I feel another regular topic coming on... Once again when I started thinking about food as a topic I realized that there is no way that I can completely capture this in a single post so 'Food for Thought' looks like it will be my second semi-regular feature of this blog. (I hate the name, but can't think of anything better right now, if you have any suggestions feel free to send them on.)
I have now been here long enough, that in many ways the differences in food between Ireland and the States now seem kind of minimal. It kind of surprises me to say that, because when I first arrived it was a pretty big adjustment.
In general I am not a picky eater, so I was not particularly worried about food. I can pretty much eat just about anything and be content. I am not much of a junk food/sweet eater, or at least I never thought of myself that way. Maybe once every couple of weeks I would pick up a candy bar of some sort, or occasionally some sort of snack-cake. The salty snacks would be something I would have eaten more often, but mostly pretzels and nuts of almost any sort, but certainly not religiously on any of them.
Imagine my surprise when I moved over here and started craving some of the strangest things. If you had asked me before I left "What will you miss?" I can honestly say that Slim Jims probably would not have made the top 1000. Back home, I may have actually eaten one of these twice a year when I had a craving, but the minute they became impossible to find, I found myself craving them all the time.
Here is a challenge for you Americans out there who know someone over-seas. Try to explain a Slim Jim to them... Well it's a stick of um... 'meat', about the size of a pencil, it is kind of like peperoni but softer, it comes in different flavors like 'Tabasco'. Oooo and they also come 18" long. Here's the best part... you get them in gas stations!
A short list of some of the other random junk food I never ever thought I would miss:
For instance, the other day I was in the gas/petrol station on the way home from work, and this particular one carries Reese's Cups. I just spent all that time back home, and didn't buy a single one, although every shop has them. Here though I bought 3 packs, just because they were there. My primary motivation for this? I am terrified that if no one buys them they will stop selling them. For quite a few years the only place I had ever seen a Reese's cup was in Shannon Airport, the traditional airport of the American Tourist. This never made much sense to me since you were either getting on a plane to go to America, or getting off one coming from there. In what way was the brand being expanded by this? I have no idea, but I find myself actually worried that if I don't buy enough Reese's Cups, they will retreat back to this small remote enclave.
The same goes for pretzels, if I see them here, I buy as many as I can comfortably carry just in case they are the last ones I can find for the next six months, as well as prove to the retailer that these are popular. Quite a few grocery stores do carry them, but the only place they show up consistently are in the Polish section of the store. Paluszki are not bad, and will do in a pinch, but not quite like what I am used to. Occasionally I will find other pretzels, but I learned early on that just because they have them today, does not mean they will have them tomorrow.
Don't get me wrong, there are lots and lots of examples of junk food products that exist in both places, the two that pop to mind are Doritos and Pringles, both of which I like. That being said, I cannot remember for the life of me when the last time was that I had either. This has convinced me that these cravings, and the soap-box descriptions of some products I regularly deliver are not actually because I like these things, but rather because I cannot get them.
Proving this point further, I have spent a significant amount of time trying hard to explain to Irish people how amazing Claussen Pickles are. I took my wife home and as is my custom immediately went to my parents refrigerator and pulled out a Claussen pickle. As proud as I could be I gave one to my wife thinking finally I can introduce her to a proper dill pickle. Her reaction was to wish she could get the flavorless Irish version. (This could be a bad example because the more I think about it she is probably just crazy, Claussen pickles are truly one of the tastiest foods ever!)
All this being said though, it is not all doom and gloom in Ireland on the junk food front. I was recently introduced to my new favorite website americanfood.ie. The prices may be outrageous, but the owner of the company encloses a nice little thank you note in each order. It has gone a long way to keeping my many random cravings at bay. Now if only the could get Claussen's!
There will be some follow up posts to this about other food related comparisons, as well as a reverse column about all the things I miss from Ireland when I am back in the States, so stay tuned.
I have now been here long enough, that in many ways the differences in food between Ireland and the States now seem kind of minimal. It kind of surprises me to say that, because when I first arrived it was a pretty big adjustment.
In general I am not a picky eater, so I was not particularly worried about food. I can pretty much eat just about anything and be content. I am not much of a junk food/sweet eater, or at least I never thought of myself that way. Maybe once every couple of weeks I would pick up a candy bar of some sort, or occasionally some sort of snack-cake. The salty snacks would be something I would have eaten more often, but mostly pretzels and nuts of almost any sort, but certainly not religiously on any of them.
Here is a challenge for you Americans out there who know someone over-seas. Try to explain a Slim Jim to them... Well it's a stick of um... 'meat', about the size of a pencil, it is kind of like peperoni but softer, it comes in different flavors like 'Tabasco'. Oooo and they also come 18" long. Here's the best part... you get them in gas stations!
A short list of some of the other random junk food I never ever thought I would miss:
- Peanut Butter (they have it here, but not close to what I was used to)
- Dill Pickles (they have something similar, just not quite the same)
- Cinnamon Pop-Tarts (they only seem to come in strawberry here)
- Pretzels of all shapes and sizes. (slowly but surely they are getting easier to find over here thanks in part to the Polish immigrants)
- Cheetos (actually all non potato-chip snacks)
- Salted Peanuts in the shell (same goes for Sunflower seeds)
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (thankfully these are now quite prevalent here)
- Three Musketeer bars (nothing at all similar I have found here)
- Many more random cravings which pop up from time to time, usually when I see an American commercial while streaming sporting events online.
For instance, the other day I was in the gas/petrol station on the way home from work, and this particular one carries Reese's Cups. I just spent all that time back home, and didn't buy a single one, although every shop has them. Here though I bought 3 packs, just because they were there. My primary motivation for this? I am terrified that if no one buys them they will stop selling them. For quite a few years the only place I had ever seen a Reese's cup was in Shannon Airport, the traditional airport of the American Tourist. This never made much sense to me since you were either getting on a plane to go to America, or getting off one coming from there. In what way was the brand being expanded by this? I have no idea, but I find myself actually worried that if I don't buy enough Reese's Cups, they will retreat back to this small remote enclave.
The same goes for pretzels, if I see them here, I buy as many as I can comfortably carry just in case they are the last ones I can find for the next six months, as well as prove to the retailer that these are popular. Quite a few grocery stores do carry them, but the only place they show up consistently are in the Polish section of the store. Paluszki are not bad, and will do in a pinch, but not quite like what I am used to. Occasionally I will find other pretzels, but I learned early on that just because they have them today, does not mean they will have them tomorrow.
Proving this point further, I have spent a significant amount of time trying hard to explain to Irish people how amazing Claussen Pickles are. I took my wife home and as is my custom immediately went to my parents refrigerator and pulled out a Claussen pickle. As proud as I could be I gave one to my wife thinking finally I can introduce her to a proper dill pickle. Her reaction was to wish she could get the flavorless Irish version. (This could be a bad example because the more I think about it she is probably just crazy, Claussen pickles are truly one of the tastiest foods ever!)
All this being said though, it is not all doom and gloom in Ireland on the junk food front. I was recently introduced to my new favorite website americanfood.ie. The prices may be outrageous, but the owner of the company encloses a nice little thank you note in each order. It has gone a long way to keeping my many random cravings at bay. Now if only the could get Claussen's!
There will be some follow up posts to this about other food related comparisons, as well as a reverse column about all the things I miss from Ireland when I am back in the States, so stay tuned.
