Bazaar Recipes

IT might be better known for its glossy A-list celebrity stories and high fashion photo spreads, but Grazia magazine also has some very stylish recipes.
Leafing through last week's edition, featuring Katie Holmes on the cover, I spotted a super recipes for a Middle Eastern style chicken dish with a pomegranate dressing.
Trouble is, as with many Grazia recipes, there's at least three or four ingredients that don't represent 'cupboard store staples' - unless, like Nigella Lawson you have one of those Mary Poppins-bag style pantries (one day...!).
'Pomegranate molasses' and 'sumac' don't feature in my secret store, even though I pride myself on having something for every eventuality.
I have to admit, until recently I didn't even know that sumac was a lemony spice used in Iranian and other Middle Eastern cookery.
Still, a short trip down the Hagley Road to Pars Mediterranean mini mart not only provides me with all I need but constitutes something of a day out.
This little bazaar is a hidden gem for foodies and stepping inside it, leaving the whizzing traffic behind, is like being transported into a Moroccan souk.
Full of pungent aromas, a dusty front counter packed with trays of gooey baklava, and sacks brimming with toasted pumpkin seeds, you can find everything you might need for a Middle Eastern feast. And it's cheap too. A big pack of Turkish lavash flatbreads, perfect for smearing with hummus or baba ganoush, is about £1.20. The tinned stuffed vine leaves are a find too and ideal to add to a mezze board.
I could easily spend half a day in there, browsing the aisles and resisting the temptation to jiggle my hips to the background music. Certainly beats the supermarket's brainwashing muzac!
Pars is definitely worth the journey with or without your troublesome ingredient list inhand.
Where are your favourite food stores? What do they sell that makes them special?
Pars Shop, 201A, Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, 0121 454 2100.