Today I found tofu in Hungary!
Maybe not such an achievement, but seeing as I have yet to see the soy curd of the gods on any menu, I was not optomistic.
And I am getting that homey feeling from the unexpected – British products. PJ Tips! Tate & Lyle sugar! Though I prefer to avoid foreign import products when you can buy local, my Hungarian phrasebook does not distinguish between light golden brown sugar and sugar. And my “let’s show off that we yanks may know dick about foreign policy but a lot about cookies” baking required such distinction. As for tea, my options for black tea were Liptons in English, Liptons in Hungarian, and PJ Tips. PJ Tips may attempt to envoke nostalgic images of empire, but at least it’s good tea. Does it count that I bought it in the Indian / ethnic food shoppe? Which is now my new favourite store. From the street level, it looked like a place to buy some Indian beaded pillowcases like you find at Camden market and incense (which you can also find at said market). I wasn’t too excited, and almost didn’t venture inside, but boy am I glad I did! Down stairs lurks a basement filled with Indian and Carribean delights. Not the best prices, but not that bad. $1.50 for 500 grams (look it up!) of curry powder. Same for cumin and coriander. I mean, those crappy little plastic jars of McShittings or whatever cost like $4-6 at Safeway, so who’s complaining? And I really hate to say it, but the best part was that I could actually ask where to find something in English! People tell you ou can get by in Hungary on English. Sure, but you can't talk with cab drivers or shop keepers for the most part. So while my Hungarian remains capped at 5 words, this was a major occurance.
I passed on the incense sticks.
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