Ship of Fools: Sending Abroad.

Thread: Sending Abroad. Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Surfing Madness (# 11087) on :

I'm hoping Heaven is the right place for this thread. I've just sent parcels to friends working abroad. This set me thinking (and I'll be sending again.) If you were abroad, what would you like to be sent from home? Any ideas both serious and silly welcome.

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

Here in Brazil, I only ask for drop (black liqorice) and nasi goreng herbs from the Netherlands.

Posted by Yangtze (# 4965) on :

Marmite. Tea bags. British newspapers. (Less necessary now we have the Internet but still lovely sometime.) Posh gin. Shoes in my size. (Well if I were in Asia that would be necessary.) Proper crisps in lots of interesting flavours.

Posted by Caissa (# 16710) on :

Fiddleheads

Posted by Jenny Ann (# 3131) on :

When my sister lived abroad, anyone going to visit was requested to bring marmalade, preferably frank coopers oxford variety!

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Marmite, a packet of M&S Walnut Whips, any flavour filling, and their Dark Chocolate Ginger biscuits.

[ 08. August 2014, 18:32: Message edited by: Ariel ]

Posted by Bostonman (# 17108) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Caissa:
Fiddleheads

Amen!

I'd add good coffee and bars of Dove soap.

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

From my childhood home to my adult home far away: sassafras!

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Bostonman:

quote:
Originally posted by Caissa:
Fiddleheads
Amen!

Thirded!

and real Alaskan salmon and halibut, because in my experience so far, nowhere else in the world knows fish. When I spent 2 years in exile (lived Outside) I was desperate enough for fish that my Ketchikan in-laws started sending me care packages of salmon, halibut, shrimp, and dungies. only thing that got me through.

I also would probably ask for coffee from one of our local roasteries.

oh, and salmonberry jam.

PS - and birch syrup.

[ 08. August 2014, 19:45: Message edited by: comet ]

Posted by Spike (# 36) on :

Sausages

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

English teabags (pref Waitrose or Sainsburys Gold Blend, Yorkshire Tea comes in second place as not fairtrade) and bras - for some reason only the UK really does bras in my size.

Not sure what else - maybe English cider. The proper stuff, not Wrongbow.

Posted by Ferijen (# 4719) on :

My sister lives in Italy and goes for Cadbury's chocolate, dried fruit (for Christmas baking), cheddar cheese, bacon and tea bags. When we used to drive out there we'd take Ribena, but that's not so easy to send...

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

Chokecherry and saskatoon berry jams. Shreddies. Kraft dinner. Maple syrup. Tea, but not teabag which is an inferior drink. We're currently sending all of this to England, except for KD and Shreds which are me things.

Fiddleheads are wonderful but I haven't seen them for decades in the west. I could also die for some fresh oysters. East > west.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ferijen:
My sister lives in Italy and goes for Cadbury's chocolate, dried fruit (for Christmas baking), cheddar cheese, bacon and tea bags. When we used to drive out there we'd take Ribena, but that's not so easy to send...

Surely Italy has excellent bacon?? Or does she want back bacon? Also surprised at the requests for chocolate and cheese, two things Italy does pretty well....

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

A few years ago I brought back enough Marmite for a decade so that is okay - what I do like people to bring are Fishermans Friends, which keep quite well in the fridge. If folk can manage it some nice blue cheese is always welcome - Stilton or Blue Wensleydale or that French one they sell in all the supermarkets but whose name I can't remember - rich folk can bring me Barkham Blue but might need a security guard as it is so blooming expensive!

comet - we have great fish here - come visit!

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

Saint Agur - that's the name, I think. Barkham Blue is similar except it is even creamier! You can feel your arteries clogging as you put it on your crackers!

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
Fiddleheads are wonderful but I haven't seen them for decades in the west.

you just haven't gone far enough, darling. come see me.

as soon as I get back from my India fish-tasting trip...

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

Marmite from England and Atkins meal bars from the US.

Posted by MrsBeaky (# 17663) on :

Marmite
Dark chocolate with sea salt
Maple syrup

These are the three things I always bring back with me to Kenya.

