Sure, America is everywhere. But there's less infiltration into the grocery store market here than you might think. At a regular-sized store (meaning covering a similar area to one at home) you can find sodas and some sugar cereals and snack foods, of course, but beyond that, not much. Culinarily speaking, the US isn't all that. Every once in a while, though, something familiar will catch your eye and remind you that we have contributed a word or two to the international dialogue that is food:
- Ocean Spray Cranberries; always around this time of year
- Tabasco brand tabasco sauce (although I bought Louisiana brand because it was like 2 cents cheaper--totally not worth it)
- Philadelphia cream cheese, which seems to be on some kind of astonishingly thorough marketing campaign, such that a variety of the quicky sandwich shops (even the non-chain ones) have "Philadelphia" sandwiches. I just noticed the packages in the grocery store for the first time the other day, although the sandwiches have been advertised for at least 6 months. I tried fromage blanc on my bagels the one time we made them, and it just wasn't the same (the texture wasn't creamy enough), so I'm looking forward to some real cream cheese next time.
Also of note is the fact that small children speaking French is just about the cutest thing ever.
4 comments:
Very interesting. Have you ever tried Texas Pete hot sauce? It doesn't have the heat of Tabasco brand, but it has a more complex, tasty flavor. It's my fave.
Hey, Happy Halloween! (How do you say THAT in French?) Dave and I wore matching black robes and face paint to work today, but he was out of costume within an hour. I only lasted about 1 more hour, though.
À bientôt!
Actually, everytime we see "Happy Halloween" its in English. It seems like its pretty much an American import over here. There is even a "Happy Halloween" sign at my barber--who I know for a fact barely speaks a word of English. I'm always at his mercy when I go in there. But Pierre does a good job--he doesn't always butch me like the US barbers do.
"Butch" you? I really don't want to go to your barber.
On a related note, a British friend of mine was horrified today when I used the term "scalper". She thought it was much too graphic and brutal of an expression for a "ticket tout".
Post a Comment