American Week again...oy vey

No matter what time it is, it seems to be American week at one of the grocery chains in Germany. Oh wait, never mind; that was a song about it being 5 o'clock somewhere.

However, that doesn't mean that one can't get some "American" delicacies with some regularity among the local grocery stores. Visiting either Lidl or Aldi last week (sorry, I visited both so I can't say which one it was exactly), I came across a display of the infamous McEnnedy brand (don't get me started on the name).

In addition to the "American" popcorn (which is sweet but not really kettle corn, thus not really American), muffins, etc., here are some items that stuck out. Or shall I say struck out? Har har.

Potato snacks: tomato ketchup flavor. Gag. I'll eat fries with ketchup but the idea of eating potato chip-esque versions of these...just no. (Maybe that's because I don't particularly like potato chips or fries anyway).

Pancake mix in a squeeze jar: yes, we actually have this in the US. It's kind of wasteful (from both countries), especially given how easy it is to make pancakes from scratch.

Family brownie: the family that eats brownies together...I don't know where to go with this -- stays together? It has hazelnuts in it, which we generally don't do, but if you like them, it's a special treat.

The joe that was too sloppy

Sloppy Joes, a messy and saucy cousin of hamburgers, are a part of American cuisine (if it can be called that). They include ground hamburger cooked in a tomato-based sauce (called, aptly enough, sloppy joe sauce; it's somewhat similar to BBQ sauce). The filling is served on a bun and is a common family dinner.

An American cafeteria* in Germany had vegetarian sloppy joes on the menu and I was intrigued. I ate texturized vegetable protein (made from soy) based joes when I was in college (and have since) and like them. I guessed that these would be something similar and chose them for lunch.

Imagine my surprise when I received a huge lake of sauce on a plate but no bun. I asked where the bun was and they said it didn't come with a bun. Um, isn't a sloppy joe a sandwich? I did finally manage to talk them into giving me a bun instead of a side of vegetables.

Things got even more komisch when I tried what was really just "sloppy sauce:" there was no "joe" in it. In the sauce, I found about a baby carrot sized amount of carrot shreds and about the same amount of onions. However, it wasn't enough to make it similar to a hamburg filling; it was more like a garnish. 

I was essentially served a plate full of sauce. By that time, it was everything I could do to keep from bursting into giggles. The situation was absurd; I ate a plate full of sauce for lunch.

For the record, it tasted good and I would have been thrilled if it had some sort of meat replacement in it and was willingly served on a bun. Heck, I would have even been cool with having lots of shredded carrots and onions as the "meat." I was a bit disconcerted about eating sauce for lunch.

I told my coworkers the story about this and we laughed so hard. When I explained the thing about the carrots and onions, S said that she imagined something like a population density map being used to demonstrate the ratio of vegetables to sauce. I started imagining how things can be measured by PPM (parts per million). Would the carrots be measured as PPS, parts per sauce?


*this cafeteria is American through and through, with American staff and American ingredients, so I can't blame the ridiculous situation on a misunderstanding of American food by those who are not from the US.

American week at Aldi

A couple weeks ago, it was American week at Aldi. In other words, the store offered products it believed were the epitome of American dining (or something like that). I do have to give Aldi props for carrying foreign themed food. They also do British week, Italian week, and I'm sure some other weeks too (I don't grocery shop a lot so I'm not usually sure what's on offer).

Here are some of the American-themed foods:

Sesame bagels. Okay, we do eat those.

BBQ chips: yep, we do that, too.

Canned hot dogs. Um, not really. We usually buy them in refrigerated packets.

Sandwich sauce: not like this! It has sauerkraut in it. Weird!

We do have granola bars, which are somewhat similar.

Pancakes in a pouch. Well, we have frozen pre-made ones, so...

American Groceries I'd Miss

I currently have the ability to buy American groceries and products at retail prices in the vicinity where I live. I am lucky to have such a privilege, for sure. If I didn't have access to these products, I could certainly make do, and in many cases, find more delicious and inexpensive gourmet-type food on the German economy.

There are definitely some things that I would miss if I couldn't buy them at American prices. The top of my list is the following:

Baking soda available the American food section at a German store

 No, not the Crisco! I'm talking about baking soda. I love that stuff, and not just for baking; in my house, it gets used more often for cleaning! I sprinkle some of it and some vinegar in household drains not only to create a nifty science experiment but also to help clean, sanitize, and deodorize them. I also sprinkle some on the bottom of Moo's litter box after I've washed it to help neutralize odors.