Posted by Zappa (# 8433) on :

Now I am back at the leading edge of the world I want for nothing, but ofttimes on our western isle I hankered after Lemon and Paeroa (even if it is now manufactured by that evil American soft drink giant [Roll Eyes]

)

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :

I'm a Brit Abroad™ and what we buy when we go back home includes (but is not limited to): Tiptree jam*, Bisto gravy granules, lamb and ham stock-cubes, Polo mints, Galaxy chocolate, Solpadeine headache tablets, Maldon salt and Sloggi knickers. And of course, it's nice to get British newspapers when we're home.

I wish someone could parcel up British television and send it to me - North American TV is cr@p.

* We can get some Tiptree jams here, but they're twice the price they are in the UK and anyway, a trip to the factory café for a cream tea has become a tradition when we're home, as it's only a few miles from D's mum's.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

And a visit to the Jam Museum is fun, too!

Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :

The advent of Marks and Sparks on the Champs Elysées has all but eliminated my need for care packages, but in the past the traditional gift for the ferryman from anyone coming over from the UK was a packet of teabags. French tea is too light for my English tastes. Once you add milk to French tea you basically have a cup of milk and hot water [Projectile]

In the past I always used to source my lingerie from the UK as well. In France lingerie either costs an arm and a leg, or it disintegrates after going through the washing machine twice.

M&S also sell English bacon, and in answer to Jade’s question, yes this makes me very happy. While all kinds of delicious charcuterie is available in France, they don’t have the kind of thick rashers that you can make into tasty English-style sandwiches.

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

When I was an English language assistant in the depths of Provence many years ago I did quite happily without anything English, but the unexpected sight of an M&S carrier bag brought forth an indescribable surge of homesickness.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
While all kinds of delicious charcuterie is available in France, they don’t have the kind of thick rashers that you can make into tasty English-style sandwiches.

Similarly, why don't the French make pork pies? The pig is a culinary hero in France but I've not found a pork pie there. Are there charcuteries that make pork pies? I find I have to make do with rillons when I'm over.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:

quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
While all kinds of delicious charcuterie is available in France, they don’t have the kind of thick rashers that you can make into tasty English-style sandwiches.
Similarly, why don't the French make pork pies? The pig is a culinary hero in France but I've not found a pork pie there. Are there charcuteries that make pork pies? I find I have to make do with rillons when I'm over.

They have good taste.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

But, to address the main question: Ranch salad dressing, or, better yet, the seasoning packets you use to make it at home. I was always surprised to not find some equivalent of it in Britain—no, salad cream isn't the same thing—given how good it is on fried things eaten with or after a couple beers. The people I introduced it to had about the same reaction.

Local seasonings and spice mixtures, which, I guess, kind of goes with #1. It's always hard to find the exact same type of pepper or spice powder you used on the other side of an ocean, and some things, like Old Bay, aren't going to be reproducible. This is true even for the other side of a time zone; the glut of chile powder I'm now enjoying is thanks to friends and family living in or visiting New Mexico who know just what I need.

For many Americans, peanut butter. Yes, it's available worldwide these days, but It's Just Not The Same, I've been told. I never much liked typical American peanut butter (too sweet), so I didn't much care—but others did.

Barbecue doesn't ship well, but, if it did, that would be up on the list.

After leaving England, I started looking for HP Sauce, strong tea, and English-style cider. Tea was easy enough, brown sauce was harder (even when you find it in the "British foods" section of a supermarket, it's usually the fruity kind, rather than straight up HP), and forget about cider. Americans will rave about how delicious Strongbow is. I don't know if Old Rosie can be bottled, but...

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :

quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
... English bacon ...

You can't get back bacon here for love or money - what the hell use is streaky bacon for anything except draping over the breast of a chicken while you're roasting it?

One of the delights of staying in British hotels is Proper Bacon™ for breakfast.

Pity bringing some back wouldn't be (a) practical or (b) legal. [Frown]

Posted by ecumaniac (# 376) on :

Most of my Aussie junk food needs can be supplied nowadays by ocado (at a premium) but the thing I get brought whenever an expat goes home is chocolate covered macadamias. Love that stuff.

And dukkah. I don't understand why it's so hard to buy over here.

Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :

Dandelion & Burdock, liquorice allsorts, pickled herring (obviously not a problem if I'm moving to Scandinavia, but otherwise). I'd second the need for a good pork pie too.

If I'm sending food packages to my tropical rellies I often send butterscotch.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

I prefer the US style yog(h)urt to what is available in Europe. So if anyone in the US are thinking of sending some abroad...

