Picture; multi-lingual pantry: Russian, Turkish, Greek, Italian, German, Georgian, French and Dutch with some English throughout.
Most of us have experienced this: you go to a different city or state and the water tastes a little (or a lot) different. Here, everything tastes different.
Particularly all raw ingredients, like milk, flour, and eggs have a different taste from their US counterparts. Which kinda makes sense – the milk is highly pasteurized, the grain and vegetables grow in different soils, and the water has other minerals in it.
Unfortunately, this means that pancakes, muffins, buscuits and all other home-baked goods don't really taste the same either.
Sometimes things are just packaged differently. Baking powder is sold by the packet, 11g or about a table spoon. Noodles, cookies, fresh herbs and many spices are sold in bulk. Ketchup and mayo are generally in bags with nozzles as opposed to jars or bottles. And milk comes by the liter instead of the gallon.
Then there are the things you just can’t get… like mac’n’cheese, chocolate chips, shortening, or canola oil. That last one I don’t miss too much, since I prefer the sunflower seed oil anyway.
On the other hand, there are things here you’ve probably never seen in the states. Like chocolate butter. That’s right, chocolate + butter. I’ve also found a particular muesli (also chocolate) that I have been craving since my family left Germany in 2009. I got super excited when it went on sale and bought 3kg.
There are also some very interesting soda options. There are the ‘usual’ contestants like lemonade, grape and cream soda. And then there are the less usual like pear, feijoa and tarragon soda. Not sure why anyone wants their soda to taste like an herb, but hey, it’s popular.
And don’t forget your dictionary or translation app when you go to the store. Our Wal-Mart equivalent has things labeled in everything from Dutch to Russian.
And you thought the US was a melting pot…