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I’m going to share with you one my favorite shopping experiences: a Polish grocery store. There happens to be a successful big one in my area here in Toronto, but at least some of what I’ve found is likely to be available at smaller East European markets wherever you find yourself.

Jumping right in to some of the Paleo-friendly items that can save you time and money:

Sauerkraut

While culturing your own vegetables at home is certainly an option, it’s also nice to pick some up that you know are fermented properly and cost next to nothing to boot. Where I am, some health food stores carry a good but expensive brand of sauerkraut that costs about $10 a jar. Not necessary if you can find it in bulk at a store with high turnover. At Starsky it costs $1.35/lb with carrots and $1.13/lb without. Cheap!

The only drawback is you lose the ability to control the amount of salt, but if you use it more like a garnish and don’t wolf it down by the bucket it’s probably not a big deal.

Sauerkraut is an easy way to get fermented veggies in to your diet. This form of cabbage is a serving of cruciferous and probiotic goodness that tastes great. Not to mention the high levels of vitamin C and glucosinolates.

Beet Kvass

Kvass may be lesser known than sauerkraut but it too is packed full of stuff for your gut. The listed ingredients are simply fermented beets, a root vegetable loaded with nutrients. I believe it is lacto-fermented, so it is likely to contain a similar culture as dairy fermented products.

While Russian kvass is traditionally made from rye, around these parts you are more likely to find the beet variety. From the Western Price Foundation:

“Kvass can also be made from beets. The result is not so much epicurean as medicinal, although beet kvass is often added to borscht. No traditional Ukranian home was without its bottle of beet kvass, according to Lubow A. Kylvska, author of Ukranian Dishes, “handy and ready when a pleasing, sour flavor had to be added to soups and vinaigrettes.

Folk medicine values beets and beet kvass for their liver cleansing properties and beet kvass is widely used in cancer therapy in Europe. Anecdotal reports indicate that beet kvass is an excellent therapy for chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivities, allergies and digestive problems.”

Apparently Polish people mostly use it in soups. I received a pretty strange look when I asked if anyone drinks it.. but I suppose you could take a swig for a cheap serving of probiotics.

Cucumbers and Pickles

I don’t know what it is about them but East Europeans sure love their pickles. I guess it goes with the general theme of salty foods. Regardless, pickles and cucumbers make for great snacks. You’ll find dill pickles in bulk with nothing added but garlic and salt. $2.08/lb can’t be beat. Or try their “half sour” varieties that are only half pickled. Or do what I do and grab their raw pickling cucumbers (pictured) and use them as travel snacks. They keep better, don’t smell, have no added salt, and they don’t need any prep to snack on.

Sausage

Ok so I won’t vouch for everything they put in sausage at your local Polish grocer, so you might want to ask. But you’ll likely find less additives than the pre-packaged stuff and it sure is nice to see such selection. If you’re concerned about too much grain-fed pork fat you could opt for the turkey sausages which are probably leaner.

At this store there are tons of samples out and no one is shy about trying them all. Ask them to vacuum pack in whatever quantities you want- makes for a great way to bring sausages out for snacks or on camping trips.

Smoked Fish

Fresh fish can be expensive and doesn’t keep very well even in the fridge. Canned tuna, sardines, and herring are great but heck you can only eat them so many times. Why not try some smoked varieties? Smoked mackerel is one of my favorites. It’s much better than from a can and it doesn’t cost very much. You can get it them whole or filleted plain, peppered, or with fresh dill. Squeeze on some lemon or lime and now were talking. Mucho omega 3s.

Herring is another good choice, while the salmon and trout are likely farmed.

Gelatin

I’ve kept an eye out for gelatin for quite some time to no avail up until now. I came across two brands here from Dr. Oetker and Prymat. You could probably find the Dr. Oetker brand elsewhere, as they seem to be a pretty mainstream brand.

Gelatin is a supposedly tasteless solid substance, extracted from the collagen inside animals’ connective tissue. It’s used as a gelling agent, hence the name, in baking (it also has some pharmaceutical/cosmetics uses). I haven’t had a chance to try using it, but I suspect it could be pretty useful if attempting paleo versions of your favorite desserts is your thing. A la creams and mousses.

The only ingredient is “pork gelatine” and it has 0 carbs, 0 fat, and 6 g protein (although it is unusually high in the non-essential amino acids glycine and proline) per tbsp.

Conclusion

If you’re lucky enough to have a similar store in your area, it’s surely worth checking out. Watch out for overdoing it on the salt, but you should be able to find some real bargains that you won’t find at your typical grocer.

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