Now that we've been through an
American supermarket, let's take a walk down the aisles of a popular Irish market and see what we can find.
On the surface, most things will look just the same. Produce on the ends, packaged foods in the middle, meats on the back end, and a large selection of frozen treats.
...But look a little deeper, and the differences will pop up almost immediately.
Want a cart? Better pony up a deposit. Got that 1-Euro coin at the ready? No? Hike on over to customer service and break that 2-Euro coin! Most American supermarkets don't require a cart deposit, but for the notable exception of Aldi. Yes, we have Aldi in America, too! Even with the cart deposit, I still see a lot of shopping carts in the Grand Canal...
To be fair, not
all Irish markets require a coin deposit.
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| Cart Deposit |
...I thought the English hated the French, but it didn't stop them from adopting French words for certain vegetables. Green summer squash are known by the French courgette instead of the Italian zucchini. Eggplant goes by aubergine.
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| Courgettes |
Aha, we've reached the breakfast meat cooler. A comparison of breakfast meats might be one of the most interesting Irish/American studies. Americans like smoked bacon and sausages loaded with herbs and spices. What Americans call
breakfast sausage is either links or discs of fennel-and-pepper-loaded pork and... nitrate coloring. The Irish sausage seems to be made of pork and salt and... pink nitrate coloring? And don't you DARE insult the Irish sausage by comparing it to the British sausage which is made of... pork and salt and... pink nitrate coloring. British sausages are also not made by Clonakilty, the most popular brand of Irish sausage and pudding.
Yes, pudding. The closest American dish to meat pudding might be traditional turkey stuffing made from giblets and bread. White pudding is made from pork offal (organs) mixed with bread, spices, and lots of salt. Black pudding (eaten more in Ireland than in Britain) is colored dark brown with blood.
Meat puddings are of course not to be confused with bread or fruit puddings, sweet baked desserts. In America, the only thing we call
pudding is a thick, creamy sweet custard usually mixed from a box of chocolate- or vanilla-flavored powder.
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| Black and White Pudding and Sausage from Clonakilty |
Around the corner in the fresh meats, we find much more lamb options in Ireland than we'd
ever see in a Midwestern megamart. People often ask if the lamb and beef for which Ireland is so famous is cheap. Sadly, they are not as cheap as would be expected. Island economy, you know. For us, Irish stew is an extravagance, which is a shame considering its peasant food roots.
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| Large Lamb Selection |
In the ethnic food section, we find canned hot dogs and Pot Noodles (not Cup Noodles, Americans!) Canned and jarred hot dogs are rare in American supermarkets, but our selection of refrigerated hot dog (and bologna) meats is certainly not lacking.
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| Canned Hot Dogs and Pot Noodles |
Baked beans. Americans think we have the market cornered on them. Boston baked beans! Beantown itself! Bush's secret bean recipe! Visions of the Old West!
None of that matters here, where beans-on-toast is accepted for every meal, and canned beans will be on the plate with any breakfast fry-up. Beans are indeed a great source of inexpensive protein, and they are available in all flavors, shapes, and sizes here. The individual serving packs for lunches seem to be particularly popular.
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| Canned Bean Selection |
Making that classic
English Irish fish and chips? Better serve it with mushy peas! When I first had fish and chips in London back in 2012, I asked the server what they called the mashed peas served with every plate of chips. She looked at me strangely and replied flatly, "mashed peas."
It should be noted that canned peas are also available in non-mushy form.
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| Mushy Peas |
More pudding? 'Fraid so. In the home baking aisle, we can choose from all manner of instant rice pudding options. The closest American food to rice pudding might be tapioca. I say "might" because not many Americans eat tapioca, made from a starchy root rather than rice.
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| Rice Pudding |
"You gotta eat your Wheaties!" Said the great Michael Jordan. Maybe he never tried Weetabix, a popular cold breakfast cereal more akin to what Americans would call
shredded wheat. These rectangular blocks of whole grain wheat are usually served with milk.
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| Weetabix |
But Americans recognize
some breakfast cereal brands! ...Or do we?
Kellogg's Corn Flakes have the same name and mascot, but just what is Tony the Tiger doing on a box of something called...
Frosties? Strangely, the same cereal called
Frosted Flakes in the States has been shortened for the folks over here.
...Are
Frosties still Grrrrrrrrrreat?
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| Frosties and Corn Flakes |
Condiments in Ireland aren't as scarce as they are in Continental European countries, so we can still find ketchup, yellow mustard, peanut butter, mayo, and most other bottled sugar and salt here. One popular condiment here is brown sauce, of which the most popular brand is HP. It seems a bit intimidating on its face...
brown sauce?
Never fear, Americans! The popular A-1 steak sauce is almost a carbon copy of this popular condiment. Here, it's not just served with steak, but on a number of meat dishes. Try that A-1 on a burger or with chicken fingers (goujons here, the French again!) and report back to me.
