I moved to NZ 6 years ago and am totally with you on 2 + 4. Luckily you can get them both over here (for a ridiculously inflated price, but still). 1 we can't, but we can get great NZ brand S+V chips (crisps) so I'm happy :)
Fab article (again!) So enjoyed reading that. And…at the grand old age of (dot,dot,dot) you’ve taught me something: HP sauce - it has never registered with me that there’s a picture of the Houses of Parliament on it, hence HP sauce! How thick does that make me?!
This article brought me SO MUCH joy to know that someone else appreciates a foreign supermarket as much as I do. Despite not having worked in food and beverage marketing for over two years now, I still love nothing more than browsing rows of unfamiliar brands or local flavours of global favourites. You could honestly do an ethnographic study on a place based on the flavours they prefer or the products they have the most variety of... anyway I digress 😂
When I lived state-side I used to jam my suitcase full on each trip with bags upon bags of tea, British chocolate (Hersheys who?) and bulk boxes of Nakd bars. Oh and also (TMI sorry) a full supply of Lil-lets tampons. Home comforts come in many forms hey!
it brings me so much joy to know it brought YOU so much joy! i love, love, love your list of home comforts – but what brand of tea were you stuffing that suitcase with?!
It’s Marmite for me! Though I can get it here, just at astronomical prices. I also miss Pret (lol). More importantly, do you want some teabags?!!! I have a bumper 600 bag pack I’m working my way through, yes, for real!!! 🫖☕️
oh no em, we've discovered our first difference between us – i HATE marmite! but also miss pret. the cheese and tomato croissant is the only thing that gets me through a diabolical hangover. YES to tea bags! you can slide me some when we have our next margarita monday😏
When I lived in Spain & Greece my biggest food miss was supermarket sandwiches, the Tesco mashed Chicken and Bacon Mayo to be precise! Baguettes filled with deli meats are good but nothing beats a soft bread sandwich (and crisps obvs!)
omg, jonny is obsessively upset over the fact that you can't really get a 'meal deal' in europe in the same way you can in the UK. he complains about it on a weekly basis!
It's funny, when I saw the title of this piece, I wondered if salt+vinegar crisps would feature! I've never lived abroad, but if I ever did I would miss salt and vinegar crisps the most. We go to France a lot (off for a week tomorrow, actually) and I too love to spend time in the supermarkets looking at the difference in what's available. I've noticed in France more recently that you sometimes can get vinegar crisps but they're not quite the same are they?
Yorkshire tea would also be on my list too. I've just finished my first morning cup and there's something about the strong tea made with hard water and fresh milk that seems difficult to replicate in other countries. We will take Yorkshire tea bags with us on our trip tomorrow but the milk just isn't the same and the water too soft, so the tea tastes ok but not totally right.
I'd probably add marmite to that list. I love a little scraping on hot buttered toast (the kind you describe your granny making for you).
Hope you managed to stock up on enough supplies to keep you going for a while!
i mean, they had to be there (and at no. 1, no less) didn't they? they're just the best of all crisp flavours. so envious of your french supermarket adventures – treat yourself to some la petite marseillais shower gel for me!!
i'm also with you on the tea / water recipe. yorkshire tea tastes better in london than it does when i'm back in wales, even. funny, isn't it?
Oh yes, love le petit marseillais. We always bring home the big containers of the hand wash but I will also try the shower gel.
Funnily enough, I noticed this morning in the Super-U (husband’s no 1 choice of French supermarket, he even has a loyalty card now 🙄) that they had some salt and vinegar lays and imported Tyrell’s salt and vinegar. We are in northern France so my only guess is a significant English contingent here?
And anything with flavour in general. Bitterballen and all its brown bland processed friends are just depressing 🥺
AW, i am a big bitterballen fan, actually! (though only the veggie ones). there's ALWAYS a place for beige, fried food for me
But you do have the perfection of pfoffertjes. On the other hand, you have massive, tasteless white asparagus.
total perfection. i actually resisted getting some poffertjes yesterday at the market!
