# You move to a different country. What food from home do you most miss? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 30, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069 "2010-06-30T15:10:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/61 "2010-07-01T02:29:02Z")
Peanut butter, period. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/62 "2010-07-01T05:54:35Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You lose access to good grits as soon as you’re north of Kentucky or west of Missouri. > > Possibly north of _Nashville_. > > The same, according to some, is true of barbecue. I don’t much like barbecue so I can’t say. > > Biscuits should never be an issue; the ingredients are common, and to be good they have to be made at home anyway. Yeah, but I’m spoiled. I can name at least five restaurants in my little town with not only good biscuits, but good cornbread, good tea and good grits. Living somewhere else means that I’d have to turn on the stove every time I had a jones for them. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/63 "2010-07-01T10:07:30Z")
[Rugbrød](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugbr%C3%B8d), pickled herring, and strong, black liqorice. Not all at the same time, though. **Superhal** and **Panache45** : where in the world would you be unable to get bacon or peanut butter? Bacon has been available in all countries I’ve been to (except Iran, perhaps - I didn’t look for it). It might take a bit of an effort to find these things but they are hardly impossible to get. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/64 "2010-07-01T10:09:16Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > **Superhal** and **Panache45** : where in the world would you be unable to get bacon or peanut butter? Bacon has been available in all countries I’ve been to (except Iran, perhaps - I didn’t look for it). It might take a bit of an effort to find these things but they are hardly impossible to get. South Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/65 "2010-07-01T10:22:34Z")
I thought that pork was very common in South Korea? - [What about this?](http://koreanbacon.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/66 "2010-07-01T10:25:44Z")
Aha. Perhaps the Korean idea of bacon differs from what most of the world think of as bacon. [Link.](http://www.baconbuzz.com/comments/9yfej/love_bacon_then_youll_love_korean_bacon/) ETA: it appears so: [Another link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samgyeopsal) ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/67 "2010-07-01T11:15:35Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > Aha. Perhaps the Korean idea of bacon differs from what most of the world think of as bacon. [Link.](http://www.baconbuzz.com/comments/9yfej/love_bacon_then_youll_love_korean_bacon/) > ETA: it appears so: [Another link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samgyeopsal) Woah. That’d be fatty. Bet it tastes amazing. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/68 "2010-07-01T11:25:21Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > When I went from the US to Ireland and then the UK: Peanut butter. I’d always taken for granted that I could go out and buy terribly sweetened peanut butter, or low-fat peanut butter, or organic no-sugar-added peanut butter. You can’t do that in Europe. Also: iced tea. I see this a lot on this board and I just don’t understand it. I’ve never had any trouble getting peanut butter in Europe. There seems to be some kind of myth spread around the US that Europeans hate it and hence you can’t buy it in Europe. Hell, more often than not you’ll be able to get the same brands. Iced Tea in powdered form is also pretty common here in Sweden. Hell, I walked past a massive display of a shitload made by Nestlé when in the supermarket buying lunch today. I’m pretty sure that the same stuff, but bottled, is commonly sold too. Here in Sweden there is little that I cannot do without that I cannot find. There is a specialist British food store in Stockholm (www.englishshop.se) but I really only shop there for things like Easter Eggs and stuff for Christmas. Oh and Bovril. Marmite is often found in larger supermarkets, but not Bovril. And Sarson’s vinegar. And Angel Delight. There’s even an Irish butcher these days in Stockholm that supplies decent sausages. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/69 "2010-07-01T11:32:56Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > I thought that pork was very common in South Korea? - [What about this?](http://koreanbacon.com/) > [@Panurge](#): > > Aha. Perhaps the Korean idea of bacon differs from what most of the world think of as bacon. [Link.](http://www.baconbuzz.com/comments/9yfej/love_bacon_then_youll_love_korean_bacon/) > ETA: it appears so: [Another link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samgyeopsal) > [@amanset](#): > > Woah. That’d be fatty. Bet it tastes amazing. And that (samgyupssol) makes it all the worse. Imagine a circle of hell where you ask for bacon and you get unsmoked pork belly, but they insist that yes, it is bacon, it’s better than bacon, and I should just shut up and stop thinking about bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/70 "2010-07-01T11:40:43Z")
When I spent two months and a half in Europe (mostly Italy, then Poland) this winter, I found out that what I missed the most, interestingly, was _cranberry juice_. I enjoy making a cocktail with sparkling water, cranberry juice, and orange juice, and while Italian supermarkets have a wide selection of sparkling waters and you can also find orange juice, without cranberry juice it’s just not the same. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/71 "2010-07-01T12:05:51Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Iced Tea in powdered form is also pretty common here in Sweden. Hell, I walked past a massive display of a shitload made by Nestlé when in the supermarket buying lunch today. I’m pretty sure that the same stuff, but bottled, is commonly sold too. I’ll take your word on the other stuff, but powdered iced tea?! Are you joking?! That’s an abomination unto Luzianne and generations of southern American grandmothers! (For the uninitiated, iced tea should be brewed from black tea - I’m partial to Luzianne brand, but others could make a case for Tetley’s or such - and then sweetened with diabetes-inducing amounts of sugar, diluted to taste, and served over ice. Lemon or mint optional. Powdered tea is to iced tea as Nescafe is to coffee. Ain’t the same animal!) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/72 "2010-07-01T13:06:32Z")
