Grocery Shopping

Yesterday, the third of October, was Der Tag der deutschen Einheit or German unification day. It celebrates the official reunification of East and West Germany 23 years ago. Although no parties or traditions seem to mark it as of yet, it does mean that nearly all shops and services are closed. Almost everyone gets the day off. As such, I decided to stay in and plan food for the week.

At first, I tried searching for cheap recipes that seemed vaguely healthy. One by one turned them down as requiring too many ingredients I did not want to buy at once. I may go back to them later, but stocking a pantry from scratch should focus on basics, not novelties. Thus, I asked myself what the one thing was I knew I absolutely had to have the ingredients to make: The answer is pancakes.

Pancakes are not my favorite food. They are not overly nutritious. They are not even all that quick if you only have a small skillet. However, for some inexplicable reason I love to make them. Buttermilk, chocolate, chocolate chip, banana, carrot, potato....something about flipping cakes on a stove makes me happy. The best part is that the ingredients to make basic pancakes also form the foundation for any number of other foods.

After that, I went for easy. Müsli and yogurt for breakfast, coldcuts and cheese with bread for lunch, and cabbage and wurst for dinner. For the first week, that will do.

Today I put my carefully (or some may say lazily) crafted shopping list and hit the discount store Netto. I had no trouble finding what I wanted until I came to the cheese section. I am no cheese buff, but I am picky. I faced a selection of cheese that were either foreign to me, expensive, or pre-sliced for your inconvenience. (Pre-slicing means higher prices for less cheese and the inability to grate it should the need arise. Moreover, they always seem to come in ridiculously small packages that would not last a week in my hands.) I found the same selection when I visited a nearby Kaisers. In the end, I decided it was better to go without than to pay for something I did not want.

An aside on discounters: Those of you who have been to Aldi have seem firsthand how these stores work. They are shops designed to come cheap. They cut down on the range of products and product brands to reduce costs. For things like eggs, the small selection does not matter and the price drop is great. For cheese...well I may have a normal supermarket in my future.

Random observation 1: The eggs (sold in 10s, not 12s) are not washed, allowing them to remain unrefrigerated for a while due to a protective layer that washing removes. I had a few feathers on my eggs.

Random Observation 2: String cheese is called cheese string.