Midtown Global Market Minneapolis

When people travel to Minnesota the first thing that crosses there mind is the Mall of America. I on the other hand, ponder only about the culinary diversity the twin cities has to offer.  With the twin cities being so close to each other, it easily allows a market for diversity to coexist and share cultures.  One area in particular is the Midtown Global Market located on East Lake Street in Minneapolis.

The marketplace is one giant food porn industry under one roof.  The vibrant green Midtown Global Market logo at the entrance gives you the impression  of arriving at a food theme park.  Inside you will find vendors from many countries catering to your every needs.  About the size of Wal-Mart, the giant room consist of ziggity zaggity maze of pure food ecstasy.  It has many open hallways with a huge food court for foodies to sit and enjoy there meals.  A band stage also resides in the food court surrounded by many stalls and vendors.

You can find foods ranging from the West Indies, Asian, Greek, Scandinavia, Italian, Somalian, Mexican, and many many more.  One can also find wine and cheese shops or ice cream parlors and many grocery stores from around the world.  Bakeries are scattered throughout and fresh produce and meat can also be bought.  You can even catch your own live seafood and have it cooked there for you.  There's also shops that has gifts and clothes from different countries, but that's the least of my interest.  I'm here for the unique foods that are available easily within your grasp.  Like a kid in a candy store I surveyed my options before I started my feeding frenzy.  Before I can start I had to hit the ATM because the vendors only take cold hard cash money.

shrimp cactus with molee sauce

In the entrance I first spotted a Mexican mini cafe that served cactus which I never tried before and also corn fungus moley.  The cafe itself is exposed to the customers passing along the hallways, so if you could imagine the aromatic mixture of foods from all cultures swirling around hypnotizing your five senses including your wallet.   

As an appetizer I ordered the deep fried prawns with mango salad on caramelize plantains. The sweetness of the mango salad goes perfectly with the crunchy saltiness of the deep fried prawns.  For my entree I went with the shrimp and cactus drenched in dark corn fungus moley sauce.  The corn fungus is black in color and taste earthy like a black truffle. It can be very expensive just like the truffle fungus found in Europe.  The shrimp is served with dirty rice and julianne  cactus.  The 'cactus' very bright green in color has a very tangy taste and texture like stir fry snap peas.  The shrimp was excellent but I didn't like the cactus so much, too sour for my delicate taste buds.

As I made my way eagerly and slowly to the next stall, I spotted a Jamaican buffet line with all sorts of dishes I've never seen before.  Being a buffet I had to contain myself if I wanted to save precious stomach space for other good eats.  The vendor next to the Jamaican buffet offers Greek baklava that I just had to try.  Baklava is a sweet pastry with walnuts and caramel stuff between layers of flaky buttery heaven.  I've also picked up some bison sausages at a nearby cheese and sausage shop to eat later and a sample of upside down pineapple gelato for dessert.  This is why I love this place, you can food hop from one stall to another with ease and not having to worry about jumping in your car to do so. 

My next vendor I just couldn't resist is West Indies cuisine .  They had something I just had to try, it was goat shank curry with the company of succotash, black eye peas, corn bread and Caribbean rice.  Goat shank was very gamy in a good way and goes very well with  the curry that had some kick to it.  The Caribbean rice tasted just like jambalaya and the corn bread taste just like how a corn bread would taste, nothing spectacular.  One item I was curious about was the succotash, which the only recollection I have of that is a word spoken many times by Sylvester the cat from Bugs Bunny, "suffering succotash".  It's a dish traditionally consist of corn and Lima beans cooked in butter.



mutton stew

My last and final meal was at very small Somalian joint that I just happened to walk by on my way out to the car.  They cook caught my attention by flashing food in front of my face which is one of my many weaknesses.  He allowed me to sample just about every single dish until I finally decided on the mutton stew cooked with assorted vegetables and serve with rice. Mutton is also another word for lamb or sheep.  In this dish, the mutton was in a form of mini ribs chopped up in little sectors with the meat still clinging to the bone for dear life.  Unlike the West Indies goat dish, I liked this one better.  It has chopped ginger and other spices in it which helped reduced the gamy flavor.

You can find just about anything you can think of at the Global Midtown Market, from exotic spices to tattoos or even a massage.  Outside Across the street is also many shops and eateries all along Lake Street, including Ingebretsen's which is where I got my foi gras from.  It's one of Andrew Zimmern's favorite places to find unique eats.  They offer a variety of bizarre eats from giant pig ears to lutefisk to blood sausage which I also picked up for the road.  On the other side of town you have The Mall of America and over at Midtown Global Market you have The Mall of the world.  I believe all populated cities should have a place like this year round.