You Can't Get That Here

[Jenni]

In the UK London fresh jalapenos are hard to find without a trek to a specialist store. It's either red or green chillis (these tend to be of unknown heat), birds eye and haranero can't even find them in the asian or turkish shops near me.

However want them pickled - no problem.

Really? Can't speak for London but in Bristol every supermarket had them when I was last there.

[annachan]

I wonder if you have Aldi in Ontario. It is a small store with some name brands and a lot of their own house brands. A German company I believe. Anyway, it is THE place to buy such things as graham crackers, vanilla wafers. crackers and such items that are outrageous in price at our regular supermarket. They even have a good "triscuit" knockoff.

AND they have a decent enough condensed milk from which I made very good dulce de leche....2 cans at a time dumped in a bowl and cooked in microwave. Under $2 a can for sure.

In Germany they have many more baking supplies...like marzipan, and tiny glass vials of extracts.

Nope, no Aldi in Ontario.

Even if there is an Aldi there, it may not carry the same products. I haven't seen graham crackers at the Aldi here (Australia), no vanilla wafers either. If I want graham cracker, I have to go to a specialty store that imports US stuff and it would be about $8/box!

[Simon_S]

In the UK London fresh jalapenos are hard to find without a trek to a specialist store. It's either red or green chillis (these tend to be of unknown heat), birds eye and haranero can't even find them in the asian or turkish shops near me.

However want them pickled - no problem.

Really? Can't speak for London but in Bristol every supermarket had them when I was last there.

...and I can get them easily in Dublin too.

I'm sure there are lots of things that I can't get here, but I don't know because I've always lived here and haven't had to look for them. Still, I remember on early trips abroad being shocked, SHOCKED, to find that the default flavour for crisps (potato chips) wasn't Cheese and Onion throughout the world. They're probably available now, of course, but they're never the same.

And then there's red lemonade.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Simon_S (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

Even if there is an Aldi there, it may not carry the same products. I haven't seen graham crackers at the Aldi here (Australia), no vanilla wafers either. If I want graham cracker, I have to go to a specialty store that imports US stuff and it would be about $8/box!

Then how do you make Banana Puddin' if you don't have Vanilla Wafers?

[nickrey]

I also remember not being able to find canned black beans in Australia (just cannoli and kidney beans). In fact, a lot of essential Mexican ingredients are pretty hard to find.

Bendigo Wholefoods has a small Mexican section that includes canned black beans. They are pretty expensive but so are any canned beans at Coles or Woolies. I saw that they had Masa and dried peppers but yes Mexican ingredients aren't always easy to find. And even the Costco salsa comes in laughably small jars. Good thing though because I'd never be able to fit a gallon in the fridge.

Pop online to fireworks foods. You can get everything you want at very reasonable prices from there.

[patrickamory]

Coming from New England, it was a surprise to find that salt pork is virtually impossible to find in New York City. You are handed fatback, which is not the same thing. (I now make my own salt pork from good quality pork belly, so maybe this was good for me.)

Suet is also extremely hard to find here. At East Village Meat Market, the butchers told me they used to sell it for bird feed, but now there's no market for it. At Ottomanelli, if you're lucky, they'll wink at you and grab a big handful from a side of porterhouse. At Florence Meat Market, I was sold beef fat that had nothing to do with kidneys (and had a nasty taste of iron to it when rendered).

[pbear]

Living in SF, it's easy to find most Mexican, Latin American and Asian ingredients. But, there are a number of items easily found on the East Coast (where I grew up) which I can't find here.

light cream

daisy roll (smoked picnic)

premium sliced bread (like Peppridge Farm or Arnold’s)

kluski noodles

radiatori pasta

spaetzle (Maggi, boxed)

originario (Italian soup rice)

hominy grits (slow, not quick)

pasteurized eggs (occasionally but very rare)

escarole and rapini (occasionally but very rare)

Florida avocados (larger and lighter than Hass)

cappicola (ham from the shoulder)

lebanon bologna

bruder basil (a smoked cheese)

fontinella (Italian table cheese)

sassafras tea extract (Pappy’s)

hoagies worth having

chickarina soup (Progresso, canned)

chicken and dumplings (Sweet Sue, canned)

