These New West shops will add some flair to your cooking

Let’s face it: not everyone enjoys cooking, especially if you’re someone like me who ends up making some pretty bland dishes, or, you know, burning things. If you're curious, I’ve burned rice in a stove top pot, toast, scrambled eggs…you get the idea. Whether it’s cooking to impress or to try something new, there are some incredible stores in our city that will help take your cooking from womp womp to wowwee!

Give these local shops a visit for a variety of ingredients that will take your gastronomic quests to the next level. And if you’re looking for something to cook, check out our piece on this New West cookbook, with recipes from local restaurants.

Goodway’s Specialty Foods

Previously known as Galloway’s, my husband and I have always found hard-to-locate ingredients here. This small but mighty Uptown gem is packed with a variety of flours, spices and mixes. We previously struggled to find whole all-spice–of course, it was here. I’ve also found a fantastic selection of Filipino-style seasonings for when we’re making Filipino food like tocino or chicken adobo.

This is also a great spot if you like grabbing your snacks in bulk. The selection of nuts and dried fruit are endless.

Lucifer’s House of Heat

Hot sauce aficionados will feel like a kid in a candy store walking into Lucifer’s House of Heat. Whether you’re looking for something mild, or something to make you cry, this Queensborough location will have it. If you’re a Hot Ones fan, you’ll be able to purchase some of the show’s featured sauces, including the extremely hot Da Bomb Beyond Insanity Hot Sauce. And if you want a real kick in the mouth, Lucifer’s also carries Da Bomb salsa.

My husband and I have some favourites from Lucifer's, including the Heartbeat Dill Pickle Serrano, and Secret Aardvark, a classic stand-by.

If that isn’t your pace, the store also carries an assortment of snacks in varying levels of heat (hot peanuts, anyone?) and some hard-to-find kinds of dried chilis. From time to time they will host tastings, so make sure you follow their Facebook and Instagram pages to stay in the know.

Spice lovers can also purchase goods from Lucifer's without setting foot in the store: they ship worldwide and shipping in Canada is free with a minimum $120 purchase.

Full Basket Butcher Shop

Full Basket Butcher Shop has more than 120 different cuts of meat, along with an apple and brie stuffed chicken that is to die for; it's a great choice if you'd rather have them prep your food for you. They also carry Halal lamb, New Zealand lamb, and goat meat.

This is also a fantastic spot for Korean carrot salad – also known as Morkovcha – a slightly spicy yet savoury dish you can serve on the side with almost any meal. (We recommend the chicken!) They also carry a lovely selection of rice and pasta, so you can treat it as a one-stop shop.

Caribbean Market

This stop along 12th Street is full of hard-to-find foods–and don’t let the name fool you. While it carries an assortment of condiments, spices and jams from places like Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, Caribbean Market also carries food from Newfoundland.

It’s a great spot for cured beef navel, the ingredient used in salt beef. If you haven’t had the chance to try a Newfoundland jam jam, this store will change that! Pair these traditional filled cookies with tea and you’re ready to host guests before you all sit down to a delicious salt beef dinner.

For those with dietary restrictions, this is a great spot to find cassava or rice flour. And if you have a friend or family member outside of New West looking for some of these ingredients, Caribbean Market ships some of their goods anywhere in Canada and the USA.