Market day ~ what did you buy?

[mickthecactus]

The first oeuf must be something to do with tofu and the second with salt?


Echalote? Artichoke?

[kerouac2]

One is tofu containing eggs and the other one is salted duck eggs.

[kerouac2]

Jan 7, 2023 16:03:55 GMT breeze said:

Would you mind you explaining what gets basic TA and what gets the higher rate?

The VAT on food is 5.5%. Alcoholic beverages are 20%.

[kerouac2]

The page change made it too difficult to go back and forth to awswer questions, so here is the full list:

3 heads of garlic
bag of lemons
bunch of coriander/cilantro
shallots
ginger
durian ice cream
candied spicy mango strips (in a plastic box)
cooked salted duck eggs
small Thai chillies (mistake on receipt -- this is 100g and not one kilo:)
egg tofu

TH means imported from Thailand
CH means imported from China

[mickthecactus]

Bag of lemons threw me.

[kerouac2]

A "filet" in this context is a net. Actually my garlic and shallots were also in a "filet."

And of course a lemon is a "citron jaune" in French to distinguish it from "citron vert" (lime).

[mickthecactus]

It didn’t help that I confused jaune with jeune...

French was my best subject at school. But that was 60 years ago..

[kerouac2]

amarillo (for your next holiday in Spain)

[mickthecactus]

Yes! That’s the way.

[fumobici]

candied spicy mango strips (in a plastic box)

You have to go to the Mexican grocery to buy that here. So who had them first, the Mexicans or the Asians?

[kerouac2]

Here is what the unhealthy mango crap looks like.



Two things that I like like about it anyway:

1. The container is sealed so solidly that it is almost impossible to open, even using tools = zero calories.
2. It is so spicy that you can't eat much in one sitting.

[lugg]

Durian Ice - Cream I cannot begin to imagine whether that tastes god or stinks so bad ?

[kerouac2]

It doesn't stink at all. The flavour is in the cantaloupe/mango spectrum.

[mickthecactus]

My friend in China went to the market and found some interesting items -
cured blood eaten like bean curd

Jackfruit


Lettuce stalks


Hylocereus fruits


Spiced fish


Silkworm

[kerouac2]

That could have been Thailand, except for the dragon fruit, which is the speciality of Vietnam.

[kerouac2]

While they seem to eat a few unusual things in China, this shopping in the Ukraine could have been in any of our countries. Maybe not at the same price;

[cheerypeabrain]

Today I dragged Jeffers along to The Company Shop. It's a large supermarket selling a host of bargain basement goods. They sell surplus stock from supermarkets and manufacturers to their members. Membership is free and open to employees and pension recipients of the NHS, Care and Emergency Services, Prison Service, British Armed Forces and charities. It's a bit hit and miss as you never know what they'll have...but today we got a box of 50 fruity ice lolies for £4 (sold usually at £3 for 8) and lots of lovely meat and chicken... 2 rump steaks and 4 pork loin steaks for less than £3 per pack and a bag of chicken breast fillets for £4. The freezer is full. I spent £20 altogether...nothing was close to its expiry date...

I wouldn't do all my shopping there as they rarely have fruit or vegetables...or staples like butter, milk, flour etc but it was well worth our trip this morning I do love a bargain!

[bixaorellana]

Definitely worth the trip! That's a nice perk for people whose careers are serving others.

[kerouac2]

I have become a specialist in buying "expiring" food. Did it again today.

[bixaorellana]

Imagine my surprise to find a cushaw today, a tender young cushaw.

[bjd]

That looks like a giant zucchini.

[bixaorellana]

It does. But when they mature in the Fall they're really huge, with a long neck & a fat bottom. By then they're mostly white with some green stripes. At that stage they're prepared like pumpkin. www.marthastewart.com/8160056/what-is-cushaw-squash

[kerouac2]

I had spotted the shop in Aubervilliers a few months ago and knew I had to return. The awning proclaimed that it sold products from Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, etc. But what I had spotted in the window were the huge jars of pickles, and I knew that I needed one (or more). So today I finally returned and inspected the shop. It definitely has all sorts of things that I had never seen before, and that always attracts me. Also everything seemed extremely cheap, so they were not making a surcharge on their items.

