Six Indicators of an Oregon Grocery

If you follow this blog and my Facebook postings, you should have noticed by now that I like to check out different farmers' markets, grocery stores, and restaurants whenever I travel. Two days ago we were shopping for the meals that will be prepared on Christmas Day and the day-after-Christmas that will be our "Christmas" with the entire family - the day that we can get everyone together after the married kids make their different family rounds with their in-laws. When going through Ray's Food Place market in Albany, Oregon, I smiled as we walked the aisles and saw various labels of local brands that are common here, and either rare or unknown in Maryland, as well as a few of other indicators. Following is the list of products common to an Oregon market.

a. A display of a diverse variety of tortillas. I am sure there are specialty markets in the Washington, D.C. metro area that cater to Mexican shoppers, but none that I have seen around the Annapolis area. This tortilla display stood out. We had just eaten lunch at Mexico Lindo restaurant in the same shopping center right before coming to the grocery, and the food was the best I had eaten since the last time I was in Oregon - the taste of West Coast Mexican food cannot be beaten, compared to the restaurants we frequent back home in Maryland. Oregon this part of the U.S., there is a growing influence by the Hispanic population - including cuisine second to none.

b. Oregon Duck football team featured on magazine covers. The Ducks are playing for the BCS National Championship Game on January 10th - being just 45 miles north of Autzen Stadium, it is no wonder that multiple sports magazines displayed on the rack show the Duck team in a prominent place at eye level that helped these copies stand out among the rest of the periodicals. By the way the Ducks will be wearing their new designer uniforms at the BCS Bowl - even though I am a Beaver fan, it is great to see an Oregon team get so much attention.

c. Umpqua and Darigold dairy products. Not that milk, cheese, and yogurts stand out among the pack, but these names are Pacific Northwest familiars. The dairies in Oregon are more picturesque than those in the San Joaquin Valley in California - much more like the ones shown in the happy cows commercials that are paid for by the California Milk Advisory Board.

d. A prominent Rogue Brewery's Dead Guy Ale display. This beer is available on the East Coast - at a price far greater than sold in Oregon. Dead Guy is a true northwestern microbrew, made with "free range" coastal water. My youngest son reports that it is also available at Miller's Ale House on tap in Pensacola, Florida - it must be a Navy favorite there. A list of hops varieties can be found clicking here.

e. Almost countless varieties of cheeses from the Tillamook County Creamery Association outside Tillamook, Oregon. Smoked cheddar, pepperjack, colby jack, swiss, mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, grated cheddar..... all from the Tillamook Valley on the northern coast of Oregon, Tillamook cheeses are well known and well represented in Oregon grocery circles. When my father-in-law would drive to Oregon to visit, he would stop by the factory to buy fresh cheese curds to snack on while he enjoyed the coastal views. For a list of all the different kinds of cheeses and their descriptions, click here.

f. An entire full aisle spilling over and out the end with Oregon labels and many other wines. In Maryland, if you want to buy beer or wine, you have to go to a liquor store - not in Oregon. I remember when we moved to Oregon the first time for graduate school in 1978, that if you wanted to buy beer, you had to go to state owned liquor stores. I think some time between 1981 and 1988 that law changed - grocery stores had selection available by the time we moved back for our second tour in Corvallis.