Ten years ago it was a fairly difficult task shopping for certain Mediterranean and Asian ingredients. It really was a case of driving all around town visiting different delicatessens, specialty shops and Asian grocers to find many of the ingredients needed to cook traditional dishes.

Thankfully, times have changed! The large amount of publicity generated about the healthfulness of Mediterranean and Asian food has meant that most large supermarkets are now well stocked with virtually all the essentials you'll need under one roof. And if your supermarket doesn't stock a particular item, or if you don't live near a large supermarket, you can always try an Internet ethnic food store who will deliver to your door.

At the same time, you'll also find that a wide variety of the ingredients used in MediterrAsian cooking are already commonly used in the West (although in vastly different ways to how they've traditionally been used in Mediterranean and Asian cuisine). Some examples include pasta, rice, bread, tuna, shrimp, salmon, chicken, nuts, beans, peas, tomatoes, onions, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, avocado, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, red and green peppers, grapes, berries, oranges and lemons.

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