For those of you who aren't currently living in your home country...

[Frozen Canuck]

I'm just curious...what food items do you miss the most from "home" and do you go to any great lengths to acquire them? Also, for those of you who go to Disney and stay for an extended time...either through DVC or other accommodations, do you bring anything with you that you just can't go without during that time (favourite tea, condiment, etc.)? I guess the reverse can be asked of traveling Americans...do you take any specialty items along?

I remember when I first moved down to the U.S. from Canada. On our initial trip to the grocery store, I walked up and down the cereal aisle looking for Shreddies. I couldn't find that bright yellow box anywhere, so I asked one of the store employees where the Shreddies were. In Canada, Shreddies are as common as Rice Krispies and Cornflakes. The person looked at me like I was crazy and said they had never heard of Shreddies. I just stood there thinking, "Who hasn't heard of Shreddies? You have other Nabisco products." But nope. I had just moved 2,500 miles away from Shreddies, among other items I felt like I desperately needed as soon as I found out I didn't have any access to them. I also learned that standard products like Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup and Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup have completely different flavour formulations between the two countries, so recipes don't taste the same.

Over time, I adapted to the "new" products and altered tastes, but realized that I was going to need to find a pipeline for things like Hickory Sticks, Goodhost Iced Tea, and Bird's Custard Powder for Nanaimo bars (although I have since found it in the ethnic sections of some grocery stores among the "British" items). I have had my Mom send me lighter items through the post office, but it is EXPENSIVE! My in-laws have also been wonderful about dragging large cans of iced tea down to us in their luggage each year. There are a few online stores that will ship food items from countries like Britain, Australia, and Canada around the U.S., but I haven't been desperate enough to try them yet.

How about anyone else? Is there anything you can't live without or am I the anomaly?

 

[martikus]

So many things but all junk food so probably just as well. Moved from Canada to Usa.

Butter tarts with raisins and hickory sticks are tops. Anyone visiting knows to bring me a box

Areo bar (though I can find them now), ketchup chips, St .Hubert's, and Chinese food just doesn't taste the same.

People still don't understand that smarties in Canada are more like m and m's.

I have now lived in US so long they are distant memories.

 

[wilkeliza]

Not a different country but a different region in the US. I miss going out and being able to get queso blanco, enchiladas, chicken fried steak, white gravy, and kolaches. A few places have opened that offer the stuff but it isn't nearly as good or readily available in NY.

 

[ronandannette]

So many things but all junk food so probably just as well. Moved from Canada to Usa.

Butter tarts with raisins and hickory sticks are tops. Anyone visiting knows to bring me a box

Areo bar (though I can find them now), ketchup chips, St .Hubert's, and Chinese food just doesn't taste the same.

People still don't understand that smarties in Canada are more like m and m's.

I have now lived in US so long they are distant memories.

Can't you make your own? Let me know if you need a recipe; they take about 3 minutes to put together. And homemade ones are always soooo much better than anything commercially produced anyway.

 

[dish rag]

I'm American and live in Fla and Ontario. In Canada I like Farm Boys grocery store. The freshness of the meats and cheeses. The cheese even looks better. I like the chocolate better. All in all the food seems fresher. I can't seem to find La Croix there and so buy Perrier instead. In Fla there is more variety of food and much cheaper. And Publix doesn't charge 5cents per bag like the Canadian stores. I love Mars bars and just found a place that had them in Fla but they aren't as fresh.

 

[kimblebee]

I lived in Australia and still have family there and I miss Vegemite. It can be found here if you search, but the price is ridiculous. I also miss a lot of the treats like violet crumble and minties (like salt water taffy but white and very pepperminty)

I LOVE Jif and used to stockpile it when I went down to the States for a shopping weekend. It's FINALLY back in Canada so I can get it when I need it...which is 4 jars from now LOL

 

[bcla]

I looked up what Shreddies are. The closest thing might be Chex, which was made by Ralston Purina before the brand was sold to General Mills. However, that tends to be salty, although there have been different varieties. I think they were named after the Purina checkerboard logo.

