Ethnic grocery store tour brings the world to your shopping cart

Evelyn Thompson combines her love of Chicago ethnic neighborhoods with her interest in ethnic eating.

Thompson teaches a class on ethnic foods at the University of Illinois at Chicago but leads tours for everyone to grocery stores that feature Thai eggplant, fiber-laden cactus pears and vegetarian raisin sausage among their staples.

"In my eyes, people who are switching from a meat-diet to a vegetarian diet benefit from these tours," Thompson said. "You'll get more flavors if you look for ethnic recipes. They have many more vegetarian foods that are tasty."

People join the tours from as far away as California since Thompson's tours appeal to the boom in both ethnic foods and healthy choices.

"It was 22 or so years ago when I first started getting interested," Thompson said. "At the time, you couldn't get recipe books for the ethnic recipes. It became a personal quest."

Thompson studied the neighborhoods of Chicago for two and a half years, indexing the numerous grocery stores and markets of ethnic interest. But it wasn't until the Culinary Historians of Chicago asked her for a presentation of her findings that the tours were born more than a decade ago.

"After my presentation, people asked me, hey, can you take me to these places," Thompson said. "That's when it all started."

The tours are planned based on demand--there is no set schedule for each year. They are typically small groups of four, since Thompson personally drives her guests around. Even destinations are customized, depending on what the people want to learn more about and where they want to go.

Stops in Rogers Park, for instance, include the Mexican grocery store Supermercado Chapala and the Cuban grocery and cafeteria La Unica.

The tours give people a chance to buy ingredients widely used in other cultures, said Thompson. The tours also offer a direct way to learn more about the different cultural diets that many Americans aren't familiar with.

Rodney J. Gedey, who currently resides in California, went on the ethnic grocery stores tour led by Thompson. His experience was documented through multiple postings on his personal blog.

Gedey said Thompson shared with her tour guests how a particular food is prepared and also its discovery, cultural history and any unique properties.

"Evelyn Thompson is a great tour guide. You get to have a fun four-hour tour, learn some new things, enjoy great company, and best of all, eat and experience new food," Gedey said. "I would highly recommend this experience."

If the idea of visiting a grocery store in one of Chicago's many ethnic neighborhoods is daunting, the ethnic food trend is catching on at some mainstream grocery stores in this area, Thompson said.

Visit www.ethnic-grocery-tours.com to find out about making reservations.