I haven't found inexpensive, big boxes of this in the German stores but I can buy a decently sized box at the commissary. For my extensive use of it, I do really miss being able to buy the really huge boxes for practically nothing at the warehouse stores in the US.

I done lost my mind

Corn shows up all over the place in Germany; one might even say in some places where it doesn't belong, depending on one's cultural background. I see it on pizza and that has always given me pause, not to mention the egg that makes its appearance too.

However, here's one more way that I'm on my way to getting Germanized: one night, as I was making pizza, I opened the freezer and the idea popped into my head to take out some corn to put on the pizza. Then I woke up and hastily shut the freezer door. I'm not that assimilated yet that I'd willingly eat corn that way.

American food in other countries: Dresden, Germany

As we were shopping in Dresden, we came across Beyond the Pond, a cute little store that sells imported British and American foods. On the American end, there was plenty of our TexMex style foods. Of course, as imports, they were significantly more expensive than they are in the US.

2,30 euros; in the US the Old El Paso taco seasoning is about 89 cents.

3,65 euro tostada shells. I'm guessing they'd be about $3 or less in the US.

Eep! Pop-tarts for almost 5 euros.

The British portion includes things like Walker's crisps, British bacon, etc.There are books, craft beers, and wine too.

An expat Thanksgiving...times two

For Americans, Thanksgiving is a time to spend with those who are special and to be thankful, of course. Thanksgiving is a truly American holiday and besides Christmas, it's when most* US stores and businesses are closed so people can spend time with family and friends.

This is the second time in my life when I've been thousands of miles away from my family for Thanksgiving. The first time, I was a student in a suburb of London (England). I spent the evening with two of my friends, who also happened to be American. We took the train to London and ate dinner at Cheers (yes, it's based on the show!). As we walked through the park and to Buckingham Palace after dinner, I called my family to wish them a happy holiday. It was a neat experience.

That was thirteen years ago. I now live in Germany and faced another Thanksgiving far from my hometown. It was not a lonely Thanksgiving, though; thanks to the connection that expats feel and to my friend's kindness, a bunch of us gathered at her place for a lovely meal on Thursday evening. We had a late dinner since only the two Americans had the day off. It was to be quite an international event, with Americans (just two of us), friends originally from the UK (the largest group there, strangely enough, and I teased them that we had this holiday because the Pilgrims had been trying to get away from their forefathers), a Romanian, and some Germans. It was really fun to share our holiday with them.

In the wonderful way that merging social circles goes, my friends from town were also invited along. My two groups of friends met through a party at my place and then at subsequent events.  We left for Heidelberg a bit early and dropped off the pies that I made (more to follow about them in a future entry!) and some of ingredients for the other dishes I was going to prepare. Then, we headed to downtown Heidelberg to take a peek at the Christmas market. It hadn't officially opened yet but the booths were open, regardless. It was very pleasant to wander through them and not have to fight crowds.

Since it was going to be a few hours yet before dinner and I hadn't eaten much all day, I grabbed an ice cream cone from Gelato Go. It was quite cold out so it makes total sense to eat something even colder, huh? I don't always make the wisest choices in this regard but I didn't care because the ice cream was delicious! I ordered a scoop of marizpan (I think) and a scoop of Spekulatius, which had bits of chopped cookie of the same name. I forgot how huge the scoops of ice cream are there so I had quite a bit to eat! Some people complain about the price for the ice cream (mine was 2,20 euro for the two scoops) but I don't think that the prices are bad considering how much they give per scoop and that their offerings are organic. There are even vegan offerings!

We walked around a bit more and I did some scouting for the upcoming trip that I'll be taking there with my cousins, who will be visiting from the US in December. It was then time to head back for the dinner.

In addition to the pies I made, I prepared green bean casserole (which I personally detest, but it's such a typical dish that I felt that I needed to make it or else I'd be denying my Midwestern roots). I also made a dish of seared brussels sprouts with gorgonzola, pecans, and cranberries from this recipe. If I were to do it over, I'd probably bake or steam the sprouts first, then sear them in a pan, adding the cranberries almost at the end. I felt that they were slightly bitter since they didn't cook as much. The cranberries split open so that's why I'd add them later. It was a tasty dish, nonetheless, and I wouldn't mind adding it to my painfully slowly expanding repertoire of things I cook for events.

