Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Travel Advisory German Grocery Haus
Posted by Nicki Wood on Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 6:53 AM
If you were in Berlin, and you got a hankering for peanut butter, th en recklessly bet your drinking buddies that you'd find peanut butter in Berlin, you'd be in luck. In the same way Kroger has an extensive "international" section, the German grocer Kaufhof stocks tastes of home for Americans abroad.
Kaufhof's lighting could be better, but see if American corporate branding has sufficiently imprinted on us to identify the packages on the German market's shelves.
Super-detail-observers might see that the shelf to the right is nearly top to bottom Old El Paso. It seems that Mexican is the new taste of America for homesick travelers and expatriots.
Do curious German shoppers ever fill up a cart with taco shells, taco sauce and refried beans, do you think?
Comments (8)
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I see V8, Hersheys Syrup, Newmans Own dressing, Betty Crocker cake mix and frosting, and a Quaker product, though I'm unclear whether it's oats in individual serving packs or some type of granola bar.
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Also, four varieties of Swiss Miss instant cocoa. Which is funny since Switzerland is right next door.
You guys are batting 1000. And I hadn't thought about the Swiss Miss. That really is ridiculous. And also: V8? Really? Like, I"m in Germany, tinkig, "Wow. I wish I could have some V8 just right this second."
Kaufhof has a crappy selection. KaDeWe (the upscale Kaufhof cousin) has everything from Twizzlers to fresh pecans (salted, roasted or natural) and pumpkin pie mix to Aunt Jemima syrup (instead of strange Candian maple syrup). But the best product isn't in the picture: a cool, black can of Jack Daniels and Coke. Can't get that one in Amerika...
Addison, so true about KaDeWe! Oh and the Jack and Coke in a can. I, um, never tried that when I was a teenager in Germany. Oh and have you ever tried the German version of peanut butter? Ick, it's probably best to stick with Nutella while there.
Looks like there is also Fleishman's yellow mustard, mayonaise or miracle whip, maybe some Jack Daniels' BBQ sauce, and Campbell's soup.
There were no-name brands of peanut butter & mac-und-cheez that looked highly dubious.
I forgot to tell the author of this post (my beloved wife of 20 years today) that there was a big ole floor display of Oreos in the main part of the store. I have never seen those before outside the US, except in the "ethnic" grocery in Hampstead where we once paid £6 for a box of non-sugar-coated Cheerios. That place at least had real Kraft M&C, as well as that other estimable comestible not found in Europe, Nabisco Saltines.
Addison, sorry about the failed Blitzbesuch while in town. There was no escaping the Ilse Koch of Potsdam tour guides as she frog-marched us thru several more hours of Kultur than anyone cared to experience.
Mein goodness, it's Addison Dewitt, a former Scene writer whose work is pre-Internetz. I can't get my brain around fresh pecans in Berlin -- hell, you can hardly get fresh pecans here. Hey, you could bake a pecan pie with the pecans and Aunt Jemima!
