Four days until I go to San Francisco for a week, and I’m already trying to figure out how I can fit in everything that I want to do, buy, and eat while I’m there. Conversations in expat circles resemble the conversations that polar explorers or refugees must have, in that they are fervent and absurd in their detailed enumeration of things that they miss, and those things usually revolve around food.
As for me, I’m looking forward to several very specific things that give a clear culinary picture of my Asian-American roots. I can’t wait to have my mom’s skin-on, bone-in Chinese pork roast (tipang, for those of you who speak Chinese). They don’t sell that particular cut of meat here, because it’s too fatty and the Swiss don’t like the skin. I’ll snack on chocolate chip cookies or cheddar cheese melted on toasted San Francisco sourdough. We might do sushi handrolls one night. I’ll have assorted breakfast cereals at all hours of the day, with lactose-free skim milk. I may even make some Kraft Mac and Cheese, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, made with Wonder bread, with the crusts cut off. Meanwhile, I’m sure the Swiss who are working abroad are fantasizing about veal sausages and roasted potatoes.
One thing that was overwhelming when I went back to visit last year was the sheer abundance of variety and space, both at the store and at home. I walked into a suburban supermarket and realized that I had forgotten how big stores are, how many products they sell, and how many types of each product they sell. Every product comes in ten brands, and each brand makes multiple versions: reduced fat, low salt, high fiber, lactose free, sugar free, fat free, family size, kiddie portion, and so on. So you buy all the things you need, and you bring them home, and your fridge, freezer, and cabinets are huge, so you can actually fit everything you bought, and you don’t have to go to the grocery store for another week. Living in Switzerland is an exercise in organized scavenging. Without much fridge, freezer, or cabinet space, I have to go to the grocery store often, buying strategically to make sure that I always have something to eat, but not so much that I don’t have space for it. I’m bad at that game, so I end up eating whatever I happen to have around, which usually includes a side of gummy candy.
Having visitors come to visit Switzerland is often a double bonus: you get to see your friends, and you get to import whatever it is that you’re missing. When friends visit, I routinely ask them to load up on instant oatmeal, over-the-counter drugs, toothpaste or other toiletries, and I also order various clothes, books, CDs, and other things to be delivered to them, so that they can bring them over for me. Other expat friends tell their visitors that they have to bring Skippy peanut butter and Kraft Mac and Cheese.
Speaking of peanut butter, recently, one of my Australian friends brought a package of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups back from a trip to the States. My American friends and I pounced on them, then noticed that he wasn’t having any, and neither were any of the other non-Americans. When pressed, they admitted that they thought that the combination of peanut butter with chocolate was strange. Upon further questioning, they also said that peanut butter and jelly is also off-limits. In the non-American opinion, peanut butter is categorized as a salty food, and not a sweet one, and so you can put it on toast or crackers, but not with anything sweet. On the other hand, you can’t really trust the Brits and the Aussies when it comes to appropriate toppings for bread, since the Aussies like Vegemite, and the Brits eat sandwiches filled with cheese and chutney.
I’ll be in San Francisco next week, so the next update will probably be January 3 or 4, so HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! See you next year. In the mean time, stay safe and be in touch. :)
As for me, I’m looking forward to several very specific things that give a clear culinary picture of my Asian-American roots. I can’t wait to have my mom’s skin-on, bone-in Chinese pork roast (tipang, for those of you who speak Chinese). They don’t sell that particular cut of meat here, because it’s too fatty and the Swiss don’t like the skin. I’ll snack on chocolate chip cookies or cheddar cheese melted on toasted San Francisco sourdough. We might do sushi handrolls one night. I’ll have assorted breakfast cereals at all hours of the day, with lactose-free skim milk. I may even make some Kraft Mac and Cheese, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, made with Wonder bread, with the crusts cut off. Meanwhile, I’m sure the Swiss who are working abroad are fantasizing about veal sausages and roasted potatoes.
One thing that was overwhelming when I went back to visit last year was the sheer abundance of variety and space, both at the store and at home. I walked into a suburban supermarket and realized that I had forgotten how big stores are, how many products they sell, and how many types of each product they sell. Every product comes in ten brands, and each brand makes multiple versions: reduced fat, low salt, high fiber, lactose free, sugar free, fat free, family size, kiddie portion, and so on. So you buy all the things you need, and you bring them home, and your fridge, freezer, and cabinets are huge, so you can actually fit everything you bought, and you don’t have to go to the grocery store for another week. Living in Switzerland is an exercise in organized scavenging. Without much fridge, freezer, or cabinet space, I have to go to the grocery store often, buying strategically to make sure that I always have something to eat, but not so much that I don’t have space for it. I’m bad at that game, so I end up eating whatever I happen to have around, which usually includes a side of gummy candy.
Having visitors come to visit Switzerland is often a double bonus: you get to see your friends, and you get to import whatever it is that you’re missing. When friends visit, I routinely ask them to load up on instant oatmeal, over-the-counter drugs, toothpaste or other toiletries, and I also order various clothes, books, CDs, and other things to be delivered to them, so that they can bring them over for me. Other expat friends tell their visitors that they have to bring Skippy peanut butter and Kraft Mac and Cheese.
Speaking of peanut butter, recently, one of my Australian friends brought a package of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups back from a trip to the States. My American friends and I pounced on them, then noticed that he wasn’t having any, and neither were any of the other non-Americans. When pressed, they admitted that they thought that the combination of peanut butter with chocolate was strange. Upon further questioning, they also said that peanut butter and jelly is also off-limits. In the non-American opinion, peanut butter is categorized as a salty food, and not a sweet one, and so you can put it on toast or crackers, but not with anything sweet. On the other hand, you can’t really trust the Brits and the Aussies when it comes to appropriate toppings for bread, since the Aussies like Vegemite, and the Brits eat sandwiches filled with cheese and chutney.
I’ll be in San Francisco next week, so the next update will probably be January 3 or 4, so HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! See you next year. In the mean time, stay safe and be in touch. :)
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