Most of us buy our day to day food from supermarkets. That’s usually one big weekly shop and a smaller top-up shop for items of food we run out of midweek.

But there is a growing group of curious, ambitious home cooks inspired by chefs such as Yotam Ottolenghi who need to shop further afield to find ingredients to cook dishes from the Middle and Far East, Eastern Europe and Asian cuisines.

But where do you go to buy those unusual ingredients, in the quantities you need to create exciting dishes for a family meal or a big event such as a street party or BBQ without breaking the bank and spending ages scouring the shelves of supermarkets? 

 I asked experienced chef and baker, Jez Belston, who runs the popular, cult Edward Street Bakery in Saltaire to take me to his favourite Bradford food shops to find everything from bags of za’atar to kaffir lime leaves. Jez has his eye on the unique and unusual ‘foodie’ ingredients at a good price.

All the shops are located within 15-minute drive of each other with parking close by.