Aisles of hard-to-find Latin American ingredients

A couple times a year, I get a craving for arroz con gandules, Puerto Rico’s version of rice and beans. And without fail, I wind up frustrated for one main reason: Good luck finding dried gandules, aka pigeon peas, in most San Antonio stores.

After a stop at Las Americas Latin Market, that problem is finally solved for good.

You’re probably familiar with grocery stores like La Michoacana and Culebra meat markets or La Fiesta Supermarket. They do an excellent job of stocking every kind of chile, bean and corn from all corners of Mexico, but they have few options from the rest of Latin America.

Las Americas fills that niche, with one of best selections of ingredients frequently used across the Caribbean, Central and South America, and beyond.

I was laser-focused on Puerto Rican groceries while shopping and came home with a bag full of tropical delights, including a pound of dried pigeon peas, and

a head full of inspiration.

A couple other flavors key to my take on arroz con gandules can be hard to track down. The first is sofrito, a cooked blend of finely minced garlic, onions, peppers and culantro, which is similar to cilantro in taste and

aroma. You can find canned, shelf-stable sofrito in many grocery stores here, but the fresh, preservative-free version at Las Americas is a vast improvement over that.

The second is ají dulce, a small chile shaped a little like an

habanero, but with a sweet flavor and no fiery burn. Las Americas stocks them.

If you’re a fan of pressed, Cuban-style sandwiches — several versions go by different names depending on the country — you’re in luck. The soft, chewy bread crucial to their success is another score you can make at Las Americas. Grab a couple loaves of pan sobao, a type of bread about the same length and a little wider than a standard sub roll, to make a perfect Cubano at home.

Although the shelves at Las Americas are chock-full of items from Colombia, Honduras, Peru and other New World locales, they also have a few nods to the other side of the pond with a strong selection of Spanish specialties. Of particular note is the Spanish-style chorizo, a dry sausage closer to salami than the fresh, spicy chorizo used in Mexican kitchens across San Antonio, and jamón serrano, the cured ham found in nearly every restaurant, bar or home kitchen in Spain.

Las Americas probably won’t be a one-stop shop for most home cooks. The selection of fresh produce, meat and staples such as eggs, butter and milk is fairly limited relative to most supermarkets. But what it does have on the shelves makes it more than worth a regular visit.

Las Americas Latin Market is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 6623 San Pedro Ave. More at 210-340-2747 or lasamericaslatinmarket.com.

Paul Stephen / Staff Las Americas Latin Market has a wide selection of groceries and ingredients from Central and South America, the Caribbean and Spain.