The latest:

>> Steve Portigal has built an excellent Foreign Groceries Museum on his site. You'll find everything from Barbie Pasta to that MDH Chunky Chat Masala (thank goodness they listed "hygienic" before "tasty" on the label!). It does lean a little heavily toward wacky Japanese products that many of you will be familiar with (Pocky for Men, etc.), but it's worth perusing.

Visiting foreign grocery stores is one of my favorite activities. Every time I visit my brother in Holland, I pester him for trips to new or familiar grocery stores so I can check out the products. We spent some quality time in grocery stores in Thailand, too. Apart from the interesting produce and native products, it's interesting to see which foreign companies have cracked through to bring their products to foreign shores. The Thai groceries carried a number of American products, particularly from our friends at Frito Lay. While it's nice to find familiar food, it's also disappointing to see the world continue to shrink, at the expense of local flavor and color.

But enough heaviness for a Sunday morning. Go check out the Spice Girls suckers on page 14!
posted by Bryan at 11:57 AM