Whoring about the supermarket

Here's a question pursuant to kutsuwamushi's latest post, taking Kurlansky to task for denying the existence of local food customs in the USA and elsewhere. What is something that you can find everywhere in your home town that everywhere else you've been (a) is only available from a specialty purveyor or (b) cannot be bought for love or money?

I've already posted about some of mine. Pork steaks, for instance, just don't outside of St. Louis, though I think I could get a butcher up here to slice them for me if I explained the cut and batted my eyes just right. Gooey butter (a.k.a. "sugar lasagne") is easy enough to make on your own, but that didn't stop us from buying it at the store. I was especially surprised not to find it up here since the brand we bought was usually Entenmann's and they're based in Brooklyn for Chrissakes! (At least they were when I was young. Now they're owned by a Canadian company which in some ways is even stranger.)

(Speaking of Brooklyn, I know that e. could easily fill a page with products. Please, don't get her started on the bagel thing again!)

Tǭtally 80s

YouTube has become my new jukebox. At last, those fresh young faces I keep reading reviews of in the Onion--The National, The Shout-Out-Louds, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Arcade Fire, et al.--are more than just names. On the other hand, all those half-remembered names from not-quite-misspent-enough youth--Visage, The Dominatrix, Alphaville, Clan of Xymox (please don't make me embarrass myself further)--return from the pop graveyard complete with the black lipstick and glitter eyeshadow they wore in life. And then there are those acts I could never have named and wouldn't recognise, whose clumsy synth hooks were indistinguishable from the endless ranks of Depeche Mode and New Order knockoffs that provided filler in the soundtrack of the night.

[Warning: The following clip contains graphic depictions of 80s fashion. It may not be suitable for younger viewers who have not properly built up their resistance to linebacker shoulder pads, ripped shiny fabrics, and very very big hair.]