This was our hostess's first time cooking a turkey. She made a gourmet turkey, taking the time to prepare it in a brine. I don't usually eat meat, myself, but I took a small bite and it was quite nice, flavorful and moist. The meat eaters raved about it.

As we sat down to eat, I told the guests that we had to do our very special and typical American Thanksgiving ritual: a special prayer, okay even for the nonbelievers. We even taught the guests the super important hand gestures too. It went as follows: rub a dub dub (rubbing one's belly); thanks for the grub (holding hand out); yea god (doing jazz hands). I wish I could have had a video of this.

We then commenced to eat way too much and it was entirely delicious! Our hostess made a wonderful meal, pulling out all the stops with homemade cranberry relish, cornmeal stuffing, mashed potatoes with bacon (for which I will always make an amendment to my usual disinterest in eating meat), homemade cornbread muffins with bacon and sundried tomatoes, a lovely salad, my side dishes, and for dessert, a cheesecake she made and my pies (pumpkin and apple).

The company was lovely and the food delicious. My friends commented that they didn't that they have ever been so full before! Just before midnight, the three of us who live in Kaiserslautern waddled back to the train station to go home. I was in bed by 2 a.m. It's funny because the last time I celebrated Thanksgiving abroad, I was out really late too. In the US, I'm usually in bed by 10 p.m. after Thanksgiving festivities, probably because of the food coma.

The fun doesn't stop here, though. Another friend invited me to his Thanksgiving celebration, which will be today. Most of the other guests are Germans so it made sense to have it on a day that they wouldn't be working or in school. I purposefully didn't eat much on Friday because I needed a break in between two days of feasts. I must say, though, that I feel lucky to have such great company :)


*too bad it's not all of them! This is an example of where the US can really take an example from the Germans and allow everyone to celebrate holidays with their families instead serving corporate greed.

Restaurant Review: Arizona Diner, Saarbrücken

Arizona Diner

	Grossherzog Friedrich Straße 16-18, Saarbrücken

Some of our Bekannte in Saarbrücken had a craving for American food so they suggested a visit to Arizona Diner. We joined them for a dinner in the cheerful diner.

The restaurant is cute and looks like an actual American diner from the 1950s with aqua blue accents and black and a white checkered floor. The outside features a movie marquee where information about events is posted.

The menu is reasonably big with typical American diner food: hamburgers, French fries, hot dogs, omelets, and even American desserts such as a banana split. There are also some American junk food favorites such as Ben and Jerry's ice cream, Reese's peanut butter cups, and Dr. Pepper for those who miss such things. For those who like Mexican food, which is very common in the US, there are quesadillas, fajitas, and chili con carne.

I ordered an omelet with "toast." I use quote marks with the "toast" because I was served a hamburger bun, toasted and cut in two. I was really disappointed by that as no American would ever consider that toast. Plus, it's not difficult in Germany to buy "American toast," which is typical American sandwich bread.

My omelet was disappointing too. Instead of being served more like a crepe with the filling of cheese and mushrooms folded inside, it was basically a plate of scrambled eggs that didn't look appetizing at all. It didn't taste that great, either. My 5.50 euro meal was disappointing.

My unappetizing omelet with what I don't consider "toast."

 My friend ordered a hamburger platter and said that was good. I tasted a French fry and it was okay; it was the thick cut style but it was super salty.

So, I'd say that the diner is cute but I wasn't impressed by the food.

Affirmative bread

Rewe, a chain supermarket, has American style bread.

It's positive!

Ja!

It's American Sandwich brot!

That's a lot of exclamation marks!

Ja!

Another visit to KaDeWe: American food in Berlin, Germany

I wrote about a 2011 visit to Berlin's famous department store, KaDeWe, and the expensive American food I saw there. This past August, I went back to KaDeWe with another student during a history of Berlin class we were taking in Berlin. S. graciously gave me the following pictures that she took to illustrate the sticker shock on American products.

Betty! You are one expensive lass. Well, your brownies are at almost 7 euros per box!

Pop Tarts, as expensive as ever, or even more so! They're almost 9 euros per box.

Off-brand mac n' cheese and it's almost 4 euros? Seriously? This would sell for less than $1 in the US.

Jif for 7.98 euros. It is $2.78 in the US.










I'm soooooo curious: does anyone pay these prices at KDW?

Lady Liberty wouldn't!

