This Latin American market has been in Wheaton for years. Its shelves are stuffed with ingredients that, if they're not familiar, the owners are happy to explain to you and how they should be used.

A wide range of herbs includes black mint leaves. Among the packets of seeds are whole linseed and peeled wheat grains. Canary beans make part of the stock of dried beans. There's a big selection of corn kernels, like dried white choclo en granos, the large thumbnail-sized kernels of corn from Peru (pictured), whole gray corn, and bags of dehydrated black potatoes and dehydrated white potatoes. Though the fresh produce choice is small you'll find fingerling bananas whose flavor is far more concentrated than their larger cousins. In the meat counter are fresh chickens, costilla ribs and various sausages and chorizo.

What you can't find here, you can probably get at the Latin market a couple of doors down, where they sell the La Costena line of canned goods including refried pinto beans which come highly recommended by eatWashingtonian and sonic Mexican food cook, Zora Margolis, along with the anise-tasting aguacate leaves, the dried leaves of the avocado, key in the pork dishes of this part of the world.

Plaza Market, 2511 Ennalls Ave, Wheaton, 301 933 3376.