Pantry revisited

Hello, My name is Becky and I am an American living in Bahrain.

Today's expat blog challenge is: "Since moving abroad, my pantry looks different because…"

No ham.

That is the biggest difference. Pork is available in Bahrain, unlike most of the Middle East, in a few select markets catering to expats, but it is mostly British pork products. And we have been unlucky enough to purchase some of it that tasted like it defrosted and sat in a customs office before being refrozen and sold at an exorbitant amount to us poor suckers. We've been burned a few times in the three years we've been here. We have now learned our lesson and know it just isn't worth it- food poisoning is a high price to pay for a little taste of home.

I used to buy a whole ham every other month in the US, since it was a pretty cheap meat source. Ham and potatoes, ham in casserole, soups, on sandwiches. It fed us for several meals throughout the month.

After our first year, knowing that we had missed bacon, our families cooked whole packages of bacon which they served to us as we made our summer visits. But you can't really eat a while package of bacon in a sitting, no matter how much you've missed it. And we are kind of over the pork thing now.

We eat less meat here in general. We eat a lot of breakfast for dinner- waffles, omelets, crepes, quiche. I learned how to make lentil soup- which is the most Middle Eastern dish in my new repertoire. I also make a good eggplant dish called the Iman Swooned and a tomato cucumber salads.

I also decided to perfect an American apple pie, cinnamon rolls and homemade white bread. I think in some ways, moving overseas makes you more Americany- it made it more important for me to know how to make all of my taste of home- homemade holiday favorites. We also eat more nuts, more dates, more Nutella and less Goldfish crackers and cold cereal. My favorite swap is cheap American chocolate for heavenly European chocolate- yes please! Love it!

Food is expensive here, but labor is not, so it isn't that much more to go out to eat compared to buying everything and making it yourself- so we do go out a little more often. And shawarma is soooooo good and sooooo cheap- it really can't be beat. A once a month treat!