Hello again. I have been thinking a lot lately about some of the differences between British and Canadian culture, particularly where it pertains to the things one finds available at one's local supermarket. To begin with, Barking--and insofar as I have travelled around, other places such as Ilford and Newbury Park--are peppered with tiny little ethnic markets selling fresh produce such as yams, plantains, tomatoes, apples, and oranges outside on the street, and lots of dried beans and rice and little cans of chili pastes and halal meats and such inside, and a grocery store such as you'd find in Canada at a No Frills is a rather rare thing. My mother suggested to me before I left home that I might find myself missing certain ingredients when I got here, and she was right. In particular, I find the Brits do not bake--virtually at all, if my survey of one or two dozen grocery-type places is any indication. It took me at least half-a-dozen stores to find baking powder and baking soda, and I still haven't seen brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla. The largest quantity of flour I have seen yet was 1.5 kg, and sugar comes in 500 g bags, while the only way to buy chocolate chips is in 100 g bags. On the other hand, I have found ingredients I don't usually find in Canadian stores, such as marzipan and "essence of rose water." While the difference is most profound in baking, my sense is that the Brits don't cook very much, period, based on the quantity of processed foods vs. raw materials available. Nevertheless, their habit of just buying what they need now, and not buying massive bulk quantities ahead seems quite admirable.
I find the Brits a bit backward when it comes to traffic lights. The lights for the cars go red, yellow, green, such that the pedestrian light signal is still green when the car signal has changed from red to yellow. What's the implicit message there? "Proceed slowly forward into the pedestrian crossing in front of you..." Whether I'm jay-walking or crossing legally, I tend to jog across the road in my own self-interest, unless someone has specifically stopped for me, in which case I give a "thank-you" wave...though I have no idea whether they interpret it as a thank you or something else. :)
Adios amigos, J
Have been following all your comments, Jules, in spite of it not being apparent up until now! Perhaps other areas of London, with more WASPish populations, would have more available typical baking ingredients? There are lots of little specialty area grocery shops in Scarborough as well, which would not have much in the way of baking ingredients as you define them. I presume that you have not limited your search to those?
ReplyDeleteMom
No mom, I meant 1-2 dozen grocery stores excluding the specialty/ethnic stores, which I didn't expect to carry baking soda in the first place.
ReplyDeleteHiya Julie! I'm sure it is just the shops in your area because even at the little Tesco Metro in St Andrews they have lots of baking stuff. Even those extremely odd not-very-edible silver ball bearings. If your grocery stores are like the ones that I have found in London when there for research then I can see your difficulty! There always is a lot of prepared food, and a limited amount of produce.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen flour in larger amounts and the sugar too always comes in small bags. But they have lots of it! None, so far as I have seen, called 'brown', but lots of brown sugars in a variety of moistnesses and darknesses. Also nice is that fairtrade and organic sugar is usually the same or very close to the same price as non-fair trade would be, which is great.
I've given up every buying chocolate chips - it is always twice as expensive as just buying a bar of chocolate and smashing it up into 'chips'.
It's nice to read about another person's UK experience. It is reminding me of living in Sussex again - when everything is just different enough to be kind of exciting.
Julie - it's only jaywalking if the cars don't want to stop! Have you found that they tend to still be pushing their luck to make it through the light while you are wanting to cross?
ReplyDeleteHi Julie! Enjoying reading all about your new life in the UK and London. I think the grocery selection is probably an urban phenomenon. I've noticed similar here in Toronto...
ReplyDeleteGood luck in your shopping endeavours! I'm sure in no time you'll have your favourite place to get everything and be managing it like a pro!