I love grocery shopping. There's something about all those ingredients, waiting to be turned into something delicious. Even the detergents are hopeful and exciting, with their promise of fresh-smelling clothes and stain-free countertops. If you think about it, the weekly grocery shop is a shot at renewal; kind of like New Years (a chance to get healthy, more organised, etc) without as much weight riding on it.
I especially enjoy browsing the grocery aisles overseas. All those products with their unfamiliar packaging, so exotically enticing...if only our exchange rate were a little more favourable, I wouldn't still be wondering about the chai-flavoured yoghurt in Italy. And if I was even half as fluent in Spanish as my three-year-old, I wouldn't have made the mistake of taking a giant bite of mouth-gumming butter, thinking it was cheese (in fairness, my visit to Argentina took place pre-Dora).
Such absorbed do I become in my scrutiny of international products that, in Spain, a kindly local mistook my curiosity about the chocolates on display in a vending machine for rabid hunger, and generously pressed some euros into my palm. That was the same holiday a shopkeeper demanded to search my backpack, thinking that I had lifted some watches, so the message is clear: I'm obviously not a glamorous traveller.
So it's just as well that there are secret spots where you can buy foreign delicacies without having to leave Jo'burg. One of these is Van Gaalen Kaasmakerij, where apart from a cheese tasting room and restaurant, you'll also find a deli full of Dutch goodies.
That's where I stumbled across my new favourite thing: cookie butter. If you can't quite get excited by the thought of mashed up Maries, be assured that this is nothing like the dry paste you're imagining. Rather, it's a blend of Dutch speculoos biscuits with condensed milk and oils (look, no one pretended this was a health food) that is at once creamy and slightly crunchy, ginger-ish and cinamonny and completely delectable. I've read that, in Europe, it's often used in confectionery. Some websites suggest that you use it as a dip for apple wedges or pretzels, but I like to wait until my kids are asleep and my husband is out (because no matter what anyone says, sharing isn't all it's cut out to be), getting a spoon and eating it out the jar. Judge not until you have sampled cookie butter for yourself: it's the kind of thing that's going to make winter a whole lot more bearable.
In case you can't make it out to Hartebeespoort to buy your own jar, I've tracked down this recipe from LifeHacker.
I especially enjoy browsing the grocery aisles overseas. All those products with their unfamiliar packaging, so exotically enticing...if only our exchange rate were a little more favourable, I wouldn't still be wondering about the chai-flavoured yoghurt in Italy. And if I was even half as fluent in Spanish as my three-year-old, I wouldn't have made the mistake of taking a giant bite of mouth-gumming butter, thinking it was cheese (in fairness, my visit to Argentina took place pre-Dora).
Such absorbed do I become in my scrutiny of international products that, in Spain, a kindly local mistook my curiosity about the chocolates on display in a vending machine for rabid hunger, and generously pressed some euros into my palm. That was the same holiday a shopkeeper demanded to search my backpack, thinking that I had lifted some watches, so the message is clear: I'm obviously not a glamorous traveller.
So it's just as well that there are secret spots where you can buy foreign delicacies without having to leave Jo'burg. One of these is Van Gaalen Kaasmakerij, where apart from a cheese tasting room and restaurant, you'll also find a deli full of Dutch goodies.
That's where I stumbled across my new favourite thing: cookie butter. If you can't quite get excited by the thought of mashed up Maries, be assured that this is nothing like the dry paste you're imagining. Rather, it's a blend of Dutch speculoos biscuits with condensed milk and oils (look, no one pretended this was a health food) that is at once creamy and slightly crunchy, ginger-ish and cinamonny and completely delectable. I've read that, in Europe, it's often used in confectionery. Some websites suggest that you use it as a dip for apple wedges or pretzels, but I like to wait until my kids are asleep and my husband is out (because no matter what anyone says, sharing isn't all it's cut out to be), getting a spoon and eating it out the jar. Judge not until you have sampled cookie butter for yourself: it's the kind of thing that's going to make winter a whole lot more bearable.
In case you can't make it out to Hartebeespoort to buy your own jar, I've tracked down this recipe from LifeHacker.
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