Comfort Foods

The hardest part about being an expat in another country is the lack of comfort foods. You know, the ones you really loved back home but you can't find in your new country of residence?

Many things I've learned to make myself. I've learned how to make refried beans, home-made flour and corn tortilla shells, home-made pita bread, and presently I'm in the process of making my own home-made sourdough bread. I've also learned how to make chili powder from scratch, and learned how to substitute many of the things I took for granted back in the States with other, healthier alternatives. In the past year I've learned a lot about cooking. I thought I was good before, but I'm even better now.

However, there are always those things which you can't really substitute. Peanut butter, for one. Maple syrup for pancakes is another. Thankfully there are a variety of stores that we've been able to find some small things at. We've picked up Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Canadian maple syrup, Hellmann's mayonnaise, and peanut butter. Betty Crocker cake mixes and Angus beef. These are "comfort" foods. Things which aren't a necessity, but remind you of the taste of home.

But there are other things I've been unable to find. Things like Ranch dressing. And the salsa that Evy loves so much (we could make our own, but finding the time is the hard part!). Lo and behold the other day I found a website ran by a British guy who imports comfort foods for people. Many of them are British, but there were also a few things I recognized. French's mustard, for one (gasp! Real American mustard! I swooned when I saw it), and Paul Newman's Ranch Dressing for another. And El Paso salsa, one of my wife's favorites from back in the States.

Needless to say, we placed an order. He e-mailed me this morning and it's supposed to be showing up on Thursday, and he delivers it personally. I think the one we are both mostly keen on is the Ranch dressing. Neither one of us has had Ranch dressing in nearly a year and a half and mmmm I can't wait.

He also imports steaks. I also found another company that specifically imports aged beef from Britain. And for those of you who haven't experienced the beef over here...well let's just say it's not the same. Beef is not a staple food in Bulgaria. They eat mostly pork, lamb, and chicken. Especially pork and lamb. Almost no one serves beef, or even orders it. When you purchase ground beef at the store it is not what you would expect. Bulgarians considered "beef" to be pork or cow meat, ground up. So often times if you don't pay attention to the label you will get a combination of the two mixed together. Great for sausages and such, but not so great for hamburgers, meatloaf, spaghetti meatballs and so forth. And while I've managed to find some pure ground beef on occasion, the flavor is never what I grew up being used to, and I've been craving a real, honest-to-God steak for a long time. The version of a steak here is only about 1/2" thick and cooked until its like cardboard. I want a 2 inch thick slab of meat that I can cook rare/medium rare and just die over.

Anyway, that's my blurb for the day. I need to go get to work :) Spent all morning writing e-mails and networking, but now it's time to get some actual money brought in. Cheers!