It's the little things you miss, isn't it? I left the US in 1987 and the things I miss most (food-wise) are (not necessarily in order):
1.
frothy/foamy root beer (the real stuff, as I remember it)
I'm sorry to say that Sainsburys root beer just doesn't cut it. In the last year they've started selling A&W root beer in the shop at my university. It's the only place in the whole of Ireland, North or South, where I've seen it. I was shocked to walk into the shop and see stacks of A&W root beer and cream soda and Mountain Dew in the shop. I think I immediately bought 4 cans of the root beer to make sure that they wouldn't take it off the shelves after week or so (alas, it seems to be the fate of a lot of American products in UK supermarkets
). I suppose the A&W was brought in to cater to the US exchange students at the uni and it seems to have caught on with a few local students as well.
The A&W in cans, alas, is not foamy but has got that distinctive root beer taste I remember so well (that most non-Americans liken to medicine or mouthwash
). If they've got the technology to make canned foamy Guinness (like the draught stuff) they should be able to make frothy canned root beer.
I remember going to McDonalds in London (when I lived there in the late 80s) just to get root beer (that was the only reason - I'd then go drink it with an Indian take-away - I alway liked root beer with Mexican food as well, for some reason
) but they stopped selling it at the end of the decade. I once saw it in a corner shop in Cambridge as well when I went there for a brief visit in the mid-90s.
Oh, for a frosty mug of foamy root beer!
2.
Pecan SandiesI've never seen anything even remotely resembling them on this side of the pond. As I said, it's funny the things you miss (I never gave them much thought when I was still living in the US - always liked them though and would have got them occasionally when I was there)
3.
BuglesA very distinctive corny taste. My instincts tell me these would do well on this side of the water (then again, maybe not...).
4.
Corn-nutsWhenever I go back to the US I always gorge myself on these to the point of getting a mouth ulcers (all the salt, I suppose). It’s probably just as well that they don’t sell them here.
5.
Flavoured sparkling water (
unsweetened !)
There’s no reason why this shouldn’t be sold in Britain and Ireland. They sell fruit-essence-flavoured sparkling water in UK supermarkets but insist on sweetening it with aspartame and all that rubbish. Surely if there’s a market for sparkling mineral water, I would think there would be a market for essence-flavoured sparkling water (
unsweetened !). I’ve never even seen it introduced anywhere in Britain or Ireland. Come on, lads, make an effort to provide a better selection of healthy options !
6.
soft chocolate chip cookies My local Tescos used to sell them (not the over-priced ones from the bakery but the reasonably-priced ones in packets) and then they suddenly stopped. Safeways sold them as well and then they stopped. I don’t remember if Sainsburys ever sold them but I they had, I’m sure they would have stopped by now.
Sometimes I wonder if there’s a conspiracy to remove all the things I really like from my local Tescos. They’ve recently stopped stocking Welch’s grape juice - the purple-coloured stuff you don’t see in Europe. (I've never seen it anyway) Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. It reminded me of my junior high days (no Pepsi or Coke in those days in my school’s snack bar – just Welch’s unsweetened grape juice).
Thanks for reading; I enjoyed sharing that wee rant with ye.
