A Taste of Home, One Ingredient at a Time

Sometimes, just knowing that you can find a single ingredient can make the biggest boost in your day. As an expat, it's easy to start missing "normal" meals and preparation methods because you just can't easily find the ingredients or you don't have a large enough (or easy to operate) oven, or you gave away cooking utensils before the move. Sometimes you stock up and hoard products that you can't easily find in your new home. And sometimes, you find a long-desired item in a normal shopping location and then it seems to disappear from the store, like a culinary mirage. That's why I'm so happy that I found Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce, again.

A little taste of home in a bottle

These are two things we used back in the States in everyday cooking. Shortly after moving to Tilburg I found a bottle of each locally and I used them regularly, because I knew it was easy to find. After recently running out of both, I went back to our local Albert Heijn market, and for the life of me, I could not find either. There is a whole section of "foreign" foods that I swear is the spot I picked them up before, and there was nothing. For three weeks, I would wander back through the aisle for another look in case I missed something, and still nothing. I felt like I was going a bit mad (well, madder) since I knew I bought them in our new home.

Yesterday, I decided to take a chance and try the nearby Jumbo supermarket instead. And, huzzah! I found both. I consider this a cooking win for the next few months while I make "American comfort food" - and I'll try to make a mental note about the actual location for the next time.