The odd thing is that there's little that can't be had in the US for people from elsewhere. There are large expat communities all over the US and Canada, as well as various Asian malls. I live in a large metro area, but even smallish college towns have Indian groceries, halal meat markets, and East Asian supermarkets. Even so, my expat friends and coworkers often come back from the motherland with certain brands or some items that aren't available in the US.

And culturally, English-speaking Canadians aren't so different than Americans that there is much of a call for Canadian specialty stores. The closest thing I can think of is a local poutine place that's part of a Canadian chain. They have five US locations, but two of them are concessions stands at NHL arenas.

 

[Pkltm]

I'm American and live in Fla and Ontario. In Canada I like Farm Boys grocery store. The freshness of the meats and cheeses. The cheese even looks better. I like the chocolate better. All in all the food seems fresher. I can't seem to find La Croix there and so buy Perrier instead. In Fla there is more variety of food and much cheaper. And Publix doesn't charge 5cents per bag like the Canadian stores. I love Mars bars and just found a place that had them in Fla but they aren't as fresh.

Just bought La Croix at Safeway tonight!!

When we travel to the USA my FIL would insist on taking white vinegar packets, he could not eat fried without and hated malt vinegar.

 

[ronandannette]

I looked up what Shreddies are. The closest thing might be Chex, which was made by Ralston Purina before the brand was sold to General Mills. However, that tends to be salty, although there have been different varieties. I think they were named after the Purina checkerboard logo.

The odd thing is that there's little that can't be had in the US for people from elsewhere. There are large expat communities all over the US and Canada, as well as various Asian malls. I live in a large metro area, but even smallish college towns have Indian groceries, halal meat markets, and East Asian supermarkets. Even so, my expat friends and coworkers often come back from the motherland with certain brands or some items that aren't available in the US.

And culturally, English-speaking Canadians aren't so different than Americans that there is much of a call for Canadian specialty stores. The closest thing I can think of is a local poutine place that's part of a Canadian chain. They have five US locations, but two of them are concessions stands at NHL arenas.

Appearances aside, Chex are not very similar to Shreddies at all. There's really no way to explain the difference - you'd have to try them. The words that come to mind are dryer, flatter and harder - sounds unappealing but they're actually pretty good.

 

[bcla]

Appearances aside, Chex are not very similar to Shreddies at all. There's really no way to explain the difference - you'd have to try them. The words that come to mind are dryer, flatter and harder - sounds unappealing but they're actually pretty good.

The other thing I was thinking of was something like a mini Triscuit.

Doesn't quite look the same though.

 

[ronandannette]

The other thing I was thinking of was something like a mini Triscuit.

Doesn't quite look the same though.

Closer in texture to a Triscuit but much less oily and a totally different flavour.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

When we travel to the USA my FIL would insist on taking white vinegar packets, he could not eat fried without and hated malt vinegar.

I grew up with salt and white vinegar on my french fries. That is one thing I had to give up while living down here. You just can not find white vinegar packets anywhere.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Appearances aside, Chex are not very similar to Shreddies at all. There's really no way to explain the difference - you'd have to try them.

When we couldn't find Shreddies, we tried Chex for awhile. I agree. There isn't really a comparable cereal in the U.S. that I have found. We just ended up selecting something totally different. We are going back to Canada soon and my mother-in-law was asking what kind of cereal she should have on hand. She started listing things like Mini Wheats, etc. I replied with, "Shreddies! Just get Shreddies!" Seriously, we can get Mini Wheats and many of the other brands any old day.

The words that come to mind are dryer, flatter and harder - sounds unappealing but they're actually pretty good.

I think the other word you are looking for to describe them is "maltier???" I'm not really sure how you identify that flavour.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

And culturally, English-speaking Canadians aren't so different than Americans that there is much of a call for Canadian specialty stores.

