I swear that every day something happens here in Santiago that makes me miss a thing or a food item from the U.S.
Icing
Most recently, it has been icing. Icing, or frosting, is the sugary-sweet cream that covers a cake. Here, cakes have a thin layer of icing, which isn’t always sweet enough for me. I dream of cakes with icing as thick as your index finger and as sweet as pure sugar. In fact, I want the icing to be so sweet that I could go into a sugar coma just from eating a slice of cake. Actually, forget the cake, I want to eat the icing straight from its container!
Ethnic Food
I also miss ethnic food. It’s not that I don’t love Chilean food, but I miss the variety that Thai, Ethiopian, Cuban, Indian, and Mexican restaurants offer in the larger cities. My favorite food is Ethiopian…I’m salivating just thinking about it! There are just so many ethnicities intermingling in the U.S., which has introduced great culinary experiences for American. The best part is that you can learn about a culture by eating your way through its menu (not literally, of course). However, I am happy to see that more international restaurants are starting to appear in Santiago. In fact, the other day I ate in a Croatian place!
I miss Frozen Dinners
Something else that I miss from my country is the frozen dinners. I know that there are frozen dinners here in Chile, but it’s not the same. I want to have my Lean Cuisine dinners on hand for all those nights when I don’t want to cook (but, who am I kidding? I don’t cook; my boyfriend does!).
In the U.S., cooking is all about convenience. We have frozen dinners, canned soup and vegetables, and pre-cut vegetables all ready to solve your dinner dilemmas. In fact, most of American recipes call for at least one canned ingredient. It’s actually a bit of a challenge to adapt these recipes to what is available in Chile.
Take garbanzos and black beans for example. Before living here, I never knew I had to soak the beans overnight before cooking them because in the U.S. the beans come precooked in, yes, you guessed it, a can. My first time using garbanzo beans did not turn out well.
While canned and frozen foods have their benefits, they are also less healthy and are used because there isn’t as much fresh produce available as there is in Chile. Actually in comparison with canned food, fruits and vegetables can be quite expensive in the U.S. This is the opposite of Chile.
However, as much as I miss the convenience of frozen dinners and canned beans, I don’t think I’d trade them for the fresh food I buy here at La Vega. You just can’t beat buying your vegetables from the farmer who grew them! I suppose this is just one difference, neither good nor bad, of living in a different country, and I think I can adjust to a healthier, if less convenient, diet.
So until I can go back to visit the U.S., I’m going to keep dreaming about those delicious foods from home. And the next time I’m in the States, I’ll be sure to buy a year’s worth of icing to tide me over between trips!
What food do you miss from your home country?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Being from New Zealand I mostly miss some of the typical sweets, especially Jaffas and Pineapple Lumps. Every now and then I also get a craving for greasy fish and chips wrapped up in newspaper with a Paua fritter thrown in there too. Yum! Bad thing to think about just before lunch!
Two words: cheddar cheese.
I have never been a fan of cheese so I’m fine on that front.
I’m an Aussie and I miss Australian chips – Twisties, Burger Rings, Salt & Vinegar chips. Not that I ate them a lot but they are oh so delicious! http://freezecheese.blogspot.com/
Ooooh, the Salt & Vinegar Chips, LOVE those! Had totally forgotten about them.
Fresh, still warm, dark German whole-grain bread with self-made butter out of cream from the local farmer. YUM!!! Add self-made strawberry marmelade and u can’t stop eating until the whole loaf is gone. So missing that. Uhm, HARIBO-Sweets and Milka chocolate, hate thinking about it because my 2kg package is already empty and I have to wait for the next supply shipment
Sounds like a hearty meal there with all of that!
I also hate it when my stash of chocolates and sweets from NZ is running low or completely gone.
I miss a good, strong cup of coffee brewed from freshly ground beans. This instant just doesn’t cut it.
Yep, the coffee culture isn’t so strong here though it is slowly growing, though only in certain areas.
Wow this is so much like me, I’ve been living in Paris, France for a little more than 5 years and since I have not been once back to the states. I miss a lot of the same foods as you. I never thought that food would be the thing I miss the most, well almost. Of course I can still find sole american foods such as Oreo’s but they are hard to come by and they’re a lot more expensive.I would give anything to have a box of Cheez-its right now… Anyways I know where you’re coming from and I COMPLETELY understand.
PS: What a coincidence, we have the same name !