Immigrants, locals delight in Europa Delights

Europa Delight is located at 4722 Pacific Ave. between Taylor and Andrews avenues.
Europa Delight is located at 4722 Pacific Ave. between Taylor and Andrews avenues.

Zak Cherifi, owner of Europa Delight makes sure the shelves, refrigerators and freezers are stocked with foods from various countries like Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.
Zak Cherifi, owner of Europa Delight makes sure the shelves, refrigerators and freezers are stocked with foods from various countries like Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.

Zak Cherifi, owner of Europa Delight makes sure the shelves, refrigerators and freezers are stocked with foods from various countries like Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.

Zak Cherifi, owner of Europa Delight makes sure the shelves, refrigerators and freezers are stocked with foods from various countries like Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.
The blintzes and pelmeni are a popular items and are delicious with a side of sour cream.
 

October 15, 2008

WILDWOOD – Zak Cherifi moved to Wildwood from northern Africa 15 years ago, but it was only in the past few years that he may have found his calling: making babies and creating a niche grocery market to serve a cross-section of mostly European and Mexican immigrants.
The babies part? Well he and wife Sabah have three children ages (gulp) 3, 2 and almost 1.
And the grocery part is Europa Delights, a store that debuted in 2006 and sells goods from around the world and is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., all of which is staffed by Zak.
“Don’t ask me how we do it,” laughed the Algerian native.
What it is that they do is sell immigrants care packages, if you will, of beloved food from their homelands.
“A lot of the people who live down here are a new generation of immigrants. They live here in Wildwood or Cape May or on the mainland, and I know a lot of them, I am friendly with them, and they might not know someone from their country is living here too,” he said.
“Say someone has something to sell, and they put it on a piece of paper written in Russian, and they hang it up here. Someone from Russia comes in and sees it written in their home language and they call them and they end up getting together,” he added. “This is how things happen here.”
But their motivation for going to Europa’s Delights is also gastronomical, and comforting to them being away from home.
Cherifi said there are many nights when a Mexican will end his shift at a local restaurant and stop by the market on his way home.
“They will come in and get some chorizo (sausage), some eggs, beans and tortillas, and I ask them, ‘You work in restaurant, why don’t you eat there?’ And they tell me they like to go home and cook something fresh and eat something familiar to them, their own country’s food.”
Some of the food is difficult to come by, so Cherifi said he has to work with 15 different suppliers to get what his customers want, and he has to travel to Philadelphia and New York regularly to keep up his supply.
Russians come looking for dried fish and pelmeni (a ravioli-shaped pasta stuffed with beef and pork, or chicken and turkey, or veal), “which is very, very popular with everyone,” Cherifi said. “I have to fill up my freezer once every two weeks it sells so fast.”
Bulgarians will come looking for feta cheese and maybe some mixed vegetables while Romanians like their kafir, a yogurt-like enzyme-rich food that can be used for smoothies and is considered a “balancing nutrient for the inner eco-system.” They also come for Hungarian or Romanian salami, and Borsec mineral water, bread from Belarus and Latvia, Borgomi sparkling water from Georgia (the former Soviet republic), Polish kielbasa, candy from Turkey and more.
"I got the idea for the store from talking to local people," said Cherifi. "They complained that they had to go to Philadelphia or New York to get the authentic foods from their native countries that they enjoyed. I opened here almost three years ago with the intention of making it a true international store, with foods from many nationalities. Some people call it the 'United Nations Store.' "
Wildwood's tourism-based economy has attracted seasonal workers from all over the world. Many of these workers have settled in Wildwood and live on the island year round.
"The store is a crossroads for many things," said Cherifi. "People meet, make friends, find a place to stay and exchange culture. Sometimes three co-workers, all from different countries, will come in for lunch and try each other's food. That's how this store operates."
Europa Delights is located at 4722 Pacific Avenue, between Taylor and Andrews avenues.
 



Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed at seitz [at] catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250.

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