American food in Germany: Old El Paso brand in Rewe

Some of the German stores' take on American Mexican food (sounds complicated, eh?) really doesn't hit the mark. When manufacturers add Dorito-like coating to tortilla chips, for example, that totally ruins them for me. Tortilla chips should have salt on them, and nothing else.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Rewe, a supermarket chain, carries Old El Paso brand "Mexican" food. This is a common brand in the US for Gringas to make their own taco, burritos, etc. Is it authentic, as far as Mexican food goes? Maybe not so much, but it fits well enough for TexMex from the supermarket, I suppose.

Seen at Rewe!

Now this just isn't right! "American" food

A friend told me that there is something that's being marketed as an American-style product at Aldi. It's a tube of ketchup-swirled mayonnaise, "American Gewürzsauce" (seasoning sauce). Honestly, the thought of it makes me feel a bit queasy. Yes, I have had two little containers, one of ketchup, one of mayo, and I've dipped fries into each, but the thought of the two being swirled together in a tube just doesn't sit well with me.

Also, that is not American, Aldi. Mayonnaise and ketchup are not interchangeable to us. Sometimes they partner up, but for few things, and they don't co-mingle in the same tube, for goodness sakes!

American foods week at Aldi

I saw more "American" style products than usual earlier this week when I was shopping at Aldi; I wrote about "BBQ" marshmallows and pickled hot dogs here. I was speaking to a colleague and he said that once a year, usually around the 4th of July, Aldi has an "American week" and they feature additional American products.

I noticed in an advert that there was "American popcorn," but the description said it was sweet. Um, no, that's not American style! It wasn't caramel corn; it's popcorn with the light layer of sugar on it. Sorry, Aldi, no dice.

My colleague said that the American hamburger patties and the spare ribs weren't so great at Aldi. However, he raves about the American style ice cream there and the bonus is that it's available all the time. When I perused the Aldi website, I saw that it's called the Premium American Ice Cream Selection and includes such flavors as Vanilla Caramel Brownie, Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Brownie and Cookies & Cream.

American products in other countries: Aldi, in Germany

Aldi had a big display of American food. Okay, tortillas = technically Mexican food, but Americans commonly eat these.

Marshmallows! However, I think things are *just* a bit off. These are labeled as "Traditional Barbecue Marshmallows." Um, I can't say that I've ever grilled marshmallows over what I consider a barbecue, but the package says it's American, so...it's okay? Dear Germans: we grill our marshmallows over a campfire :)

American food in other countries: at Globus in Kaiserslautern

Globus is another chain store in Germany. The one in Kaiserslautern is HUGE; every time I go in there, I feel like I get sucked into a shopping vortex that eventually spits me out, slightly grumpy from the crowds and trying to translate things...and attempting to resist the siren call of the most delicious olives and quark (and I'm so not referencing Ferengi here) from the Turkish food vendor at the front of the store.

Globus is pretty much like Walmart; it's a discounter, has a giant grocery section, and carries home wares, hardwares, etc. I hate to keep comparing everything to Walmart but if I liken these stores to Meijer, only people in the upper middle of the Midwest will get that reference, I believe. The one bonus would be that Meijer doesn't have the stigma associated to it. Anyway, I digress.

I went to buy, of all things, a steam mop. Ah, what a glorious thing it is, the steam mop! Now, if I could just avoid on going some adventures so I'd actually stay home to use the mop...

While I was at Globus, I also quickly tooled over to the foreign food section to see what "American" food offerings there were. Below is a pictorial sampling of what was being offered. I even saw some "Cheese Zip" again. I wonder if there's a run on it? Ick. Their offerings were actually quite good at Globus; these are things that Americans might miss from home and the prices aren't horrible for "fine imported goods." Giggle. As if high fructose corn syrup-laced food and white bread is fine dining.

Jelly Bellies: okay, these ARE super American!

These also are quite American. I bet there are some people who are thrilled to see the Pepperidge Farm cookies. I could take them or leave them; in fact, I was given a package of some that I once then gifted to a homeless gentleman in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, strangely enough.

Look! Oreos. I hear that a lot of US expats miss these.

Hot dog and hamburger buns, and American "toast." Poor Americans, having this as the main kind of bread at home!

American products in other countries: Kaiserslautern, Germany

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.

German sweet baked treats: not super sweet like US treats

Some American expats have sighed sadly and proclaimed that many German baked goods aren't that sweet. My German instructor even gave us a briefing on the sweetness baked goods, as well (unfortunately, nicht auf Deutsch) and he said that the order of sweetness for baked goods is German, French, and American (with American being the sweetest).

