Where was I?
Wittering on about British things. Right.
Incidentally, Asda do very good cakes. The expensive ones, that is. The cheap ones have all of the mouthwatering consistency of damp sawdust.
I've started thinking about things I use over here, and whether they're available in the US...all the time. Shaving, it's 'I wonder if they have this menthol stuff in the States? Should I buy a few tubes to take?'...and cooking up dinner, after failing to spot Garam Masala in the Tradefair in Queens, 'I wonder if it was just that store? I use it a lot...should I buy some to take?'...and all of this is completely academic, because regardless of the fact that I'm sure I can get pretty much anything in New York if I look hard enough, I won't have enough room in my bags because of the amassed bulk of hundreds of Coke-flavoured Chupa-chups and every pack of Horlicks in Hertfordshire.
Not for me you understand.
It's just that life in New York would get off to a bad start if I didn't cater for the whims of a couple of young ladies.
Incidentally, someone told me the other day that there's no beer in America stronger than 4%...er...dissuade me of this, someone.
Apparently, US chocolate is crap?
Unable to comment personally, as I don't eat the stuff here either.
Don't know about that, Mr.D...I bought a Hershey bar to get change for a bus when I was there and it was so rich I was nearly sick.
Actually...that might be what you mean, hey.
I live in a small Midwestern town and I can find it at my local grocery store. So you should be able to find garam masala (or anything else, for that matter) in New York. If you're a fan of Maltesers, though, I recommend bringing loads of them because I've been unable to get them here and Whoppers just don't quite compare.
Re: beer. Not true. Well, the Monty Python-ism about American beer being fucking close to water is true for the big brewery brands, but there are lots of fantastic microbrews.
Check if they have any Canadian beers. Also, beware of tea. Americans understand tea as an orange substance in texture and taste rather as if somebody had lovingly dissolved a brick in hot water. I used to have to bring rescue packages of actual tea to my sister in New York.
There's loads of those online sweet shops for getting stuff like maltesers to ex-pats isn't there. There's always a way with this sort of thing :-)
They have stella. Although I rather drink American beer.
Er, yes, Adrian, me too to begin with, but I can't abide the thought that the Stella over there will have been brutally toned down to 4% for the US.
Trish: I'm not a massive fan of maltesers, so I should be okay. I thought the lack of a major spice might have been a quirk of that one store! Krissa doesn't like it much in there anyway...
Dan: Stop it! My sides still ache from your post.
Have you read the Douglas Adams essay on why Americans don't like tea?
Their is a bar in DC called the brickskeller. It has 800+ beers on the meny when I was there.
If you get desperate it will have salvation.
Americans do like tea!
Well, some of them, anyway.
Adrian - it's not the lack of beer that was the problem, just that there is no such thing as, say, 'export strength' in the US - that no beer can have any character beyond an imposed 4%.
Erm. Just to clarify at this point, I'm nto a raving beer-loony. I just like variety in almost all things....
USA beers can be over 5%. It's just a tax thing at 4% so most normal beers are bit lower. You'll find normal strength beer.
The brickskeller had one beer that was 13%
*sinks gratefully into a cup of tea*
Cheers Adrian.
I'll stand you one next time you drop in.
Will hold you to that.
Cricket?
Oh yes. Let me check.
It is hard to find "beer" at a 4+% strength. However, that's because after 4% they call it "ale." There's lots of fine strong ale out there, though you'll want to be concentrating on the smaller brewhouses like Anderson Valley and Anchor Steam and such. Those are the west coast preferences, I suppose they'll have something analogous in the windy apple.
Garam masala is widely available, as is pani puri masala, super stinky masala, and curious odor masala. Remember, this continent used to belong to the indians.
And for every piece of chocolate candy we can't do properly, there is a gallon of ice cream that we do exceptionally well. Plus, baseball is just cricket without the silly off-wicket. And french is italian with a snail in your mouth. It's just that easy! Welcome aboard!
Jeez Dan, you make it sound like the whole country is about to hurriedly steam/sail off somewhere...
:-)
Cheers!
Oh my....you poor mislead Brit. Fear not, a few other of your ex-pats have come here and set up lovely shops with most of your beloved items available to ship right to your doorstep. If you are interested in a few, let me know via email and I'll forward you the URL's. Since husband has moved over we have managed to find Yorkshire Gold tea, Bisto, Urn-Bru, most Patek's products (if you wish for Garam Masala, check my Indian section on my cooking site for recipes http://countingsheep.typepad.com/amuse_bouche/)
rowntree jellies, Heinz sponge puddings, Bird's custard, Walker's crips, a whole host of chocolate bars (and Brit agrees about most of our chocolate not being as good), Ribena, mushy peas, heinz beans and soups, devon double cream in pots, lem-sip, rennies, Zingermans.com will get you a delivery a Neil's cheese yard cheddar and Lancashire, stilton, cheshire, etc.
Fear not.....you shan't go into withdrawl.
And for good beer of a decent strength find your nearest brewpub and make good friends with the servers. Just get used to your beer being served cold.