• Banana leaves, for wrapping fish in when I cook it. It adds a lovely flavor.
• Zataar, an Arabic herb blend with thyme and sesame seeds. Really amazing on grilled lamb!
• Goat meat, which I actually buy from a local halal market. The goat is more mild-flavored than lamb, so my kids will eat it.
• Baby gai lan, my favorite Asian greens. So good sauteed with garlic, shallots and ginger in coconut oil, then steamed with a little chicken broth and fish sauce.
• Fish sauce! The really good kind from Thailand. Smells wicked when you first pop it open, but a splash or two on top of stir-fried beef and broccoli...YUM!!! I use this instead of soy sauce.

Mostly, I'd go nuts on the spices! I used to live overseas and have traveled a lot. The level of processed foods overseas is really right up there with the U.S. these days. You're going to find all sorts of crap!

Disclaimer: I'm more PHD than traditional Paleo...

I get frozen coconut milk, frozen grated purple potato, fresh varieties of mushrooms, fresh okinawan potatoes (white-grey skin, purple flesh), fresh ginger. In the aisles I get Spanish/portuguese sardines, rice paper rolls, dried seaweed, rice or cassava or taro crackers, coconut vinegar, rice or tapioca flours cheaply, and all manner of interesting sauces, marinades, and spices- just read labels like a hawk!

Aroy-D coconut milk in the @quart size aseptic pack container. Spices - way cheaper at most international markets than elsewhere. Indian markets have especially good spice prices. Raw nuts if you eat nuts. Lots of different produce - and the prices on produce and herbs are also really great. Kim-chi of various kinds. Fish - often there is an incredible selection, including some live and swimming in tanks. Ghee. It kind of depends on where you are what will be available. Most of the international markets in my area lean towards Asian and Hispanic foods with a bit of Mid-eastern. European specialties are usually sold at delis and are generally much higher priced. Some other markets may specialize in Mid-eastern food and are generally reasonable. They often overlap with Indian foods since many of the same spices are used. If you have a good Mid-eastern market they will have great olives, cheeses and yogurt if you eat dairy.

Thai fish sauce is a great way to flavor and add salt to your dishes.

If you like tea I recommend buying some white tea because it is usually cheap at those kind of stores.

If they have purple sweet potatoes (aka okinawan sweet potato) I recommend buying some. Bake it like a regular potato and then topping with some butter and a little bit of cinnamon, yum!

I buy herbs and unusual produce at ours. I get scallions, cilantro, parsley, etc. for $0.33 to $0.50 a bunch. Fish sauce, for sure. Seaweed, too, if you eat it. I've tried loads of new fruits and vegetables that I'd never seen before, usually at a very minimal cost.

I'd want to bring home at least 3 things I never tried before--greens, veggies, meat cuts. etc.

For recipe ideas, I'd check paleo recipe sites and probably do a general i-search for background and other info on my selections.

This should be fun!

I ended up with my typical january cold last weekend, so we finally got to the market yesterday. I was pretty overwhelmed - they have the store separated by country and have the flags of each country hanging by the corresponding food. Russian, armenian, swedish, english, puerto rican, german, several middle eastern countries, chinese, japanese, phillipino...and on and on. We picked up lots of produce (including purple potatoes) and fresh herbs, dark chocolate, pomegranate molasses (for lamb meatballs - superbowl), some buffalo sausage and liver pate, neck and foot bones for broth, a pork roast, some jerk seasoning from the Jamaican section, and some Adobo seasoning mix that I haven't been able to find so far in St. Louis. AND!! They had about 20 varieties of pickled herring!!! I'm pretty sure the added sugar isn't paleo, but there's gotta be some health benefits that balance this?

Once I have room in my freezer, I'm going back to try out some of their frozen fish (with banana leaves), and I'm going to pick up one kind of produce that I've never had before and figure out how to cook it :)

I live in the STL area, too, and I think I know the store you visited. Was it Global Foods? If you like international markets, check out Seafood City off of Olive. It is amazing. We lived in Manila, Philippines for a year, and it was like going back there. It definitely specializes in more Asian cuisine, but the prices on their seafood and produce were great! We bought frozen scallops for a really good price, and they cooked up beautifully. Also some salmon belly. Yum!! Our friends who ended up transferring here from Manila swear by that store. I absolutely adore Adobo! I think the food is the only thing I really miss from Manila ;-) I think I may have to make my husband take us on a food adventure this weekend thanks to your inspiration!