddle with fish though.

 I probably wouldn't pick on spelling if I were in Brooklyn. But most everyone in Jeanette, Pa. speaks English as a first language. Also, gourmet prices demand gourmet copy-editing.

 These artichoke hearts made me miss Brooklyn. C-Town told me on Twitter yesterday that a shipment of La Squisita artichoke hearts came in. They go for $1.29 a jar.

So then my brother and I went to Giant Eagle. He had to get 15 gallons of distilled water, so I had time to look around.

C-Town Tweets to Me! My Christmas list for C-Town

Let me tell you, I hate a lot of brands and companies this week. Chase is canceling free checking. State Farm had an annoying bordering on rude insurance agent. Allstate had a really nice insurance agent, but quit working with me when I wouldn't sign something certifying that 2 or fewer people live in my apartment. (She suggested I amend it to "1," which was even further from 3.) AppleCare wanted me to submit proof of payment for the AppleCare I ordered directly from them with a credit card on a date I provided the date and exact amount for. And I applied for a job that was being handled by a third party and after they made me answer a bunch of personality questions, asked me to submit my credit score which they had helpfully linked me to get for free.  No.

Here are the companies on my good side:

• J.C. Penney
• C-Town
• Delallo's 
• Key Food
• Amazon

I like C-Town and Delallo's the most because they talk to me on Twitter the most. I like C-Town the most of the most because they don't have ridiculous prices. (I'd like them even more if they carried some Delallo products though.)

That is all just the set up to addressing a very important tweet. Perhaps the most important tweet I've ever read.  "Let us know what else you would like & we will work on it!"

C-Town, here is my wish list.
Easy stuff:

• There used to be marinated artichoke hearts for $1.29 that were kind of hidden about 1 step down the first aisle from the Goya ones. These were the best. Now there are $1.50 Cento ones and they taste funny and have hard bases. Bring back the cheap good ones.
• Carry tomato juice in a can. I like to keep it on hand in my house for impromptu brunches. Key Food charges $2.19. Compare charges about $1.79. Associated charges $1.99 I think. V-8 doesn't count. They carry Sacramento, but I'd buy a cheaper brand since it's just a base for my bloody mary.
• I never buy my cheese at C-Town (except for sliced cheese from the deli counter). Here's why. The pecorino romano, which is my main cheese (check the tags for this blog), is never in big hunks. It's in those cute vacuum packed seals from Bel Gioioso that cost too much. Key Food and Western Beef have nice attractive big chunks that somehow or other they can put on sale for $5/lb at times, but I will pay $10 in an emergency. The gorgonzola, when I can even find it, is always crumbled already. I like the chunk. I want chunky Italian cheese. I was glad to see ricotta salata added recently.
• Add Delallo products. I saw some at the Met Food on Fulton Street and made Agnes buy them.

Harder Stuff:

• I'd be elated to find Iron City, I.C. Light, or any beer from the Penn Brewery there. I meet lots of people from Pittsburgh around here.  I read that the assistant manager of Motorino is from Pittsburgh. The Penn Brewery has good beers. I'd buy them for special occasions.
• There isn't the turnover to support a lot of your produce. In an emergency, I bought a green pepper twice, and regretted it both times. Onions are fine. Potatoes are fine. Much of the rest isn't. Know your strengths. Key Food has some sections with anchovies, capers, and lots of other jarred Italian products that 1) don't spoil 2) are good. That'd be a much better use of the space. Heck, put in more beer even.

Gripes

• Dried beans cost twice as much as at Associated. So do eggs. If that's where the profit margin comes from, fine. But I know better now! 

At least C-Town doesn't ring up all my purchases at the wrong prices all the time like Key Food does.

Quite Cross

I am quite cross at Delallo's for liking Timmy and not me.

But if you come across their products, you should still buy them because they are still from Pittsburgh even if I'm (relatively) unloved.

I can't believe I'm talking to Delallo on Twitter.

Timmy's headed to Delallo as we speak to pick up some Fernet. Delallo's Twitter person is very helpful and told him what they carry before he made the trip.

I made Agnes buy Delallo bread crumbs when I saw them at Met Foods on Fulton St. I never see Delallo in north Brooklyn.