Gourmet Groceries

Central Market, 1425 FM1709, Southlake, 817-310-5600 centralmarket.com

This is a great, big supermarket that carries a tremendous number of gourmet/specialty items. An "Espana Pasaporte" celebration was being held there during our visit. On offer were such as a chef-prepared, you-take-it-home Spanish Family Meal of Pollo a l'Ast (rotisserie chicken) roasted fingerling potatoes with Romesco sauce, spinach with currants and raisins, orange fennel salad and Arroz con Leche for dessert -- $17.99 per person.

Or, do-it-yourself and buy marinated chicken breasts - choice of Mojo Verde or Mojo Picon, Mojo Colorado or Pollo en Romesco.

This was a very good promotional idea and it was well thought out -- Sangria mixer, a Santiago Cake (decorated with the Cross of the Order of Santiago, a chunk of Flor d'Esgueva, which is an artisan sheep's milk cheese produced in Penafiel since 1946.

I got into the spirit of things (albeit not Spanish) and bought a squat, square jug of wasabi-horseradish sauce and a half pound slab of Brun-Uuso (which is a baked cheese with garlic in Finland and Sweden.) Directions say to warm it by grilling it outdoors on the bbq or heating it in a skillet. The cheese surface has an already-browned look to it.

This may not be a fair observation, but given the fact that the DFW area has many, many examples of chain restaurants, to find a gourmet grocery store really was something of an adventure.