An Expat Munchies Crisis
I suspect I’m not alone in occasionally suffering from a sudden, insatiable craving for some stray food – be it custard cream puffs, chunky mashed potatoes with gobs of melted butter and sour cream, or a plateful of corned beef and cabbage. That **gotta-have** moment when you need to stuff your face with “it” RIGHT.NOW.
And so it was that just yesterday, I happened to be filling my basket with the usual ho-hum grocery items (T.P. “Braun 9 Cereales Pan Integral”, “pollo” boullion, etc.) at my local El Centro “Supermercado” when…
I was suddenly struck with an urgent compulsion for (of all things) CHILI DOGS!
Indeed, as I passed the packaged luncheon meat aisle, in but a nanosecond – I obsessively grabbed a package of “Fraile SALCHICHA SUPER” frankfurters (you know, the one with the hot dog drizzled with a squiggle of bright yellow mustard on the label). This, followed swiftly by a frantic dart amid the store aisles for a facsimile of “Chile con Carne” (I mean, even we native English speakers recognize the name in Spanish, no?) Ah but the best I could find was a can of “Frejol con Carne Molida de Res” – alas a dismal concoction of mostly frijoles with a smidge of carne in a pathetically thin, pale sauce.
I mean… we expats (freely!) CHOOSE to live in these foreign lands rather than amid the abundance in our native land. So it’s up to us to make the best of both the (few) downsides and inconveniences – along with the (bountiful!) upsides in our adopted home.
Nonetheless… we expats are nothing if not patiently adaptable to settling for “whatever-we-can-get”, yes? After all, to do otherwise is to live in a perpetual state of agitation and disappointment.
And I might add – personally, I actually ENJOY the challenges of adapting and noodling out homemade substitutes for my favorite childhood comfort foods, and/or “making-do”.
But getting back to that pathetic “chili”… I also needed the requisite hot dog buns, along with grated cheddar cheese, yes?
The former was easy – we’ve got hot dog buns aplenty here, in 2 sizes (“super” long and regular) and both plain and w/ sesame seeds.
But the “queso javierno” (i.e. the closest thing to cheddar cheese here in Cuenca)? Unfortunately, even that was out of stock (as are many favored products from week-to-week, even at the more Gringo “Supermaxi”). So… I had to once again, “settle for” a round of gouda that I happened to have at home instead. Whatever, cheese is pretty much cheese when shredded atop a chili dog, no?
<---- This is what I toted home to Casa Dyannita.
Oh, and in the “Uh, Todo – we surely ain’t in the U.S. of A. anymore” Department, I very nearly grilled the hot dog without first removing the… WTF? The INDIVIDUAL plastic wrapper on each one!
And thanks to my beloved little toaster-oven (I don’t have a full-blown “horno” in my “cocina”) to gently brown the buns, along with a skewer to grill the hot dog over an open gas flame on my stove (I much prefer it to boring boiled hot dogs)…
I was soon in Chili.Dog.Business!
Indeed, so delicious was the combo of toasted bun, tangy mustard, crunchy chopped onion, and even the bogus “cheddar” and the heated gob of pathetic “chili con carne”… I do believe the charred hot dog itself was pretty much irrelevant.
Furthermore, the first chili dog turned out so tasty…
I swiftly made another one!
And – as if downing two chili dogs inside of 15 MINUTES wasn’t enough…
I then shoveled a scoop of chocolate nut ice cream into my mouth for good measure!
What can I say? Sometimes (an expat) girl’s just gotta do what she’s gotta do. 🙂
What about you? What comfort food cravings have you had? And if an expat – how have you “made do” with a lack of the ingredients from your native land?
About the Author
Dyanne Off-the-beaten-path travel is my passion,and I’ve always lived life “like-a-kid-in-a-candy-store” – eager to sample as many flavors as I can. Indeed, my life motto has long been: This ain’t a dress rehearsal, folks!
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Off-the-beaten-path travel is my passion, and I’ve always lived life “like a kid in a candy store” – eager to sample as many flavors as I can. Indeed, my life motto has long been:
Great header photo Dyanne – I can almost taste that first (enormous?) bite! And how hilarious to find out that each hot dog was individually wrapped. 😆 I well remember our search for anything resembling an aged cheddar cheese (What, no Tillamook cheddar?) as we traveled through Central and South America. A good smoked ham, corned beef and cabbage, and pumpkin pie have also appeared on our cravings list from time to time. Funnily enough, with an upcoming trip back to the US I found myself compiling a list of “must eat” foods and a hot dog-on-a-bun was near the top!
I KNOW, Anita – what’s with individually plastic-encased dogs??? From the pic it looks like the plastic was obvious, but the writing was only on one side. At first I didn’t see it and very nearly roasted the dog WITH the plastic!
And yes, don’t remind me… Tillamook cheddar, corned beef, Reese’s peanut butter cups – ahhhhhhhh!
Ha ha! I can relate… I’ve been eating M&Ms by the barrelful here in Vietnam. In the US I could go for years without buying a bag of M&Ms, but there aren’t many chocolate options here. And a girl’s gotta do what she’s gotta do…! 😀
Great to see you come up for air, Cindy! So now you’re in my beloved Vietnam, eh? What are you up to there – teaching EFL? Just playing?
And yes, yes – we nomads never know just what crazy craving might strike. I honestly don’t recall M&Ms for sale there, but glad you’re getting your fill!