Moved East

markowe · Last edited by markowe on Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:15 pm; edited 1 time in total

There is some stuff you just cannot seem to be able to get anywhere in CEE and the Balkans, despite the proliferation of Tesco, and all those other Western chains, and the huge increase in choice in recent years.

Maybe you have a pet gripe? Or maybe you have the solution!

For example, where, within a radius of 200km of Serbia can I get Shredded Wheat - THE PERFECT breakfast cereal?! I have been to most of the countries that figure on this forum, and have not found it ANYWHERE, despite the availability of EVERY other Kellogs abomination (the ones with all the sugar and chocolate). And it's not the sort of thing I can bring over from the UK - I go very rarely, and then there just ain't room for 20 boxes of the stuff!
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eric · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 1

Sorry, can't help you with Shredded Wheat, but another one is English tea. You just can't buy anything that can make a REAL English cuppa. There are lots of teas bearing such names as London, Big Ben, etc. but when you actually try them you realise they are just not right somehow.

markowe · Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:08 pm Post subject:

adam562 · Joined: 18 Oct 2007 Posts: 16 Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Oh please don't remind me about tea Shocked

I used up my supply of 200 Tetley Tea bags this week. Although, this Indiski crni caj (Indian Black Tea) which judging by the packaging comes from Slovenia seems to be doing the job - to a certain extent at least, something's just not quite right!

Now, I generally don't get nostalgic for good old British food products here in Belgrade (I've got my extra large tub of Bisto gravy granules) and I seem to have altered my taste buds sufficently enough to wolf down all kinds of lovely Serbian foods but what I do miss the most out of anything - SALT & VINEGAR CRISPS!

You just can't seem to get them anywhere outside the UK Crying or Very sad

markowe · Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:55 am Post subject:

Hey Adam!

YEESS! That's another one! Salt and Vinegar crisps! OK, so they are a bit weird if you think about it. But they could at least try and see if people would get into them! Even Pringles would do, but no, all they import are the "paprika", "sour cream" bla bla, whatever, types.

Oh wait, I get it, someone has done some market research and concluded that paprika and sour cream is what people eat in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, so that's what flavour crisps they have targeted at these markets. Makes sense now I think about it...

I know the opinions of a few expats add hardly enough weight to influence a major producer, but who knows, maybe if we all write... Smile

By the way, you haven't been in Serbia that long, have you? How did you get through 200 teabags that quickly?!

Yes, I know those various home-brewed (as it were) brands of tea, but as you say, there's something not quite right. English teas are blended very specifically with the English palate in mind, and there is just no imitation that will do...!
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It's Gotta Be Red Buy red stuff, see red things and learn all about the wonderful colour red!
MTB-Serbia - Mountain-biking where it's wild and free

adam562 · Joined: 18 Oct 2007 Posts: 16 Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Yes, I remember noticing those all so familiar pringles tubes and immediately gravited towards them - blindly driven by my reasoning that Pringles are not Serbian - perhaps they've imported salt and vinegar flavour! But no....I was also greeted with Paprika flavour. It seems to have become a habit of mine that whenever I'm within range of a supermarket shelf stocked with crisps to scan it for any hint of the colour blue! If it's blue coloured it should be salt and vinegar, right? No - that's the colour for, wait for it - teriyaki salad Crying or Very sad

I drink lot's of tea Laughing

It averages out to 3 cups a day since I got here (plus my Serbian friends seem to love Teltey too)

Krsto · Joined: 18 Oct 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Novi Sad Serbia

Anybody seen Marmite about? The mind boggles as to what the locals would do with it.

markowe · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:24 pm Post subject: Re: Marmite

Laura9654 · Joined: 08 Dec 2007 Posts: 23

I have my marmite, but the jar sits there unopened. I don't have a toaster. Although I'm sure that there are toasters here.

No-one here has a microwave (I guess BG kitchens are too small), tumble driers (it's hot today, around 20 degrees in March, so that explains that one) or A TIN OPENER.

I think Adam has one of five working tin openers in SEE. I have purchased two now, and neither of them work. My parents had one in their suitcases, but Terminal five have gone and lost their luggage....

I found another one today, maybe it will work.

Another thing I miss is the lack of actual herbal tea - well, fennel. Fruit tea, you can get by the shedload, and you cna get mint or camillie... but anything more exciting is not there.

I have two boxes of fennel tea somewhere in terminal five too.

However, there are things you can get here that you can't get in the UK. Onion flavoured bake rolls (yum) and frozen roasted paprika (yummy and very useful).

Laura9654 · Joined: 08 Dec 2007 Posts: 23

I have more things that I want to add to the list of things you can't get in Serbia.

1) Hummous. Seriously. 800 years of Turkish occupation, and there's no hummous? Apparently, you can purchase it at SuperVero in Novi Belgrad, but I have not seen it there yet.

2) Guidebooks to Romania. I checked every bookshop in Belgrade and Novi Sad, and was unable to locate one. Mind you, every Serb I spoke to before I went to Romania thought I was barking mad.