Coconut Jelly

We’ve ventured to the two grocery stores closest to our house: S&R, a Costco-style store complete with the Kirkland brand and jars of Ragu spaghetti sauce large enough to last a year, and S&M Hypermarket, a Target-like store with household items, clothes, and a large grocery section. Both contain a mix of the familiar – from Gold Medal All-Purpose Flour to Special K Red Berries – to the strange – half and aisle of various brands of coconut jelly and an entire aisle devoted to canned meat (SPAM, corned beef hash, and Vienna sausages galore). A friend kindly told us about an organic store which stocks a bunch of gluten-free options for my mom.

Seeing so many American and, to be honest, Japanese brands was very reassuring, leaving a first impression that most foods would be available here. Dairy products are generally shipped from California or Australia, so the taste is familiar. The Asian section has everything from Bulldog sauce to Pocky. Such a difference from Hyderabad! By the time we left it, between the four import grocery stores we could find most things, but it was always hit or miss. Here the import foods seem par for the course.

I am going to try and avoid the processed foods here as almost all the ingredient lists I’ve read contain MSG and large quantities of sodium and sugar. True of many processed foods in the US, too, but combined questionable food-safety processing techniques, I have my worries. A coworker said she found the best fruits and veggies at a Saturday market – so hopefully we can make it out to that soon.

Strangely, I have not yet found beans and lentils (aside from canned pork and beans), either canned or dry varieties. I had adjusted our eating habits after two years in India with more kinds of beans and lentils than I could keep straight. A trip to an Indian grocer might just be in order!

If anyone knows just what exactly one does with coconut jelly, do share. The SPAM I think I'll just let be.