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :

quote:
Originally posted by piglet:
I'm a Brit Abroad™ and what we buy when we go back home includes (but is not limited to): Tiptree jam*, Bisto gravy granules, lamb and ham stock-cubes, Polo mints, Galaxy chocolate,

We can buy Bisto, Weetabix, and "proper" Heinz beans, courtesy of our local supermarket's dirty foreigner shelf, but Galaxy certainly comes back in the suitcase, along with Cadbury's Chocolate Buttons, Flakes and the like. And Cadbury's Mini Eggs for nest cakes at Easter. And sometimes tea - the Twinings English Breakfast on sale in the US doesn't seem to be the same blend as that on sale in the UK. If I could bring back a supply of non-sweet bread, I would.

I've taken to candying my own citrus peels (Christmas puddings for the use of), and whilst I miss the convenience of an Atora packet, can acquire suet from the butcher for "free".

Posted by not entirely me (# 17637) on :

I've never left the country for more than two weeks so it's hard to really know but things I missed when I did were:
tea bags
squash
decent biscuit options
British chocolate - I think some of this is because hotter countries have to add things to stop it melting.
proper bacon butties

I'm sensing that these are pretty common things to miss.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by ecumaniac:
And dukkah. I don't understand why it's so hard to buy over here.

You have a thriving Lebanese community in Australia who like it, that's why. It hasn't caught on here partly because there's just too much competition from a lot of other culinary traditions, and the fashion recently has been Spanish, though that's now starting to wane.

It took a while for shawarma, hommous and pitta bread to make it to mainstream. Give it time; with the Levantine diaspora that's currently happening, I expect it will start to make an appearance one of these days. A lot of things I never expected to see here are starting to appear in supermarkets.

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

quote:
Originally posted by not entirely me:

proper bacon butties

Proper bacon can be found in some countries if you stop trying to look for British food and think Scandewegian. D*n*sh gets everywhere.

Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :

My sister, who lives in Germany, always requests Marmite and teabags (Yorkshire tea, I think). When I lived abroad, I missed Marmite most. I took my preferred teas (rooibos and Lapsang Souchong) with me and got TME to bring extras when he came to visit.

Posted by Jade Constable (# 17175) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:

quote:
Originally posted by piglet:
I'm a Brit Abroad™ and what we buy when we go back home includes (but is not limited to): Tiptree jam*, Bisto gravy granules, lamb and ham stock-cubes, Polo mints, Galaxy chocolate,
We can buy Bisto, Weetabix, and "proper" Heinz beans, courtesy of our local supermarket's dirty foreigner shelf, but Galaxy certainly comes back in the suitcase, along with Cadbury's Chocolate Buttons, Flakes and the like. And Cadbury's Mini Eggs for nest cakes at Easter. And sometimes tea - the Twinings English Breakfast on sale in the US doesn't seem to be the same blend as that on sale in the UK. If I could bring back a supply of non-sweet bread, I would.

I've taken to candying my own citrus peels (Christmas puddings for the use of), and whilst I miss the convenience of an Atora packet, can acquire suet from the butcher for "free".

Isn't Dove chocolate the US version of Galaxy, or is it made differently?

Posted by Stercus Tauri (# 16668) on :

We're spoiled for most foods here (southern Ontario) and you can even get fiddleheads at the farmers market. One thing I miss is broad beans - I think they can grow them, but the local taste abhors them. Then there's Marmite and Aberdeen butteries... But that's what makes a trip home extra special. Marks and Spencer closed their shops in Canada ages ago, so all underwear has to be imported - nothing else will do. Books are often a problem, and have to be sent for. Postage is baffling. Last week I received a regular journal that had accidentally been given a second class stamp, and it arrived in four days anyway.

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jade Constable:
Isn't Dove chocolate the US version of Galaxy, or is it made differently?

It's different. It occupies a similar niche, but it's not at all the same stuff.

Similarly, if you buy a Mars Bar in Europe, it isn't made with the same chocolate as a UK Mars Bar (and a US Milky Way is different again).

Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :

I know it's not something that could readily be shipped, but 3 months away from home in North America last year gave me a major craving for lamb.

Also, on a previous overseas trip I was tremendously excited when I saw some Bundaberg ginger beer. I suspect if I lived overseas I'd be asking for the occasional shipment of Bundaberg ginger beer.

