What is the most wicked section of the supermarket? It’s definitely the spices. Those little jars are full of the exotic scents of far-off lands, enticing the unwary shopper to all manner of intemperate, hot-blooded…er, actually, they’re just ludicrously overpriced.
The other day I was shopping at QFC, and I had mustard seeds and crystallized ginger on my shopping list. The mustard seeds were destined for Babbo Salmon, the ginger for a biscuit recipe from The Family Kitchen. A quarter-cup jar of mustard seeds (1.4 ounces) was selling for $4.69. A half-cup jar of crystallized ginger (2 ounces) was going for about $11.50.
In marketing parlance, I am a price-sensitive consumer, which means that I will freak out rather than pay $4.69 for mustard seeds, which are among the cheapest of all spices. [Penzeys](http://www.penzeys.com/) sells a pound of mustard seeds for $3.80, which means QFC is charging 14 times as much. Penzeys also charges $3.29 for 3 ounces of crystallized ginger.
Anyway, I wasn’t going to make a special order from Penzeys for two items, and I wanted the stuff now. So Laurie went to Madison Market, the local natural foods store, and got me 1/4 cup of mustard seeds from the bulk section, for less than 50 cents, and a half-pound bag of crystallized ginger for $3.
Jars of evil, I tell you.