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Entry tags:
European life
It's the afternoon coffee break during the conference, and I've just gotten back from the grocery store, where I purchased 2 jars of creamy peanut butter, 80g of cumin seeds, and 80g of ground cumin.
One of the strangest effects of living in Europe that I've found is our increasing tendency to do routine grocery shopping in other countries. It started when we realized Dutch sausages were uniformly disappointing (even fresh ones from the butcher shop!) and pretty much anything we could get in Germany was better, so every time one of us went to Germany, we'd pick up a package to bring home. Then we discovered how much better German bread was, and often a loaf or two of that would come home.
After Joel spent a month in Paris, we discovered that -- while not quite staples -- French cheese and French dried sausages are totally worth picking up every time we're visiting. Not to mention the fact one of our favorite tea suppliers is based in Paris, and they actually sell bar soap in France (we simply couldn't find bar soap in the Netherlands, and so would bring it back in bulk from the States. Buying it in France was a lot easier when we could.)
When I spent a month in Copenhagen, I discovered Lurpak brand butter, with sea salt flakes: The best butter I've ever had. We've since found Lurpak in other countries, but never that particular variant, so whenever I'm back in Copenhagen, I stock up if I can.
We could get decent brown sugar in the Netherlands, though it's not the same as what you can get in the US. In Germany, however, the selection is pretty mediocre; none of it is dark enough for Joel's tastes, and he puts a spoonful on his oatmeal every morning. When we were in the UK in December, we discovered the joys of Sainsbury's brown sugar, and came back with a ew kilos. Now, we pick up a bag or two whenever we're there and have space in our bags.
And now, recently we discovered that peanut butter is not to be found in Germany, at least, not in the ordinary grocery stores. This isn't too surprising, they don't have the peanut culture that the Netherlands does, but it does make having PBJs difficult. Conveniently, just a few weeks after Joel finished up the jar we'd brought with us when we moved, here I am back in Amsterdam and able to stock up. Cumin, on the other hand, is something we've been looking for since we've moved, as we increasingly used up our stash (one jar of cumin doesn't last long when you use 3 T per batch of chili: And there is no way you can make chili without cumin). "Cumin" in German is "Kreuzkümmel", but just plain "kümmel" is "caraway", a similarity which has resulted in us having enough caraway to last us for a long time, but still no cumin. Even the Asian stores didn't carry it!
I managed to pick up the last two bottles at the particular Albert Heijn I stopped at today,so we should be good for another season of chili-making -- or until we get back to the Netherlands again.
One of the strangest effects of living in Europe that I've found is our increasing tendency to do routine grocery shopping in other countries. It started when we realized Dutch sausages were uniformly disappointing (even fresh ones from the butcher shop!) and pretty much anything we could get in Germany was better, so every time one of us went to Germany, we'd pick up a package to bring home. Then we discovered how much better German bread was, and often a loaf or two of that would come home.
After Joel spent a month in Paris, we discovered that -- while not quite staples -- French cheese and French dried sausages are totally worth picking up every time we're visiting. Not to mention the fact one of our favorite tea suppliers is based in Paris, and they actually sell bar soap in France (we simply couldn't find bar soap in the Netherlands, and so would bring it back in bulk from the States. Buying it in France was a lot easier when we could.)
When I spent a month in Copenhagen, I discovered Lurpak brand butter, with sea salt flakes: The best butter I've ever had. We've since found Lurpak in other countries, but never that particular variant, so whenever I'm back in Copenhagen, I stock up if I can.
We could get decent brown sugar in the Netherlands, though it's not the same as what you can get in the US. In Germany, however, the selection is pretty mediocre; none of it is dark enough for Joel's tastes, and he puts a spoonful on his oatmeal every morning. When we were in the UK in December, we discovered the joys of Sainsbury's brown sugar, and came back with a ew kilos. Now, we pick up a bag or two whenever we're there and have space in our bags.
And now, recently we discovered that peanut butter is not to be found in Germany, at least, not in the ordinary grocery stores. This isn't too surprising, they don't have the peanut culture that the Netherlands does, but it does make having PBJs difficult. Conveniently, just a few weeks after Joel finished up the jar we'd brought with us when we moved, here I am back in Amsterdam and able to stock up. Cumin, on the other hand, is something we've been looking for since we've moved, as we increasingly used up our stash (one jar of cumin doesn't last long when you use 3 T per batch of chili: And there is no way you can make chili without cumin). "Cumin" in German is "Kreuzkümmel", but just plain "kümmel" is "caraway", a similarity which has resulted in us having enough caraway to last us for a long time, but still no cumin. Even the Asian stores didn't carry it!
I managed to pick up the last two bottles at the particular Albert Heijn I stopped at today,so we should be good for another season of chili-making -- or until we get back to the Netherlands again.