Brighton Beach, Brooklyn

Efe International Market is a store in the main shopping district of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, that offers all manner of dried fruits and nuts. You might think that it is a simple matter to specialize in such humble ingredients, but the quality of the offerings convinced me that fresh produce is not the only category where a selective merchant can make a startling difference by choosing the best.

Sour apricots were refreshing, not cloying and pulpy like most dried apricots.


These walnuts were the freshest I have ever eaten. Even the skins were not bitter.


Dried apricots were hard as rocks, but softened with cooking and made an interesting addition to braised lamb shanks.


Pistachios were almost buttery.


Dried yellow plums were tangy.


I didn't get a picture, but the very best thing was the worst-looking. Samarkhand raisins were little blue-black dessicated bits, but they tasted remarkably like dried cherries. The salted peach pits, on the other hand, were awful, just like bad peanuts.



Efe International is a modest store you might walk by without a second thought, but it's worth a journey to Brooklyn, and it saves the airfare to Samarkhand.

Efe International Market
243 Brighton Beach Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11235
(718) 891-8933
Hours: 8 AM-9PM