Can you find a Tomatillo in your grocery store?

I had a revelation yesterday at the grocery store.  Some of you more exotic cooks may already know this, but those of you that are just beginning some experimentation may not.  Do you know that we are not all shopping in the same grocery store.  Ok, I know that what I find in my grocery store vs. what is found in Spain or some other foreign country is totally different.  I know that if I am making some rare Martha Stewart 20 ingredient masterpiece, I'll have to go to a chef store.  I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about regular recipes out of Cooking Light or Taste of Home.

I had to find Flank Steak for one recipe.  Ironically another woman was looking for the same thing.  We scoured the steaks to no avail.  We finally asked the butcher.  He said, "We don't get too much of a call for flank steak at this store.  We don't always have it."  Ok, I can understand that. 

Next,  I was searching for tomatilloes.  It didn't help that I didn't even know what I was looking for.  I could find them neither fresh, nor canned, so I asked my helpful fresh produce stock boy who promptly pulled out his vegetable book to show me what one was.  Apparently, it is in nightshade family.  But alas, there was none in this store.  He advised me that if I went to the Chicopee store (about 20 minutes away), they carry them.  What?  A store 20 minutes away from the same grocery chain has different food on a regular basis.  What am I missing?  I think I becoming adventurous, but I've only scratched the surface.  Alas,  there is even more on this planet to see and do than I already know.

What interesting food have you found in a recipe that you have never used before?

Challenge:  Go to a grocery store that you don't normally frequent and search out the differences.  Try something new.