Near the intersection of Airport and Lamar and nestled into the side of karaoke studio parlor, the Austin International Market looks a little like an old-timey general store.
On the sign it advertises Asian, African, and Caribbean food.
The last time I was in this place was back in 1998, during my first exploration of Austin. I’m pretty sure that the stock of the International Market has not turned over since then. All the canned food is dusty and the price tags have faded to the point where they had to re-write the prices with ballpoint pen.
When you walk in, the place has that particular smell of an ethnic grocery, pungent and foreign. There’s a certain point as you walk the aisles when the retail stock merges into the stockroom and you realize that you’re in someone’s private space.
After some hunting I found some stuff I felt was interesting.
The chinese toffee came in a series of cubical boxes with dice-mimicking packaging. The primary ingredient was "millet gel" and it tasted hard and stale.
The videos were a buck each, and they were such a special find that they warrant their own entry. So stay tuned.
The jar of pickled melon was an adventure in and of itself. I bought this particular jar because it was the only one that wasn’t permanently bonded to the shelf by congealed schmutz.
There was a noticeable ring of dust on the ridge just underneath the cap. When I opened it up, the jet-black melon goop bubbled suspiciously.
The label said that the expiration date was "one year" but did not specify which one.
As brave as I am, I put only a small quantity of the pickled melon on my tongue before spitting it out.
It tasted much as I anticipated.
Like rotting melon.
With mushroom flavoring.
