Food

So...lots of people have asked about the food here in Johannesburg.  We've got a love/hate relationship with food.

Going out is incredible.  Not only is the food really good...but it's crazy inexpensive.  I mean 2 full meals cost less than what we'd pay for one at home.  When it comes to tabulating the tip we feel a little guilty because 15-20% of not a lot is next to nothing!

We'll never be true foodies...I think you're supposed to take a picture of it before you eat it...but, well, you know!  We forgot, and then it was gone!

So, the eating out is way fun and yummy!  We've had to make some adjustments when it comes to regular food and snacks you buy at the store....the joke here is that things "almost" taste like at home.  Ketchup is called tomato sauce and coming out of the bottle it looks like the right color, but when it's out it has the color of raspberries...a little too pink.  And the taste isn't the same at all.  We went to Burger King (2 whopper meals for $8.00) and I was thrilled that they gave out Heinz Ketchup in the packets.  I collected all the unused packets from our group and have hoarded them.  They don't really do Mexican food here, so there's no spices for Taco Soup (which is our go to fast meal).  The fruits and vegetables are stellar.  (It's winter here so summer fruits are being shipped in from Egypt!)  hamburger is called beef mince.  bacon is called streaky bacon (regular bacon is not sliced).  None of the breakfast cereals we've tried are any good.  My breakfast of choice is yogurt with fruit and granola....which isn't bad!  So eating out is great and regular food "almost" tastes like what we're used to.

But I do have a complaint.  I almost called this post "The #1 thing I Hate about South Africa".  Baking ingredients as we know them do not exist in South Africa.  They have cake flour and bread flour....which you have to mix half and half to have all purpose flour.  The sugar is very coarse.  Brown sugar is just colored white sugar.  It isn't moist...it's just like brown white sugar.  I can't find kosher salt.  (I even stopped a fellow wearing a yammukah and asked him if he knew where I could find it.  He was no help.)  No chocolate chips...they do sell some....but they are mini, mini and they are sold in a container smaller than a cupcake liner.  No karo syrup.  The coconut they have is ground fine like flour.  Yeah.  I'm stymied.  So far we've made good pancakes and good currant scones.  And then there's the lemon bars that we threw in the trash bin!  Ah!  The corn meal is ground very fine like flour and it makes corn bread better than Marie Calendar's!  

So...we keep trying new things....trying to get things to taste like the things we're used to.  (Kind of crazy, I know!)  But there's your answer to the question of, How's the Food?