Posted by Ad Orientem (# 17574) on :

Tea bags. Salt and vinegar crisps. Gravy granules.

Posted by Hilda of Whitby (# 7341) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:

For many Americans, peanut butter. Yes, it's available worldwide these days, but It's Just Not The Same, I've been told. I never much liked typical American peanut butter (too sweet), so I didn't much care—but others did.

Years ago I befriended a German exchange student. He flipped for American peanut butter, bagels, and apple butter (from McCutcheons in Frederick, MD.) None of these (except perhaps the apple butter) was available in Germany at the time.

When we visited him, we brought a care package!

PS A hello wave from a Shippie who lives in Brightwood (DC) and goes to Brookland *all the time*. (Menomale!!!)

Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :

quote:
Originally posted by orfeo:
... 3 months away from home in North America last year gave me a major craving for lamb ...

You can get lamb in North America (well, in Canada anyway), but it tends to cost an arm and a leg, even if it isn't one. [Big Grin]

quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
if you buy a Mars Bar in Europe, it isn't made with the same chocolate as a UK Mars Bar ...

A friend of ours in Belfast used to reckon that Cadbury's chocolate from the Irish Republic was much nicer than the British stuff, so we always brought him back a couple of bars if we went over the border. I'm not sure that I could tell the difference: I always find Cadbury's chocolate a bit grainy anyway.

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

quote:
Originally posted by piglet:

quote:
Originally posted by orfeo:
... 3 months away from home in North America last year gave me a major craving for lamb ...
You can get lamb in North America (well, in Canada anyway), but it tends to cost an arm and a leg, even if it isn't one.

Lamb is pricey even here in Wales. When Sainsbugs have it on offer (eg, half-price) we push the boat out. It's still more expensive than anything else* because it can't be farmed as intensively.

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

Tea, and if outside of Europe a wide selection of cheeses and decent chocolate.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hilda of Whitby:
PS A hello wave from a Shippie who lives in Brightwood (DC) and goes to Brookland *all the time*. (Menomale!!!)

Mmmm, yes. A delicious import from Italy, down to the flour, tomatoes, and guy who makes the pizza.

I don't think you can usually put pizzioli in care packages, though if you poked enough air holes in the box for him...

Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :

In spite of the huge local selection of cheese available, a friend in the Netherlands wanted Tillamook Sharp Cheddar.

A 5 pound block going through the X-ray machine at airport security is enough to guarantee that my suitcase gets opened for detailed inspection.

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

Re lamb (and goat). In Canada befriend a local butcher shop. Failing that in western Canada, ask the Hutterites. It does show up in major grocery stores but is coming typically in a frozen boat from New Zealand or Australia. They seem to ship apples in the winter on other boats these days. Yet another boat for merino wool clothing, which is great on those 2 pairs of long johns plus ski pants days.

Marmite and Veggimite are available in Safeway here, and I also saw Marmite in London Drugs™.

Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on :

I am sent a parcel from abroad every Sunday morning. Can I describe to you the taste, the memories, the promise? Words fail ..........

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

Do tell!

Re weird foods going through airport scanners (TMI alert, look away NOW)--

When I was nursing LL I had way more than enough milk, and my niece in California hadn't enough for her son of the same age. So Mr. Lamb and his brother took a frozen coolerful out by plane. An odd care package, and the looks on the faces of security when they asked the two guys what it was...

Posted by PeteC (# 10422) on :

I always bring Marmite XO from England. The Canadian version is a pale and insipid dark paste compared to extra old.

I have been in UK often enough to jones for proper Cumberland sausages. And I'm a vegetarian! in the two countries I reside in.

Strangely, when I first went to India local peanut butter was available. Nowadays the only thing available is pseudo American sh*t stuffed with sugar.

I once smuggled potted Stilton to India, but it cost an arm and a leg, and I had to get Emirates to put it in their meds fridge. That took some doing.

Most other delicacies I can find, if I explore Asian grocery shops. The problem is ensuring a consistent supply.

Posted by luvanddaisies (# 5761) on :

quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
Here in Brazil, I only ask for drop (black liqorice) and nasi goreng herbs from the Netherlands.

Not Vla ? (I guess it wouldn't travel well).
I enjoyed it very much indeed when I was working on a Dutch ship.

Me? Irn Bru - ideally in a glass bottle.

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