I miss McGregor’s mutton pies. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/73 "2010-07-01T13:12:07Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > I’ll take your word on the other stuff, but powdered iced tea?! Are you joking?! That’s an abomination unto Luzianne and generations of southern American grandmothers! > > (For the uninitiated, iced tea should be brewed from black tea - I’m partial to Luzianne brand, but others could make a case for Tetley’s or such - and then sweetened with diabetes-inducing amounts of sugar, diluted to taste, and served over ice. Lemon or mint optional. Powdered tea is to iced tea as Nescafe is to coffee. Ain’t the same animal!) I agree with your anathema against powdered tea. Houston is on the Border of Sweet Tea Country. Our well-equipped restaurants offer Sweet Tea or Plain Tea. (Note: It’s _really_ hard to dissolve sugar in cold tea–hence the Sweet option.) It’s not hard to make good iced tea if you’ve got access to strong black tea, clean water & ice. But, down here, iced tea is the fallback beverage of choice in most restaurants, if you are not partaking of wine, beer or margaritas. \*\*With free refills, _of course_! \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/74 "2010-07-01T13:46:35Z")
I moved from Montreal to Maryland a few years ago and I’ve gotten over most of my homesickness for familiar foods by finding replacements I like just as much. But what I ache for regularly is [“steamie” hot dogs and poutine](http://electron.mit.edu/~gsteele/poutine/new_photos/poutine_steamy_meal.jpg). Nothing will ever replace that in my heart. Or my arteries. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/75 "2010-07-01T14:03:23Z")
The only thing I really missed during the 12 years I spent overseas was milk. Most of the places where I lived only had that ghastly UHT long-life milk that is stored unrefrigerated. Unfortunately, after all those years without a steady intake of American style milk, I developed an intolerance for it. Very frustrating, as I always loved a big, cold glass of moo. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/76 "2010-07-01T14:13:07Z")
US to Ireland As many others have said, Mexican or Tex-Mex food, even the bastardized slop put out there by the major chains. No Taco Bell in the Emerald Isle. ☹ Good pizza. It’s easy to find pizza here, but good pizza is another matter entirely. For the first three years or so that I was here, the best pizza that I could find was from the frozen food section at the supermarket! Pathetic. Even the place I know go to for pizza only makes an adequate pie of generic style, and they still put weird crap like sweetcorn on it. I’m from New England, so my favorite style of pizza is Greek, especially with spinach & feta. Not going to happen over here. This may sound odd, but sandwiches (or subs, hoagies, grinders, etc.). I grew up going to local sandwich shops or restaurants that had fresh, high quality meats, cheeses, breads & condiments. Here, if you want a sandwich made for you, you will most likely go to the local petrol station to get it. The wide variety of choices is just not there, and what is there is often of poor quality. And you have to be careful when ordering a “default” sandwich like a breast in a bun or a breakfast roll - coleslaw (!) is commonly used as a topping on the first, and the second is jammed with everything breakfast-related you can think of - except EGGS! How can you have a breakfast sandwich without eggs?!? Boggles the mind. A related, non-specific complaint is not just about _what_ food you can buy, but also _when_ you can get it. Good luck getting a sandwich after 2PM in this country… > [@amanset](#): > > I see this a lot on this board and I just don’t understand it. I’ve never had any trouble getting peanut butter in Europe. There seems to be some kind of myth spread around the US that Europeans hate it and hence you can’t buy it in Europe. Hell, more often than not you’ll be able to get the same brands. Agreed. Even my crappy local market has several different brands for sale, including one of the big American ones (Jiffy I think? maybe Peter Pan?), though I usually stick to the generic alternatives. > [@](#): > > There’s even an Irish butcher these days in Stockholm that supplies decent sausages. Then he’s not making Irish-style sausages, I take it! 😉 Irish sausage is a vile trick played on the unsuspecting breakfast diner. It looks, to all appearances, like any other tasty breakfast link you’re familiar with. But then you bite into it, and… there’s nothing. NOTHING. A greasy, flavorless sponge, almost like de-natured food. When I order full Irish in the morning, I always try to get double rashers (which are my favorite Irish food) and hold the freaking sausage. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/77 "2010-07-01T14:19:38Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Slight tangent: we caught a bit of a morning news show when we were in New Zealand where this exact question was put to Kiwis living abroad. The hands-down winner? Chocolate fish. 😕 > > As a result, I bought some. They were shockingly unremarkable. I’m assuming that the poll was skewed by Cadbury shills. > > As for the OP, I’d have to go with Mexican food. I love me some good Mexican. I don’t get the chocolate fish thing either. However, it has reminded me that I miss [Pinky bars](http://www.cadbury.co.nz/Products/Chocolate-Bars/Pinky-Bar.aspx)as well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/78 "2010-07-01T14:44:45Z")
McDonald’s Double Cheeseburgers. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/79 "2010-07-01T16:55:00Z")
English breakfast, though you can get them in many places in the world, and British milk. I know milk is milk; but perhaps its the way its pasteurised or something; but milk at home tastes different to me. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069/80 "2010-07-01T17:17:47Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > I see this a lot on this board and I just don’t understand it. I’ve never had any trouble getting peanut butter in Europe. There seems to be some kind of myth spread around the US that Europeans hate it and hence you can’t buy it in Europe. Agreed. It was easy enough to find peanut butter even in rural Bulgaria. And no Bulgarian I knew ever ate it, so I have no idea why it was even in the stores. There was pretty much only one brand available, and it was a no-sugar-added chunky peanut butter imported from the Netherlands. Some of the Americans I knew hated it because they wanted Jif or something, but I much, much prefer natural peanut butter to the smooth, sugary sort, so I was perfectly happy with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-move-to-a-different-country-what-food-from-home-do-you-most-miss/545069.md?page=5)