I'm getting a pfoffertjes pan to see if I can make them gluten free for my son.
I moved to NZ 6 years ago and am totally with you on 2 + 4. Luckily you can get them both over here (for a ridiculously inflated price, but still). 1 we can't, but we can get great NZ brand S+V chips (crisps) so I'm happy :)
Fab article (again!) So enjoyed reading that. And…at the grand old age of (dot,dot,dot) you’ve taught me something: HP sauce - it has never registered with me that there’s a picture of the Houses of Parliament on it, hence HP sauce! How thick does that make me?!
Not just you....!!! :D
not thick, just unobservant ;) – but i only discovered it recently too!
This article brought me SO MUCH joy to know that someone else appreciates a foreign supermarket as much as I do. Despite not having worked in food and beverage marketing for over two years now, I still love nothing more than browsing rows of unfamiliar brands or local flavours of global favourites. You could honestly do an ethnographic study on a place based on the flavours they prefer or the products they have the most variety of... anyway I digress 😂
When I lived state-side I used to jam my suitcase full on each trip with bags upon bags of tea, British chocolate (Hersheys who?) and bulk boxes of Nakd bars. Oh and also (TMI sorry) a full supply of Lil-lets tampons. Home comforts come in many forms hey!
it brings me so much joy to know it brought YOU so much joy! i love, love, love your list of home comforts – but what brand of tea were you stuffing that suitcase with?!
PG Tips! Although I'd 100% say the Yorkshire Tea brand is such a winner now, I'd grown up with Monkey so will probably always be a PG kid 😂
It’s Marmite for me! Though I can get it here, just at astronomical prices. I also miss Pret (lol). More importantly, do you want some teabags?!!! I have a bumper 600 bag pack I’m working my way through, yes, for real!!! 🫖☕️
oh no em, we've discovered our first difference between us – i HATE marmite! but also miss pret. the cheese and tomato croissant is the only thing that gets me through a diabolical hangover. YES to tea bags! you can slide me some when we have our next margarita monday😏
As always another brilliant relatable read!
When I lived in Spain & Greece my biggest food miss was supermarket sandwiches, the Tesco mashed Chicken and Bacon Mayo to be precise! Baguettes filled with deli meats are good but nothing beats a soft bread sandwich (and crisps obvs!)
omg, jonny is obsessively upset over the fact that you can't really get a 'meal deal' in europe in the same way you can in the UK. he complains about it on a weekly basis!
Prawn cocktail crisps for sure!
YES.
It's funny, when I saw the title of this piece, I wondered if salt+vinegar crisps would feature! I've never lived abroad, but if I ever did I would miss salt and vinegar crisps the most. We go to France a lot (off for a week tomorrow, actually) and I too love to spend time in the supermarkets looking at the difference in what's available. I've noticed in France more recently that you sometimes can get vinegar crisps but they're not quite the same are they?
Yorkshire tea would also be on my list too. I've just finished my first morning cup and there's something about the strong tea made with hard water and fresh milk that seems difficult to replicate in other countries. We will take Yorkshire tea bags with us on our trip tomorrow but the milk just isn't the same and the water too soft, so the tea tastes ok but not totally right.
I'd probably add marmite to that list. I love a little scraping on hot buttered toast (the kind you describe your granny making for you).
Hope you managed to stock up on enough supplies to keep you going for a while!
i mean, they had to be there (and at no. 1, no less) didn't they? they're just the best of all crisp flavours. so envious of your french supermarket adventures – treat yourself to some la petite marseillais shower gel for me!!
i'm also with you on the tea / water recipe. yorkshire tea tastes better in london than it does when i'm back in wales, even. funny, isn't it?
Oh yes, love le petit marseillais. We always bring home the big containers of the hand wash but I will also try the shower gel.
Funnily enough, I noticed this morning in the Super-U (husband’s no 1 choice of French supermarket, he even has a loyalty card now 🙄) that they had some salt and vinegar lays and imported Tyrell’s salt and vinegar. We are in northern France so my only guess is a significant English contingent here?