It’s British week at Aldi Süd!

“British Isles” week (photo © Aldi Süd)

Recently, The Diary of Sugar and Spice had a post about American week at Aldi Süd (there are two versions of Aldi here in Germany – Süd (South) and Nord (North). The one in the UK is Süd). It was quite interesting to read an American perspective on what the Germans consider to be “American” food. If you believe Aldi Süd, they’re obsessed with cranberries and blueberries, and most of what they eat is incredibly unhealthy.

Then, yesterday, one of my colleagues sent me this link:
https://www.aldi-sued.de/de/angebote/angebote-ab-donnerstag-4-juli/

The follow up to American week at Aldi Süd is British week. Of course… what else could it be? So, for those Brits who are curious about how Germany views our eating habits, here’s what’s available on British week… (Note: They’re actually referring to the promotion as “A Taste of the British Isles, hence why Irish stuff is also available).

Fish and Chips

Photo © Aldi Süd

It’s true, we do like our fish and chips. But they don’t usually come premixed in a single bag. And what even is that fish? It looks like a larger, flatter version of fishfingers… Also, where are the mushy peas? Now those are authentically British!

Buck’s Fizz

Photo © Aldi Süd

This one mostly made me laugh becasue I had no idea anyone still drank Buck’s Fizz. Does anyone still drink it? I remember being allowed a very small glass of this stuff with my Christmas dinner when I was about 10 and feeling incredibly grown up for the rest of the day…

Irish Lamb

Photo © Aldi Süd

This one I will give them because we do like our lamb over on the British Isles. Buuut… where is the mint sauce? I didn’t say any of that in the shop. You can’t have one without the other! Get it sorted, Aldi Süd…
I did not buy any lamb… not due to the lack of mint sauce, but because my Aldi didn’t have any!

Baked Beans

Photo © Aldi Süd

Oh yes, these are definitely 100% British! It is possible to get Baked Beans in Germany at any time (although not at Aldi), but usually for over a euro per tin. Aldi were selling them for only 45 cents! Yes, I definitely stocked up…

To see all the foods from the British Isles that were on offer, click on the link above. Other items from the selection included Irish whiskey, Wine Gums, Scottish Shortbread Fingers, various jams (including blackcurrant preserve. Yum yum!) and, of course, tea (including one called “Five O’clock Tea”. *Snort*).

And the foods that they were missing, in my humble opinion? Malt vinegar, Cheddar cheese, sausage rolls, back bacon, gravy granules and crumpets. Especially crumpets!!

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Ireland – Sneak Preview

I’m baaaaack! Our flight was delayed by around an hour and then we had a bit of a wait for the train home from Frankfurt airport, but now I’m back in my flat, fed and watered… and incredibly tired! It’s been a loooong day. But since I was uploading photos to the computer, here’s a sneak preview of what we did in Ireland. Enjoy!

Fish and chips had to be consumed! And they were very tasty… although I would have preferred a little more vinegar.

Meet Charlie the Horse!

Jedward have chocolate bars…

 

… And Ireland has a lot of sheep

That’s all from me for now. I will reply to comments and catch up on everyone’s blogs tomorrow, but for now I need sleeeeeeep!

The food I shall eat in Ireland

One of the most exciting things about our trip to Ireland – apart from the fact that I actually have friends who like me enough to go on holiday with me. Oh, and all the cool stuff we’re going to see of course – is all the wonderful food they have there. The Republic of Ireland may not be part of the United Kingdom, but when it comes to eating we have very similar tastes. With over a month to go until we leave, I’m already dreaming of all the foods I’m going to eat…

Homemade pie! I’m hoping to find many of these while in Ireland…

• Full Irish breakfasts. Sausages, eggs, bacon, baked beans… just thinking about it makes me drool!
• Roast dinners! We’re going to be there on at two Sundays, which means at least one proper roast dinner is a must. I can almost taste the Yorkshire Pudding…
• Fish and Chips. With loads of salt and vinegar, of course!
• Galaxy chocolate. I may not eat any while I’m there, but it’s definitely coming back with me.
• Sausage rolls and pasties and pies. Because the Irish are like us and have realised that putting savoury things inside pastry actually works very well.
• Cottage pie. I occasionally get to eat this at the local Irish pub, and I can make it myself as well, but if I spy it on a menu in Ireland I may be unable to resist…
• Sausages and mash. I am sooo looking forward to a sausage that isn’t a Bratwurst!
• Irish stew. I think this is the only thing on the list that is actually Irish, rather than British or Irish. Any dish that features lamb and potatoes is bound to be a hit with me!

OK, I have to stop now. Just writing this list is making me hungry, so I’m off to cook tonight’s tea!

The rain never stops in Gross Britannien

I’m annoyed this morning. When I went to make my breakfast I found that nobody had set the dishwasher away last night and there were no knives in the drawer. I had to wash one before I could butter my toast. Grr. I supopose things like that are to be expected when you live with so many people (16 of us on my floor, and we have less becasue the caretaker has one corridor) but it’s happening a little too often lately. I object to having to wash the dishes before I’ve even started cooking!

I think I must have complained too loudly about being hot yesterday after all – it’s raining now.
Whenever I complain about the rain here some “Hilarious” German feels the need to say “but shouldn’t you be used to this, coming from England?” or “doesn’t this weather make you feel at home then?”. Do you think they’ve noticed that Great Britain is an island. It’s surrounded by sea. If it really rained as much as people here seem to think we’d have been washed away by now!

Here are some other stereotypes that the Germany have about English people:

• British people can’t cook. We also don’t know what spice is for, so all our food is boring and bland.
• We’re obsessed with “peppermint” sauce and eat it with everything.
• We have ham and eggs for breakfast every morning (I blame the school text books for this one… especially the “ham” part. Would it really so difficult for the kids to remember the word bacon??)
• We eat fish and chips all the time. With lots of vinegar, which makes them taste disgusting. (Actually if we used the kind of vinegar they’re thinking of it probably would taste disgusting. They don’t seem to do malt vinegar here…)
• We drink lots of tea, all the time. Several hundred cups a day. And we put milk in it. (This one’s partially true. I know people that actually do drink (what seems like) hundreds of cups of tea every day. But try getting a German to believe that not every English person likes tea…)
• We’re crap at football (actually I can see why they think that. Which team isn’t in the European cup this year again? That’d be England I believe…)
• All English people have ginger hair, pale skin and freckles. (I actually almost fit this stereotype – I have pale skin and freckles and my hair is reddish, but not ginger)

That’s all I can think of right now, and I have to get ready for work anyway. If anyone would like to add any more stereotypes to the list please comment. Maybe some stereotypes that people in countries other than Germany have about us? (And any Germans reading this please don’t take offence. It’s just for fun! I actually really like Germans and love living in Germany.)