Food culture is a marvelous bridge and gateway for anyone to explore foreign cultures. It can be very accessible at first and lead into more exotic discoveries.

In the USA, it is very easy to find large pan-Asian-themed grocery stores. I could find about three very close by; a Filipino one just opened a few weeks ago here. It is very strange, though: there are no large-scale European grocery stores in the USA, that I know of. If you want Euro-goods, the source is very often a small family-run deli or boutique shop, and the same goes for British/UK groceries. It may be an accident of history and geography.

I traveled to Catalonia by way of London. In England I had no time at all to visit grocery stores. In Catalonia I saw them a few times. Carrefour was reminiscent of a large Target, basically. Of course a store selling groceries is not unfamiliar to anyone, but it was so overwhelming sometimes. I've mentioned a few times about the olive aisle. The national pride and diversity of varieties were simply amazing. I also experienced this at an Italian restaurant, where the complimentary appetizer was 3 types of olives, all very exciting.

When I first arrived in Catalonia, a friend served me a sandwich in her café, and said with gravitas, "it is jamón!" and I nodded. My high school Spanish said that "jamón" means ham. No big deal, she served me a ham sandwich?

By the time we arrived in the Carrefour, I began to realize that jamón was also a national dish and source of Catalonian pride. The legs were curing on display all over the store, suspended, sitting on shelves, you name it. Just ready to shave off a few slices. It wasn't until I arrived home and researched jamón and then tried to obtain it stateside when I realized what a treasure it really is.