La Maria

A surprise this morning!

In the village of Kidlington to shop in the small street market, we found this new shop in the High Street. The staff told us that they had been open just three days.

It turns out to be an interesting food store. Some of the products suggested that the emphasis might be Romanian, and the television that was running confirmed that impression (especially when an item about the President of Romania started showing!).

We were told that, in addition to the Romanian specialities, they also had good lines in Polish and Russian delicatessen. You can see the fine variety of sausages, salamis, and other charcuterie in the display cabinet in the centre of my picture. Above is a wide range of unusual booze...

After being tempted by expensive caviar, we came away with a much cheaper tin of smoked sprats from Riga, so that adds Latvia to the list of countries represented.

In one corner of the shop there's a bright little coffee bar (which is where the big TV is).

The enterprise already has a web site, but there's almost nothing there. I also found an application for an alcohol licence.

I said that it was a surprise to find this shop, and one way in which it is surprising is that Kidlington is quite small, and certainly not noteworthy for unusual ethnic communities, while this is the first Romanian grocery that I've ever seen in the UK. Although it's in the High Street, the shop front does not make a big impact, so the proprietors will need luck to make a success of their venture. I wish them well.

We had better not get started on whether I should write Romania, Rumania, or even Roumania! The first two versions have been in use since the mid-19th century, but the first, with the 'o', is now the more common. On the other hand, pedants can call on etymological arguments that justify the 'u' form (apparently a Latin 'o' often becomes transformed to 'u' in the Romanian language, but we won't go into that here).

Anyway, I want to get started on the sprats, which previous experience of them tells me will be delicious...