African Caribbean Market, 1935 Greenwood Ave, Hamilton, NJ
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I passed the African Caribbean Market (“ACM”) for years before I stopped in. The issue for me (and I would venture for most readers of Hidden Trenton) is that neither West Indian nor west African cooking are on my culinary radar screen, so I have little reason to stop. Still, it’s a measure of the diversity of the Greater Trenton area that it can support a grocery dedicated to serving these ethnicities.

At ACM you’ll find a slightly quirky assortment of goods:

• canned and packaged goods from African providers (e.g. Ghana and Liberia), plus staples (such as rice and polenta) from world suppliers
• West Indian packaged food items including such post-British-empire staples as branded teas, custard mix, and digestive biscuits
• an extensive assortment of frozen sea food, including smoked and whole fish
• African yams (which seem to be imported from Ghana)
• salted pork feet and pigtails by the bucket
• African cosmetics and personal care products (soaps, shampoos, hair dressings)
• west African printed cotton fabric

If there was a disappointment, it was the near total absence of fresh greens and vegetables (other than yams). What ACM was selling when I visited in June of 2015 was extremely limited, taking up only part of one of the refrigerator cases along the back wall.

Still, the exotic character of many of the items on the shelves makes walking around the store entertaining, just reading labels. More adventurous souls may actually buy something.