Posted on 01/04/2005 10:34:09 AM PST by jjbrouwer
Dave Darlington is a man with a mission: to bring British and American food to a car park near you.
From Betty Crocker's Carrot Cake Mix to a four-pack of Tetley's bitter, Dave's company, Food From Home, has been supplying the Danish public with over 700 different products from his warehouse based in Randers in Jutland since December 2000.
While Dave has been delighted with the response from the expat community, the Danes queuing at his lorries' pick-up points came as something of a surprise. As did their favourite products.
"Salt and Vinegar Crisps," says Dave. "The Danes buy them by the box."
Crumpets, pork pies and sausages are also popular among the Danes. As is Danish bacon - imported from Manchester.
"You can't get the good lean cuts here - only the streaky stuff," he says. "Now the Danes are seeing how good their bacon really is, and they love it."
Selling herring to the Swedes may prove to be a little more challenging, but Dave, a former DJ, is undaunted.
Encouraged by a Swedish journalist who came across the company on a trip to Denmark, Dave began hopping over the Öresund Bridge to Malmö back in March. Now his lorries, fully kitted out with shelves and fridges, visit Lund and Helsingborg once a month and he plans to work his way up the country.
Next on the list is Halmstad.
"We aim at the smaller towns and cities, where you just can't get this kind of thing," says Dave. "Everywhere we've been in Sweden so far, we've had a fantastic reaction."
So whether you're craving for a packet of Jaffa Cakes or a jar of Welch's Grape Jelly, look for the man in the van. Don't expect booze though - you'll still have to go to Systembolaget for that.
My mate is a butcher, who makes his own.
I had some excellent Venison sausages for Christmas.
He also does some Lamb with Mint. Plus his Pork and Apple are also up there with the best.
I doubt the quality could be matched, by anything available over the pond there.
At the moment there is no Masa Harina in the entire country of Malaysia. I cannot make flour tortillas.
Last month - We could not find Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, dried ancho chiles, allspice seeds or Pace Picante Sauce (Hot).
The month before I found Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and grabbed an entire box - (kids eat it)
There are many things we can never get here and we just have to make due.
I feel your pain! While I'm in the States, I miss Yorkshire tea and baked beans.
Baked Beans on Toast and HP sauce are two of them. The eat beans on toast for breakfast and pour HP on lots of stuff still.
I have had to settle for HP when I could not find A1 sauce.
I prefer Worcester Sauce or Lea and Perrins to HP or A1.
Of course, they (baked beans) may mean something entirely different across the pond.
If there is a CostPlus World Market near you, you're in luck. They carry English baked beans, PG Tips and Typhoo. They also have Branston Pickle, for which there is no satisfactory American equivalent.
Alas, I have yet to find a source for pork pies, and so must make them myself once a year :(
Most stores here in the Northeast carry Heinz baked beans. Just get out your toaster! I love British food and always bring home care packages on my annual trip to London: HP Sauce, Branston Pickle, digestive biscuits, Stilton cheese, mince pies, cranberry sauce from Fortnum's and sandwiches from Pret a Manger - although the last time at Kennedy, the sniff dog took them away from me.
I agree completely. And done with some Mash, onion gravy and a bit of mustard, they're utterly sublime. Argh, you've made me hungry now...
You may want to start stocking up!
Branston lovers fork out £16 for endangered pickle
By Caroline Muspratt (Filed: 03/11/2004)
Sellers are cashing in on a predicted shortage of Branston Pickle as its maker warned of panic buying after a fire at the factory.
Premier Foods said it only had enough stock to cover about two weeks of sales after a fire at its Bury St Edmunds factory last week.
Jars of Branston Pickle were selling for as much as £16 on online auction site Ebay last night.
Premier Foods said the fire had caused "significant damage" to the machinery, boilers and electrical supply, halting production. A spokesman said: "We could possibly see a shortage in the supermarkets."
Premier Foods said part-production of Branston Pickle would resume in three weeks but production would not return to normal levels until December or January. It normally sells 28m jars a year "and Christmas is the busiest time", a spokesman said. Fans of the product are said to include Naomi Campbell and Catherine Zeta Jones.
Sellers were quick to take advantage of the news, advertising "rare" jars of Branston Pickle on Ebay. A 310g jar, costing 64p in supermarkets, was typically being offered from 99p-£1.50 while a 450g jar, usual retail value 90p, was offered for £1.50-£2.00. One seller advertised the product saying: "The factory may have burnt down but you can still get yours on Ebay!" One auction appeared to have reached £16 with five days left to run, though the seller has promised to donate the profits to charity. The seller described the product as "the Rolls-Royce in this highly competitive market".
Other products made at the Bury St Edmunds factory, including Haywards pickles and Loyd Grossman sauces, will be temporarily outsourced to other manufacturers. Branston Pickle production will not be outsourced "because of the way it is made".
The company said: "We may experience significant short-term customer demand which may result in the current stock being sold through much quicker than would be normal."
However, a spokesman for Tesco said yesterday: "We haven't had any problems at all so I can't really say there is a shortage at the moment."
www.telegraph.co.uk
My favourite comfort food is roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
I made that for X-mas. I make a good Yorkshire pudding....
A good old-fashioned Roast is definately up there, but I'd have to go for Steak and Kidney pudding as the comfort food of choice- an absolute bugger to make, but well worth the effort. Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall's one can't be beaten.
Those use to be my favorite until I discovered Lays dill pickle chips. I can't eat just one ......bag!
There used to be a little restaurant in St Ives called Hobblers which made the best steak and kidney I've ever tasted. Then we had the mad cow scare and they started using Argie beef. Never tasted the same after that. They did however do a delicious fish soup.
There was this pub in london that made a steak and kidney pie with a layer of melted stilton just under the top crust. Heaven, it was heaven.
That does sound good...
It's been brilliant to see this renaissance in English food over the last few years actually; our traditional stuff really can hold it's own with the various continental styles and it's great to see all that rubbish about English food being disgusting and bland is being challenged.
Nonsense about bland food. The truth is most Brits have a taste for spicy food, which is why Chicken Tikka Masala is the most popular dish served in England. Even if it is Indian...
I know--I think the article said "crisps"--but, American that I am, I typed "chips" without even thinking about it!
I was in London recently with my mom and she kept asking for chips, meaning crisps or potato chips. I had to keep correcting her or she'd have ended up with fries/chips every time. After a week, she was still doing it but then catching herself right away. Our servers always thought she was funny because of her reaction when she realized she'd said it wrong yet again. She just told them that she's so old that her brain can't process a new name for things. No one seemed to mind!
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