In a fall afternoon of October, I have decided to visit a Spanish grocery store after I am suggested by my teacher to try with my one of my friend, Sophie. The name of the grocery store is Libreria Espanola, a Spanish grocery store located at 3811 Boulevard Saint Laurent. The restaurant seems to be a regular place for Spanish community living around since I saw lots of people passed by for grocery, while the store were just opened at 11 a.m. To go to the grocery store, the easiest way is to take the subway to metro Saint Laurent, and with just few minutes of walking, you will reach the store so give it a try maybe.

The outside of the store is decorated classically with 2 big windows that you can easily see inside. But it is surprised that the inside is not really big with just 3-4 stalls, categorized by the function of the products. The owner was really friendly, and he greeted me with a big smile that i could feel the hospitality of this store. Unlike other big grocery stores where employees have too many jobs to focus on more than greeting the guests, this small local lovely store brings to the guests a warm welcome. As a result, the guests, including me and other guests at the same moment, always felt comfortable enough to go shopping. Moreover, the owner and his employees also approached me to offer help if I need, which I absolutely give a good comment in terms of treating customers.

You can see at the back that there are dozens of traditional Spanish Paella pan with different sizes as well as other traditional Spanish utensils. Especially in this grocery store, you can order your own breakfast coffee or maybe a croissant or a simple bread breakfast. And now, let’s look at what I bought, shall we?

Here is an unique seasoning named Sazon, a flavorful seasoning, which is commonly used in Spanish and Mexican cooking. It noramlly includes cilantro, cumin, ground annatto (which this product does not include), and oregano. Annatto actually is the main ingredient defines this seasoning, but it is really difficult to find an exact Sazon seasoning here. Sazon is often used as a multi-purpose seasoning to add a punch of flavor and harmony to dishes like Steak, Chicken, Tacos, etc. Actually, this seasoning is not spicy at all, which really suits me since I am a bit sensitive to spicy food.

The second product I bought is some kind of Spanish dry-cured ham, which is globally recognized as a signature item of Spanish cuisine. You can actually eat it right away since it is already cooked. My friend suggested me this one as a perfect snack for drinking beer. I did and its taste were amazing that I highly recommended to my other friends.

This pack of tea is specially prepared with the pot (which is the main reason that I bought :3). The special thing about the Yerba Mate is that it actually does not contain any tea leaves, yet, it just creates a tea-like beverage. It is commonly used in Argentina, Uruguay and Southern Brazil.

So-called Salsa Verde, this green Mexican sauce is made of tomatillos instead of using regular red tomatoes. You can taste the zesty flavor with the strong taste of roasted green chilies and onions, along with other ingredients like garlic, vinegar, etc.

In Spanish, “Judias Verdes” means green beans, and “Verduras” stands for vegetables in general. This bottle of fermented green beans is used commonly by Spanish in normal meals.

All products above are what I bought in my first visit of Libreria Espanola. I would not say I will often go here, but I will definitely come back one day when I want to cook Spanish food or tasting them. It is worth to visit there in my opinion, so why would not you give a try? Tell me what you think about the store.