I have eaten some German desserts, in the name of research, of course ;) I like them and find them plenty sweet enough. I had some German cheesecake the other day and liked that it didn't make my teeth ache with sweetness.

Then again, some American baked goods are so sweet that I don't even like to eat them. I bought some cake mix at the commissary and baked cupcakes for friends, coworkers, and the neighbors. I tried one and found it so cloyingly sweet that it was overkill. I did take some to the neighbors, but I secretly worried they wouldn't like them because German baked goods are so less sweet.

In the German cooking class I took, the instructor told us that she doesn't like when the dessert is too sweet because all you taste is the sugar. That makes sense; one loses the nuances of the other ingredients.

Desperate times call for desperate measures...and crummy photos

German word of the day: machen (verb: to make)

I wanted to make some rice krispy treats. One night after class, I stopped by the commissary. I thought that it was a home run to pick up some marshmallows to make the treats. Well, marshmallows were available, but only in the jumbo size. Have you ever seen them? They'd give the Stay Puft man a run for his puffy money!

The need for the treats was too high so I bought the ginormous marshmallows and thought I could just MacGyver them into submission later. I was a bit miffed that only the large marshmallows were available; after all, I visited the big(ger) commissary and they usually have a reasonable selection. However, I also remembered that as part of the federal budget cuts, the commissaries won't be ordering as many items and they won't restock proactively, either.

I bought some rice krispies and was on my merry way. However, being the dumbkopf that I am, once I got home I realized that I didn't have any margarine/butter. I furiously Googled and decided that I'd take my chances using cooking oil. I also then realized that I had no clue how many jumbo marshmallows to use. What ensued next was a combination of information retrieval, math, breaking out the kitchen scale, and conversions to grams, with a bit of Girl Scout skillz thrown in with whittling down the marshmallows to a more melt-able scale.

After all of that, the result was definitely satisfactory. So yes, it's possible to do the following during rice krispy treat machen: a) use jumbo marshmallows; and b) use cooking oil (i.e. corn oil) as a substitute for butter or margarine.

When in doubt, use the digital scale you bought for soap making to come up with the conversion for how many grams of monster sized marshmallows to use.

American products in other countries/places: Berlin, Germany

Store mentioned: Kaufhaus des Westens
http://www.kadewe.de/en/

When I travel, I'm always curious to see if stores carry American brands of food. I like to see what stores in other countries consider "American," and by extension, what they might consider "typical" food to sell. It's always fun to experience the sticker shock, too! Often the foods are so much more expensive than they would be in the States. Of course, it could be a bit expensive to import foods, but I think items are so expensive because of the novelty factor, too.

Our first stop is Berlin. I went shopping at KaDeWe (ka-day-vay), which is a huge department store in Berlin. I guess I could liken it to Harrod's in London (though it's not quite as posh, but is still quite nice). KaDeWe is short for Kaufhaus des Westens, which means "Department Store of the West." It's a store that opened in 1907 and has always showcased products from across the world.

I visited KaDeWe in April 2011. I made a beeline for the international foods section because of course I wanted to see the American food offerings and have my mind boggled by the prices. Below is what I found:

Ahh, Campbell's condensed soup: complete with high fructose corn syrup, just add water. Andy Warhol would approve of the soup, but not the price: almost 3 euros per can. In the US, it usually sells for between about 70 cents to $1 per can.

Ah, pop-tarts. Not a particularly healthful breakfast, but a fast one. Not a cheap one here, at €5.98, but hey, it was reduced from €8.98! They are about $2.79 in the US.

Ahh, Libby's pumpkin, a staple in American households during Thanksgiving for the ubiquitous pumpkin pie. Such an innocent-looking product gave me the biggest sticker shock: it was €9.98! It's usually about $3 in the US but can be purchased for less during Thanksgiving time.

I'm just very thankful that I can buy American products in the Commissary. If had to pay the prices listed above, I'd just do without. Of course, that wouldn't be the end of the world, either, but I do love me some root beer (which was being sold at KaDeWe for about $3 a can!) so I'd be sad about not being able to buy that at a reasonable price.

Seen at Kaufland

One of the chain stores around here is Kaufland, which sells lots of groceries as well as many other things for the home. Its name literally means "Buy Country" (well, at least according to my beginner's grasp of German as well as Google Translate!). As with any other store where I shop, I always look for "American" style products, as it can be quite amusing to see what other countries view as "American."

Below is a Kaufland treasure that I found to be quite cheeky: hotdog buns!