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| HP Brown Sauce |
The great Irish tea battle has been raging for decades. Family allegiances run deep, and people from one side or the other scoff at the mere
idea of serving or drinking an adulterated cuppa from the other (inferior) side. Barry's and Lyon's both make a regular blend (green box) and a gold blend (red box) and sell for about the same price. To me, novice tea drinker that I am, the blends taste the same from both brands, so I just buy whichever brand is on sale when I need tea.
...Not so with most of the families we know. You are either a Barry's family or a Lyon's family. You'd sooner marry your cousin than buy a box of competing tea!
In the photo below, it is clear that this market is pushing Lyon's with this extending display.
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| Lyon's and Barry's Tea |
Of candy, we can say that most of the treats are similar, but with different emphasis and different packaging. In America, we have soft gummi candy, even a limited selection of the international brand Haribo, but Europe has been for me the champion of the gummi. At this supermarket, the best value can be found in the store brand wine gums- fruity gummi candy shapes with wine names like PORT on each soft chew.
Chocolate malt candy is much more prominent here. In America, we have Whoppers malted milk balls, but the popular Maltesers and its knock-off products provide a much wider selection of malty milk chocolate bars and balls.
The Pennsylvanian Hershey milk chocolate bar is revered with almost religious fervor in the States, but the slightly-sweeter Cadbury's Dairy Milk bars are the norm here. According to some Irish folks who've tried Hershey's on American holidays, it's too bitter.
Cadbury's is of course only known in America for its filled creme eggs usually eaten on Easter.
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| CANDAYY! |
Of all the popular American food brands to gain Irish popularity, Old El Paso might be the most unexpected. Many an Irish and American cook can now reach for a taco, burrito, or enchilada kit from our Tex-Mex friends. Here in Ireland, there is always a great selection of Old El Paso taco supplies- but few or no competitors. They've got the market cornered.
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| El Paso is in Co. Mayo, Right? |
Nearing the end of the store, we've reached the bakery, and two things are surprising. First, we learn that Irish soda bread is actually eaten here! Most American "Irish soda bread" is stiff, dry, and crumbly. Here, many families make (or buy) fresh brown soda bread to serve with traditional dishes like
coddle, a sausage, cabbage, and potato stew.
Also, pre-cooked "American style" pancakes are sold cold in packages, presumably for reheating. Pancakes are of course very popular in America, but they are one of the few popular foods that haven't yet been turned into a frozen or pre packaged form. Interesting that flapjacks are one of the few American foods still solely whipped up on a hot griddle at home.
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| Soda Bread and Pancakes |
Beyond the bakery, we are well into the junk food aisles. When it comes to potato crisps (which of course are called
chips in America) in Ireland, Tayto is the head spud. This local brand uses Irish potatoes for their original, salt and vinegar, BBQ, and the clear Irish favorite cheese and onion crisps. King crisps might be a runner-up, but it seems to us that Tayto is top tater.
American favorite
Lay's are sold under the
Walker's name here, but the logo looks the same.
Walker's are more popular in England it seems.
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| Tayto Crisps |
Crisps here are usually sold in packs of individual bags. The large bags you see here are really bags of bags. Bags of bags and bags- six or twelve in each. It creates a lot of trash, and it really makes you feel guilty to sit down and eat a whole family-size bag when you have to open twelve "single serving" bags to do so.
One popular American brand does have a presence here, but note (as we've seen before) the slight difference in naming conventions. Presumably, Doritos
Cool Original and
Chilli Heatwave taste like the
Cooler Ranch and
Nacho Cheesier flavors we know and love in Iowa. I wouldn't know, Doritos are much too expensive here in Ireland.
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| Irish Doritos Flavors |
But sometimes, changing the marketing and packaging for different countries makes perfect sense. Case in point Coke and Coke Zero and their new "Enjoy it with..." campaign. Here, the marketing folks use the local terms
Mum and
Mate and Irish names like
Grainne and
Darragh.
...By the way, when posing for a photo like this, make sure to put
Mum BEFORE
Mate Trust me.
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| Enjoy them with your Mum and your Mate |
Not much is different in the freezers. The usual collection of microwave dinners, ice cream, frozen pizzas, and vegetables look out from their frosty tombs. One significant difference can be found in the selection of frozen fried potato products. We do have frozen French fries in the States, Ore-Ida crinkle cut being a personal favorite.
But...
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| Chips as Far as the Eye can See! |
This freezer, above and below, is packed with chips of all shapes, sizes, and colors from the foreground all the way to Cory there. Like the large selection of baked beans earlier, this shows just how important these are in menu selections here. We've yet to barge in on Irish families cooking and eating at home, but judging from restaurant and carvery selections, chips seem to go with just about everything.
Curry? Forget the rice, pour it on chips! Lasagna? Sure! Gimme some chips! Other fried food? Gotta have it with chips! Mussels? Well ok, the
Belgians have that covered.
That's it! Groceries in hand, make your way to the checkout. Just like at your local American supermarket, use your membership card for reward points and pass your coupons to the cashier. And don't forget to collect your Euro deposit for that cart on your way out!