I remained reasonable (since it is easy to return) and bought just 3 items -- a big jar of dill pickles, a big jar of pickled shredded vegetables, and a bottle of plum brandy. I needed a magnifying glass when I got back home to find out the origin of these things since everything was printed so small. The pickles are from Poland, no surprise there. The shredded vegetables are from Ukraine. And the plum brandy is from Romania. As Schwarzie would say, "I'll be back."

I saw on my receipt that the store is called Antalya, therefore Turkish, but the cashier was definitely a blonde Slavic woman. I think they need to speak a lot of languages there.

[bixaorellana]

I am quite jealous of your haul! Recently I was taken to a chain supermarket that had a special section for exotica which was completely disappointing. There were fairly commonplace east Asian items that were nose-bleedingly overpriced. The big treat my friend was seeking were pickles. There were pickles, but nothing fancier than Heinz -- nary a Polski Wyrob in sight and I sure can't get excited over pickle relish.

My market purchase today was a mamey from pile of them which caught my eye as I stood in the rain looking for a cab.

[mickthecactus]

Dec 5, 2023 23:07:03 GMT bixaorellana said:

I am quite jealous of your haul! Recently I was taken to a chain supermarket that had a special section for exotica which was completely disappointing. There were fairly commonplace east Asian items that were nose-bleedingly overpriced. The big treat my friend was seeking were pickles. There were pickles, but nothing fancier than Heinz -- nary a Polski Wyrob in sight and I sure can't get excited over pickle relish.

My market purchase today was a mamey from pile of them which caught my eye as I stood in the rain looking for a cab.

Mamey! How I love ya...

[bjd]

I miss good Polish sausage (kielbasa). I used to buy some only when I went to Paris even though a few shops selling that kind of food opened in Toulouse in the last years we were there. Here or Bayonne, it's impossible to find any East European food. I buy German pickles though.

[kerouac2]

Kûhne has mostly cornered the market on German pickles in France, but most of their stuff is sugary. No thank you. My jumbo jar of dill pickles from Poland only cost 2.50. The shop also had a large selection of sausages in the refrigerated section, but I stayed away from it because I ate too many smoked sausages last week.

[lugg]

Oddly actually not given our large population of eastern Europeans ) some of the major chain supermarkets here have a good selection of Polish and Eastern European fare with a section given over to them. It is often much cheaper than the usual produce of the same kind e.g. pickles , sausage , but also spices, prezels and other savoury snacks , sweet treats, pierogi and stuff I have never heard of. What I have not seen yet is any Ukranian foodstuff ...I guess that may come . Of course at Christmas the fishmongers have huge carp ..which I have yet to try.

[bjd]

Lugg, I think most of that food is fairly similar even if it is labelled as Polish/Russian/Ukrainian or whatever. The names may change a bit but the taste is basically similar. German bread and Polish bread are pretty much the same.

[fumobici]

Dec 6, 2023 19:56:42 GMT lugg said:

Oddly actually not given our large population of eastern Europeans ) some of the major chain supermarkets here have a good selection of Polish and Eastern European fare with a section given over to them. It is often much cheaper than the usual produce of the same kind e.g. pickles , sausage , but also spices, prezels and other savoury snacks , sweet treats, pierogi and stuff I have never heard of. What I have not seen yet is any Ukranian foodstuff ...I guess that may come . Of course at Christmas the fishmongers have huge carp ..which I have yet to try.

Out of curiosity, I went into a place that described itself as a Ukrainian store in Rome. It was very much like you describe but looking closely at the articles on the shelves, I saw most were from either Poland or Russia.