Comfort Stuff!

Have you ever thought about how food roots us to our past, to places, events and a culture? It’s one of those things that really hits you after a time away. My parents announced that they were going grocery shopping to a big supermarket about 20 miles away (yes, that’s how far in the backwoods of rural England I live) and I was like, “I’m coming, what time are we leaving?”

Wandering around Morrisons was like going into Santa’s Grotto as a kid … I wanted everything there was. The difference is that when I was a kid I wasn’t allowed it … now I get what I want. One of the advantages of being the youngest child returning home from abroad is that Mum never says “No”!

The best find of all was some Tunnock’s “Caramel” biscuits. These are a delicious confection of wafer, caramel and chocolate, made by the millions in Scotland but not always readily available south of the border … “and no, mother, they don’t have them in the States.”

Of course, for every Tunnock’s Caramel, faggots or onion bhaji that I reclaim for my diet, there is something else that I miss … a bloody good latte being one!
As much as I sometimes like the idea of being able to find my favorite American things over here, and the best of British over there, the truth is that it’s missing and then re-discovering these favorite things that makes Atlantic hopping so much fun!