Since we still haven’t gotten our HHG (household goods), we’re in a bit of a slump when it comes to eating at home. Because we can order anything and everything to be delivered (McDonald’s, KFC, and Lebanese “Chipotle,” were all this past week) at the last minute it’s easier to pick up the phone at the end of the day than head into the kitchen. Especially when the kids eat through anything I buy like a school of piranhas, it’s a bit difficult to keep the pantry stocked with things I want to cook.
In anticipation of our things arriving this week we headed to the big grocery store today. The variety of products available here rivals anything in the US. Kamut, quinoa, spelt and all the other trendy not-grains, organic everything, and alternative milks for every kind of diet — including camel milk. I’m sure some of it is more expensive than in the US, but I can’t be sure since it’s been over 3 years since I’ve been to a US grocery store.
But unless the US has changed drastically in that time, I know you can’t find these items on the shelf at Safeway: beef hearts, lamb feet, cow feet, beef kidneys, lamb hearts and brains and more of the interesting animal cuts. (I only bought the lamb feet because I’m going to give them to the dog as a chew.)
More exotics: banana flowers, tapioca, and the brown things on the front left that I can’t identify. I’m completely clueless with a lot of the produce at the store and often wish I had a cultural expert who could tell me what things are and how to cook them. Since the UAE is populated with cultures from around the globe (estimates are that only 10-20% are Emirati) there are specialty food items from everywhere. My favorite exotic discovery was on the Russian food aisle where we found fantastic sour pickles and a spicy red pepper paste called Ajvar.
After we pick out our produce items, we have to have it weighed by people working in the produce department before heading to the checkout counters in the front of the store. It’s always a pain when I go to pay and find that a bag of cilantro or chiles was hidden under the bread and missed getting weighed. Then it’s either run back to the counter myself to get the price sticker or sometimes the checker will send the bagger back to have the item weighed. Either way, sorry to the people behind me!
The photo above shows what happens when I’m not paying attention — someone keyed in the wrong code and I was charged $57 for 2 eggplant. Oops. Groceries are expensive here, but not that outrageous. Luckily it was an easy stop at customer service for a refund.
We may have access to a great variety of food, but when looking for a toilet plunger, the choices are sorely lacking. The only ones we’ve found have a 12 inch handle and look like they are made for a doll sized toilet. I guess we’ll have to shop for home goods at the hardware store.
Only 2 more days until our move begins/finishes! I’m tired of being in limbo!