Thank you for a very useful response.

Elope!

A word of advice from a happily married person of 18 years: try to balance the needs of you and your fiance with those of your parents and in-laws - remember this is primarily your day, not the parents who reasonably want to show off to all and sundry. When the party is over, you will be responsible for the debt. Why not try a cuisine other than Indian / Italien and no one's offended more than the other.

I'm gonna get slated for this: All-Clad gets great press, but in my opinion, is not particularly good. Sure - it's one of the better "by comparison", but again, in my opinion and as someone who is a self-taught gourmet cook, there are better products out there for less and equal amounts of money. I find All-Clad poorly designed insofar as my pots have 'hot spots' (uneven cooking) and my fingers get caught in the poorly designed handles of the stock pots; also, all All-Clad handles are the same and I personally find them uncomfortable to 'wield' (when tossing stuff around) and generally hold, because they are skinny in width and diameter. If you cook a lot, as I do, and are pretty competent in the kitchen, you might consider Bourgeat (French and difficult to find here in Canada - I use the company Nisbets at www.nisbets.co.uk or Nisbets in France and get the items delivered to my husband's hotel or here in Ontario); I also like Staub cast iron and Le Crueset, both of which are freely available here in Canada. It depends what you're cooking, of course. Le Creuset is excellent for stove-top-to-oven-to-table, as is Staub, but I don't find cast iron good for cooking pasta, for example - the heavy bottomed Bourgeat or similar is much better with this. I've been using the three manufacturers mentioned above for about 18 years; I had to buy All-Clad when we moved here, because I was waiting for my own stuff to arrive. I was told All-Clad was the best there is, but my All-Clad only comes out when I've run out of dishes : -)

Way ahead of you :-) I knew this. Watching for expiry dates in any store's a good idea - I often find out-of-date stuff in my local supermarket - it's all down to the employees' care and diligence.

All kinds, but the operative word is "fresh", not canned or dried.

For anyone interested, I found a place to buy this superbly flavoured ham and other equally good deli meats:

Scheffler's Deli and Cheese at St Lawrence Market.

Where can I buy quality, fresh Mexican ingredients in the GTA or London, Kitchener or Waterloo?

Thanks.

Kooper

Any decent butcher will have these things. I use Whitehouse at St Lawrence Market, for example. However, it will depend what kind of pork fat you're looking for; Whitehouse can only sell you a whole belly, for example. I know that The Healthy Butcher will also sell you these things, including pork belly in smaller quantities, but I also know that prices at The Healthy Butcher are pretty steep, if you're on a budget.

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The Healthy Butcher
565 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5V, CA

Go to: www.butcher-packer.com

I live in Canada and recently ordered a bunch of equipment and curing aids. The F-Dick sausage stuff is the cheapest I found and two thirds cheaper than a large supplier here in Canada. F-Dick sausage stuffers are unanimously described as the "Rolls Royce" of sausage stuffers.

Can anyone tell me where I can buy imported charcuterie in bulk rather than paying scandalous retail prices? I'm looking for the usual Spanish, Italian, French sausages, hams and cured meats.

Sweetie

What I mean by high end is a high end Asian store which sells the best of Asian ingredients. The lower end stores can sell lower grade stuff and I'm trying to avoid another packet of porcini mushrooms with cigarette butts inside - it came front China. Jeez-louise! Imagine the lack of quality control, hygiene, and almost sharing this saliva- soaked piece of stub; I hate to think what else was in the packet.

Where can I buy these in the GTA area or where in Canada can I mailorder from? Is there an Asian store in Ontario which sells hgh end Asian products? I'm also looking for either fresh or packages tamarind.