Surviving home food shopping

Bahaar
Poptahof is a favourite with internationals, especially with people from South Asia, Iraq, Syria and Egypt. Bahar Foods Delft, Ozhalk Market and Polaat International Supermarket are international grocery stores with a range of yummies. A whole section of Indian savouries by a popular brand called Haldirams, fresh cottage cheese, ready-to-eat breads and dishes such as palak paneer and dal makhni are available here. There’s a range of Turkish sweets, pickles, sauces and masalas, lentils and teas and a lot more. “I am from Afghanistan and I lived in India for a while, that is how I have a fairly good idea what to stock,” said Wasib Kazim, the owner of Bahaar who took over from the Turkish owners 2 years ago. “Most of our customers are students from the university. Baklava and fresh paneer are among the most popular items but everything here is a top seller.” TheBoth shops also keep a range of instant noodles, including Masala Maggie.
Where: Papsouwselaan 208 2624 EG Delft

Turkish shop, Centre
Erciyes Slagerij If you’re not too keen on cycling all the way out, there’s a small store in the centre, right near the Oude Kerk, with a range of options. The butcher’s shop is out at the back, as you enter there are trays of Turkish delights to your right and salted/stuffed pickles to your left. “We keep a lot of things, but we always ensure that what we keep in our store is something we eat. If we don’t eat it, why should we sell it to our customers,” said Mehmet, who started the shop in 1986. We asked him the most popular thing in his shop and he said “Everything. Everything we keep is popular”. Besides Ayran (yoghurt), the shop also keeps things such as henna. They also have trays of fresh feta cheese, which is a popular ingredient in Iranian cooking as well.
Where: Hippolytusbuurt 41 2611 HM Delft, near Oude Kerk

Amazing Oriental
This store is like a mini-supermarket of goodies from all over the globe. Barely a 15-minute bike ride from the university, Amazing Oriental has been around for over a decade. The store is austere, no fancy interiors to distract you from the long aisles of imported food. Right at the start is a small section of American food with items such as marshmallows and Rocky Mountain Popcorn. They even carry baking soda. Further ahead are some Indonesian treats such as shrimp kroepoek, and roasted onions as well as some Surinamese and Thai items. Frozen foods range from dim sum to pickled radish and bamboo shoots. Thirty different kinds of noodles are stacked in the noodle section ranging from spicy mushroom noodles, to udon. Further in you find things such as dried seaweed cake with seasoning and fried bean curd. Then of course, is the beverages section. Most interesting: bitter gourd tea and ginseng coffee. Not only is the shop popular with international students, it is a favourite with Dutch families looking to experiment with new cuisines.
Where: Kleveringweg 59 2616 LZ Delft