The fascinating thing about moving to a new country is visiting the supermarket. What will they have, what won't they have? What does the local diet comprise of? My time in Doha has revealed just about every country is represented in the supermarket from Australian carrots, Belgian biscuits, Chilean apples, Dutch capsicum, and Egyptian beef.
But it's not just the variety of foods which capture your imagination - it's the size of the supermarket sections. Go to a French supermarket and the cheese aisle would be 20 times the length of the personal hygiene aisle. And the cheese isn't sold in 100gram little containers, you buy a wedge of cheese right through the the whole wheel. You've got the mass produced and artisan. You've got regional and sub regional, and then the sub, sub regional right next to Pierre & fils house.
So what's big on Doha supermarkets? Rice & red onions are probably two of the biggest movers, but the aisle which mirrors the French cheese aisle? It's the spice aisle. Whereas a supermarket with a good range of herbs & spices in my home country may take have up 4 metres of floor space for their range - the herbs and spices here take up 20 metres of floors space - from top to bottom, 6-7 shelves, stacked with herbs and spices in various forms. That's before you go the bulk good section of the supermarket - another 20+ metres of space, where you buy herbs & spices in bulk quantities straight form hessian sacks.
The problem with all this? I'm used to herbs and spices costing a fair amount of money for a little 25-50 gram jar. Here? 200 grams minimum.
I'm thinking of starting a herb & spice exchange in the compound - I've got 400 bay leaves, 100grams of cinammon, 150 grams of nutmeg & 200 grams of thyme to exchange. Looking for paprika, all spice....
But it's not just the variety of foods which capture your imagination - it's the size of the supermarket sections. Go to a French supermarket and the cheese aisle would be 20 times the length of the personal hygiene aisle. And the cheese isn't sold in 100gram little containers, you buy a wedge of cheese right through the the whole wheel. You've got the mass produced and artisan. You've got regional and sub regional, and then the sub, sub regional right next to Pierre & fils house.
So what's big on Doha supermarkets? Rice & red onions are probably two of the biggest movers, but the aisle which mirrors the French cheese aisle? It's the spice aisle. Whereas a supermarket with a good range of herbs & spices in my home country may take have up 4 metres of floor space for their range - the herbs and spices here take up 20 metres of floors space - from top to bottom, 6-7 shelves, stacked with herbs and spices in various forms. That's before you go the bulk good section of the supermarket - another 20+ metres of space, where you buy herbs & spices in bulk quantities straight form hessian sacks.
The problem with all this? I'm used to herbs and spices costing a fair amount of money for a little 25-50 gram jar. Here? 200 grams minimum.
(Can is for size reference).
I'm thinking of starting a herb & spice exchange in the compound - I've got 400 bay leaves, 100grams of cinammon, 150 grams of nutmeg & 200 grams of thyme to exchange. Looking for paprika, all spice....
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