I don't travel abroad as much as I'd like, but I always enjoy bringing back some foreign candies for friends. Some things we can get locally in upscale shops, and much you can get from Amazon, but most folks don't bother. I recently came back from Iceland and brought probably $20 in little candies. Lots of licorice-based stuff - that's apparently a big thing there. Just little fun bits to pass out to friends when I come back.
But I've always enjoyed poking through grocery stores traveling abroad - China, UK, Russia all were interesting in their own way. Seeing what's similar and what's different. Yeah, cool - they have Pringles too - but... wow... such weird flavors. I do remember seeing canned horse in a couple of Russian stores. And in one upscale Moscow grocery, they had a huge fridge case for 'cheeses from around the world'. Germany, Italy, France, UK... kept going... got to the 'US' portion and ... tubs of 'Philadelphia cream cheese'. I thought I'd taken a pic of that but sadly can't find it any more. I really thought it was a joke.
Given that almost everything is a subsidiary of Unilever, the 'I wonder what they'll have' question has faded. But finding local flavors of things is still fun. Greece is likely my next bucket list trip. Any suggestions on foods to try or candies to look for - let me know! :)
Yeah, local supermarkets and bookstores are always great places to try. Experiencing local prepackaged foods with different standards of bare minimums than yours and flipping magazines for topics you're familiar in unfamiliar language and formats is not an easy moment to replicate at home.
> It's 10:00 in a Tokyo 7-Eleven, ... , katsu curry buns, ...
nitpick: "katsu curry" means katsu plus curry. katsu means Japanese localized cutlet fries. curry means curry. there are katsu sandwitches and curry buns in 7-11 JP, but no katsu && curry bun in 7-11 JP. Calling curry buns katsu curry buns is same as referring to french fries as fish and chips with emphasis on FISH when there isn't in the bag; it would be a false advertisement if a restaurant had done it. The author need to make up their mind and call it Japanese curry, or if their style guide prohibits it, just curry without indicating what type of it is, or, Japanese curry is not supposed to be much different from the Royal Navy recipe anyway, so you could call it the Navy style, that's probably fine too.
"katsu" does not mean "cutlet", it means "breaded and deep fried". Maybe some dictionary claims otherwise but in actual usage it means "breaded and deep fried"
I was surprised when I went for an extended visit to Colombia - outside of beef cuts (an entire rack of ribs, bit butcher cuts, not a single steak or a dozen hamburger patties) frozen foods are virtually non-existant. If you wander into any American supermarket or costco roughly 20% of the floor space is reserved for frozen foods. Something as ubiquitous as the bachelor frozen pizza just doesn't exist in their super markets, despite being the same size and ~roughly the same dry goods/shelf goods.
10 years ago, 80% of columbian homes had refrigerators and almost every home suffers from at least one blackout a year. this can be hours or days, during certain seasons.
and lastly, cultural reasons inform appliance design, which loops back around: columbian freezers are really small.
And written in the first person, about the author's trip to Japan and Greece...? Maybe there's some licensing issue with using their own photos but it's very funny to pair the sentence:
> in a Tokyo 7-Eleven, and I am standing shoulder to shoulder with a dozen tourists, all clutching baskets loaded with the same things: fluffy egg mayo sandwiches, katsu curry buns, matcha Kit Kats and warm cans of Boss coffee pulled from heated shelves.
with a photo of someone standing in an empty supermarket, with no basket, buying tofu from a chilled shelf.
I live near the SF location and the biggest issues seem outside of their control: tax/import costs making things way more expensive than I know they would be in Japan plus spiky demand for the prepared food limiting the quality/quantity they can offer.
The main issue that's actually on them is the authentic Japanese aisle width which doesn't work at all for the size or manners of Americans.
I thought I was alone in doing that and the writer felt the said. I love going to markets in places i travel to and seeing the different types of snacks they have. Often times I do walk in for toothpaste but then wander all around the store.
Oh I totally love sampling all the new-to-me snacks. And they make great gifts for back home too. (Just mind what your country does and does not allow across its borders.)
The Russia example with canned fish is spot on. American supermarkets rarely have canned fish in tomato sauce but it's one of my favorite ways to eat it.
Well there are a few insane places like Switzerland or Aruba.
But I've always enjoyed poking through grocery stores traveling abroad - China, UK, Russia all were interesting in their own way. Seeing what's similar and what's different. Yeah, cool - they have Pringles too - but... wow... such weird flavors. I do remember seeing canned horse in a couple of Russian stores. And in one upscale Moscow grocery, they had a huge fridge case for 'cheeses from around the world'. Germany, Italy, France, UK... kept going... got to the 'US' portion and ... tubs of 'Philadelphia cream cheese'. I thought I'd taken a pic of that but sadly can't find it any more. I really thought it was a joke.
Given that almost everything is a subsidiary of Unilever, the 'I wonder what they'll have' question has faded. But finding local flavors of things is still fun. Greece is likely my next bucket list trip. Any suggestions on foods to try or candies to look for - let me know! :)
> It's 10:00 in a Tokyo 7-Eleven, ... , katsu curry buns, ...
nitpick: "katsu curry" means katsu plus curry. katsu means Japanese localized cutlet fries. curry means curry. there are katsu sandwitches and curry buns in 7-11 JP, but no katsu && curry bun in 7-11 JP. Calling curry buns katsu curry buns is same as referring to french fries as fish and chips with emphasis on FISH when there isn't in the bag; it would be a false advertisement if a restaurant had done it. The author need to make up their mind and call it Japanese curry, or if their style guide prohibits it, just curry without indicating what type of it is, or, Japanese curry is not supposed to be much different from the Royal Navy recipe anyway, so you could call it the Navy style, that's probably fine too.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/5a2a8d4deea967f273a...
https://everypan.jp/menu/371/
カツカレーパンってたくさんあるよ！
セブンイレブンにもある。
https://www.sej.co.jp/products/a/item/150416/
でも、セブンイレブンでは「カツカレーパン」っていう名前じゃないんだよね。
"katsu" does not mean "cutlet", it means "breaded and deep fried". Maybe some dictionary claims otherwise but in actual usage it means "breaded and deep fried"
There is all kinds of "katsu" including egg katsu
https://delishkitchen.tv/recipes/236899984442655864
chocolate cake katsu
https://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/shinrindo/11-1.html
etc...
and lastly, cultural reasons inform appliance design, which loops back around: columbian freezers are really small.
https://www.alkosto.com/nevecon-electrolux-side-by-side-423-...
An instagrammer visiting a konbini in Kyoto would be far more interesting.
(If you want that experience in coastal California, visit a Nijiya Market.)
Back in the day it would just be called a "slow news day"
And written in the first person, about the author's trip to Japan and Greece...? Maybe there's some licensing issue with using their own photos but it's very funny to pair the sentence:
with a photo of someone standing in an empty supermarket, with no basket, buying tofu from a chilled shelf.The main issue that's actually on them is the authentic Japanese aisle width which doesn't work at all for the size or manners of Americans.