Reasonable Facsimiles

It's hard to be a fan of "international" food sometimes, if you can't find the food in question, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, when you get back home.

I fell in love with Jaffa Cakes in Ireland, after we bought a box at a gas station. We brought two boxes home with us, and I managed to hoard the last one for almost a year, but then we hit the hard part. They apparently aren't imported to the U.S. a lot (unless you want to pay through the nose for them). Amazon sells them for $5.15 a box, plus $7.15 shipping. For a box of 12, that we spent maybe $3 on in Ireland. Oy.

Jaffa Cakes are these scrumptious cookies/biscuits/cakes with a layer of sponge (?) cake, orange jelly-like filling, and dark chocolate on top. Lovely things, although after a few months, they're a bit dry. We've found a reasonable substitute from LU Pims, but they're also imported (from France, it seems), and not always stocked at the local store.

Sweet Candy in Utah makes chocolate sticks with orange or other fillings, which are yummy. It's kind of like a Jaffa without the Cake.

In Canada, I found mint Aero bars, which are a candy bar type thing. The filling is this fluffy mint-flavored stuff, sort of looks like honeycomb or foam, not mushy but just a bit crisp. And covered in chocolate. Haven't found anything like an Aero in the States. Next time my sister goes into Canada, I'll have to beg her to buy some Aeros for me. She claims you can find them in Detroit/Dearborn, too. I can apparently buy them online for 59p from the UK, but I hate to think what shipping would be. :) Oh, my - there's a caramel version too. Yummmmm.

And then we bought a tin of gingersnaps at Ikea when we went to Atlanta last year. El Burrito loves them, but Sis says Ikea only carries them at the holidays. We bought a bag of gingersnaps (organic) last week, but they're not the same. Thicker, very hard to bite, and they've got a zing to them. This week, I found a box of Anna's Ginger Thins (Canadian) in the teeny "international" section at HyVee, and they're very very close to the Ikea ginger snaps. Plus, not too pricey, at $1.99 for 150g. Not cheap, but we'll have to use some self control and not eat the whole box at once, unless HyVee starts to carry the 3-pound box.

One of these days, I need to take a trip to the international-foods store on the south end of town. I'd probably come home with all sorts of food I've heard people talk about (the downside of being on international chatlists - hearing about Hob Nobs and Tim Tams and Jaffas and other diet-dangerous goodies).