Peanut Butter & Soy Milk
What do peanut butter and soy milk have in common? They are both things I like to eat that are not always easy to find in Europe. They are not so much the staples of my diet as they are the enablers of my diet. I could starve to death while holding a loaf of bread if there’s no peanut butter nearby. The same can be said for a box of cereal without soy milk.
Sometimes they don’t exist at all, sometimes they’re just harder to find. For peanut butter, first I find the nutella, because if I was a jar of peanut butter in Europe, that’s where I’d be near. Holland is good for both. Peanut butter, while not used in sandwiches (why the hell not?) is used here and there. It’s called “Pinda Kaas”, literally Peanut Cheese. I found that pretty silly. It’s obviously not cheese. But then again, it’s obviously not butter either. In Sweden, it has no swedish name, and Swedes don't know about it, but if you ask the right person you'll find a couple jars of a skippy-esque generic brand. In Germany it's Erdnussbutter.
Soy milk exists too. The most common brand is Alpro in 1 liter cardboard containers. But the trick is, it's nowhere near the milk. It’s on a random, non-refrigerated shelf. Ask for it by name. In Holland, land of dairy, buying a dairy substitute is downright unpatriotic. I’ve been able to find Alpro soy milk in every European country I’ve been to, but in Hungary I could only find it in a Tesco which is the largest supermarket I’ve ever seen anywhere, and only then I had to walk thru every aisle twice before finding it on one small shelf. The reward for my efforts was that they also had chocolate soy milk. I stocked up.
Communication was a problem in that Budapest Tesco. No one spoke English. Still on the hunt for peanut butter, I struggled, pointing to the nutella, using the universal language of hand gestures. "It’s like this but instead of hazelnuts they use peanuts". Either no one understood me, or no one understood why peanuts would be used for nutella. Alas, I survived in Hungary with nutella and jelly sandwiches.
Sometimes they don’t exist at all, sometimes they’re just harder to find. For peanut butter, first I find the nutella, because if I was a jar of peanut butter in Europe, that’s where I’d be near. Holland is good for both. Peanut butter, while not used in sandwiches (why the hell not?) is used here and there. It’s called “Pinda Kaas”, literally Peanut Cheese. I found that pretty silly. It’s obviously not cheese. But then again, it’s obviously not butter either. In Sweden, it has no swedish name, and Swedes don't know about it, but if you ask the right person you'll find a couple jars of a skippy-esque generic brand. In Germany it's Erdnussbutter.
Soy milk exists too. The most common brand is Alpro in 1 liter cardboard containers. But the trick is, it's nowhere near the milk. It’s on a random, non-refrigerated shelf. Ask for it by name. In Holland, land of dairy, buying a dairy substitute is downright unpatriotic. I’ve been able to find Alpro soy milk in every European country I’ve been to, but in Hungary I could only find it in a Tesco which is the largest supermarket I’ve ever seen anywhere, and only then I had to walk thru every aisle twice before finding it on one small shelf. The reward for my efforts was that they also had chocolate soy milk. I stocked up.
Communication was a problem in that Budapest Tesco. No one spoke English. Still on the hunt for peanut butter, I struggled, pointing to the nutella, using the universal language of hand gestures. "It’s like this but instead of hazelnuts they use peanuts". Either no one understood me, or no one understood why peanuts would be used for nutella. Alas, I survived in Hungary with nutella and jelly sandwiches.
Labels: germany, hungary, netherlands, sweden
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