Some (not all) of he foods that we have in Canada that are different from the U.S. tend to lean more towards the British brands, especially with chocolate bars, Libby's products, etc. Larger grocery stores in the U.S. seem to be stocking more "ethnic" food items. Not just in the Asian, Indian and Italian areas, as they always have done, but we can find small sections of British items (Aero bar, Bird's custard powder, etc.) and other cultural areas represented in our stores. The problem is that the prices are typically high enough as to deter us from actually purchasing anything coupled with the fact that demand is low, so they don't have a high turnover rate of stock. For the most part, we just make do with what we can find here and fill our suitcases with as many Canadian items as we can for our return trip. I love just walking up and down the food aisles in Canada and seeing what unique items I can find...like potato chip flavours! Man! Canada has cornered the market on unique-sounding chips like Poutine, Greek, Barbecue Baby Back Ribs, Maple Bacon, All-Dressed, etc.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Chinese food just doesn't taste the same.

Anybody else find that pizza just doesn't taste the same??? I feel like in Canada (Saskatchewan anyway) they place the cheese over the toppings...among other things flavour-wise, to where American pizza doesn't taste anything like Canadian pizza. We just went to a restaurant a couple of days ago that we ordered pizza at. We took one look at it and determined that it was the closest thing to Canadian pizza that we had ever found...and subsequently tasted. It was so good! Sadly, it is 1-1/2 hours from our home, so a little far for delivery and there is hardly any chance that we would be going back to that area.

 

[martikus]

Can't you make your own? Let me know if you need a recipe; they take about 3 minutes to put together. And homemade ones are always soooo much better than anything commercially produced anyway.

I would LOVE a recipe!

 

[eskskick]

Cheezies! My Dad always brings a bunch down for me. Recently I've been wanting puffed wheat. I can find it with sugar added, but I want the plain stuff.

Now that I've been here for 6 years I really don't miss much day to day anymore, new US favourites have taken over. The worst is around Christmas, things like buttertarts, naniamo bars, Philadelphia's onion chip dip. I agree with the PP poster that you can make better buttertarts than buy, but they're not the same as the M&M Meat Shops ones that invoke the "it's Christmastime feeling/memories." I think food is so important to me at Christmas because it doesn't snow here, so the food is what makes it "feel" like the holidays.

 

[SirDuff]

When I moved to the US from Canada, I missed President Choice chocolate covered raisins. Also hard to find Wheetabix (though a nearby grocery store does now stock them). And Ace Bakery Artisan Crisps (I know that they are just crostini, but none that I've found here are as good - though I do make my own).

Now that I'm based in Switzerland, everything is different again (I was in the US for less than 18 months). I've only been here about five weeks so far, so I'm not craving anything yet plus so much tasty chocolate, fruit, and baked goods. Oh, except bananas. I'm in Geneva which is expensive, but bananas are insane - cheapest I've seen is about $1.25 per pound (even crossing the border to France where things are cheaper).

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Not a different country but a different region in the US. I miss going out and being able to get queso blanco, enchiladas, chicken fried steak, white gravy, and kolaches. A few places have opened that offer the stuff but it isn't nearly as good or readily available in NY.

I can sympathize with this as well. We moved from the west coast to the east coast and had to get used to not having Tillamook cheddar on every store shelf (there is a lot more Cabot out here) as well as a number of other items or food-styles being different. I mean, I know it is called New England clam chowder, but honestly, some of the best clam chowder I have ever had has come from the west coast.

 

[rastahomie]

Hell, I moved one state away from my home (from central Illinois to southeast Missouri), and there's a lot of stuff I can't get around here.

• A proper Horseshoe*
• Cheese curds**
• REAL Chilli***
• Butch's White Pizza****

*A Horseshoe is a dish invented in, and still wildly popular in, Springfield, Illinois. Take a piece of Texas Toast, add some meat (for example, a hamburger patty or some corned beef), put some fries on top of it, pour cheese sauce all over it. NOM NOM NOM! And don't tell me "That's just an open-faced cheeseburger" or something like that. Springfield averages about ten murders per year; nine of them are people who disrespected the Horseshoe.

**I'm assuming I don't need to explain what cheese curds are. Nevertheless, for some reason you just can't find them in this part of Missouri.

***Springfield also has this culinary tradition of calling it "Chilli" (two L's). Don't ask me why, no one knows. Our chilli has a layer of red goo floating on top that soaks up all the spices. NOM NOM NOM!

****A local factory produces these and only sells them around central IL. Basically a sausage & pepperoni frozen pizza with a garlic pesto sauce instead of tomato sauce. NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!!