 |
| The American food section at Real. |
There is a huge American population in Kaiserslautern; I believe that the count puts at us at something like half of the population here. It came as no surprise that Real, which is like a German Walmart with a large grocery section, would have a good showing of imported "foreign" American foods.
 | |||||
| Your hunt for BBQ sauce is over! Real has it, albeit at an expensive price. |
Of course there was the requisite array of barbecue sauces. I guess it makes sense; it's something not totally out of line to be in many Americans' refrigerators. Even my Northern family has it for chicken and fake chicken nuggets (for the vegetarians). The price was rather high at Real, but that's not surprising, either, for an import.
They even had an off-brand of Cheez Whiz called "Cheese Zip." I'd be very interested to know how much of this they sell. The packaging and the product makes me feel queasy...rather like thinking of going to a carnival, eating some greasy food followed by going a ride and not feeling so great afterward. I have no idea why I have this association.
Other "American" products included marshmallows, these weird chocolate marshmallow cup things, pancake syrup, mayonnaise, etc. Some actually were recognizable American brands and others were brands I had never heard of before.
For those who don't have access to the Commissary on the military installation, Real would be a good place to find some "comforts" home. I'd recommend avoiding the Cheese Zip though.
We bring our maple syrup back from Canada, but otherwise don't go in for pre-packaged stuff from there. A lot of what you get on the shelf you can make yourself here anyway, from pancake mix to barbecue sauce to ... well I wouldn't want to try to make my own cheese zip because I'd have to raid a chemical factory!
ReplyDeleteWe´re in Bamberg, and have the same Real section. I´d do pretty much anything for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (the squeeze cheese variety, NOT the powdered). SO much so that I have seriously considered buying Cheez Zip to see if it would be similar.
ReplyDelete'Tis true, Ian. Pancake mix is very easy to make from scratch, as is "Bisquick," too! What I do miss every so often are tortilla chips. That would involve making tortillas to bake into chips, and my domestic skillz are lacking to do that. I'm lucky that I can buy them at the commissary if for some weird reason I want some. B&B, you just need to find some American friends who work on post and can look in the commissary. Maybe they'd be nice enough to have you over for dinner of Mac N Cheese then.
ReplyDeleteMy one "specialty," which I have dubbed the Better Living Through Chemistry Pink Lemonade Pie, can't be made from scratch, though, and requires pretty much only American ingredients.
ReplyDelete