Tastykake pies, etc. (nothing comparable here)

[janeer]

Living in SF, it's easy to find most Mexican, Latin American and Asian ingredients. But, there are a number of items easily found on the East Coast (where I grew up) which I can't find here.

light cream

daisy roll (smoked picnic)

premium sliced bread (like Peppridge Farm or Arnold’s)

kluski noodles

radiatori pasta

spaetzle (Maggi, boxed)

originario (Italian soup rice)

hominy grits (slow, not quick)

pasteurized eggs (occasionally but very rare)

escarole and rapini (occasionally but very rare)

Florida avocados (larger and lighter than Hass)

cappicola (ham from the shoulder)

lebanon bologna

bruder basil (a smoked cheese)

fontinella (Italian table cheese)

sassafras tea extract (Pappy’s)

hoagies worth having

chickarina soup (Progresso, canned)

chicken and dumplings (Sweet Sue, canned)

Tastykake pies, etc. (nothing comparable here)

if you are going to include "hoagies worth having" I think you have to mention pizza and custard and real bagels and Kaiser rolls. Also should be on your list from my own experience: Taylor Pork Roll. I just don't understand the absence of the Chicarina soup...the stores seem to have all the others.

[annachan]

Even if there is an Aldi there, it may not carry the same products. I haven't seen graham crackers at the Aldi here (Australia), no vanilla wafers either. If I want graham cracker, I have to go to a specialty store that imports US stuff and it would be about $8/box!

Then how do you make Banana Puddin' if you don't have Vanilla Wafers?

I don't....Besides, banana prices can go, well, bananas! I can get them for $1/kg (about $0.40/lb) now. But when supplies were low, it went up $20/kg! (~$8/lb!)

[liuzhou]

Even if there is an Aldi there, it may not carry the same products.

Indeed. Any chain supermarket is going to target itself at the locals.

I am constantly amused by expats here in China who get all excited when a foreign supermarket turns up in town. Yes, even Walmart. They seem to think that said supermarket is going to carry all sorts of goodies from back home.

Of course not! They aren't in China to cater for the wish list of a handful of expats. They are here to extract as much loot as they can from the locals, so they stock the same chicken's feet, goose intestines and frog's oviducts as any Chinese supermarket.

I recently wanted to buy some Xianwei ham, one of China's finest. Where did I get it. Walmart. Did they have Jamón Ibérico? Of course not!

[Mjx]

. . . .

I recently wanted to buy some Xianwei ham, one of China's finest. Where did I get it. Walmart. Did they have Jamón Ibérico? Of course not!

Is it unusual that they didn't have Jamón Ibérico? Are many Spanish food items in popular demand/widely available in China? If it isn't unusual to not be able to find Spanish foods in China, it isn't exactly inexplicable to not find Jamón Ibérico at Walmart!

[liuzhou]

Is it unusual that they didn't have Jamón Ibérico?

No. That is my point. Why would they?

Edited June 20, 2012 by liuzhou (log)

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Living in SF, it's easy to find most Mexican, Latin American and Asian ingredients. But, there are a number of items easily found on the East Coast (where I grew up) which I can't find here.

premium sliced bread (like Peppridge Farm or Arnold’s)

radiatori pasta

spaetzle (Maggi, boxed)

hominy grits (slow, not quick)

pasteurized eggs (occasionally but very rare)

cappicola (ham from the shoulder)

I've lived in the SF Bay Area for 14 years... I can help you out with some of these...

Arnolds brand is called Orowheat on this side of the Rockies. The labels look exactly the same except it says Orowheat rather than Arnolds. They sell it at pretty much every Safeway in the area.

I've seen Radaitori pasta at Whole Foods Market, Lunardis and pretty much every other high end grocery store.

Spaetzle and real Hominy grits I've seen at Lunardis.

Pasteurized eggs are available at pretty much every big chain grocery store (Egglands Best)

Cappicola ham, I've seen at Whole Foods, some Safeways and the deli section at Lunardis.