The expat shopping basket (from way back on Dec 22

(Catching up again, on my little portraits of life over here.....)


The question is - when you live in a foreign country, do you make an effort to adopt local customs, foodstuffs, habits, etc.?  Or do you choose to live in an expat bubble and ignore everything around you that is not familiar?  I suspect, most expats do something in between, and, indeed, when it comes to my shopping choices, I make the effort to fit in where I can - I shop at local supermarkets, a very nice man delivers chicken/game/eggs/cheese to my house on a weekly basis, I happily buy Dutch brands and on the whole I avoid the expat shops.

However, there are certain occasions when 'shopping local' just defeats you and in this instance, it was around Christmas.  

Seeing as my desire, this year, was to cook my brussels sprouts, a la Nigella (with pancetta and chestnuts), I scoured the local Albert Heijn for either canned or vacuum-packed chestnuts.  No joy.  And when I asked the, very helpful, young shop assistant, if they had such a thing, I was taken to snacks and crisps.  They didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.

What was I to do?  The answer was to visit….M&S.  A branch opened in The Hague in February 2014 (on Valentines Day, appropriately) and this is where I was to be found on the morning of December 22nd (as were several other people I knew from school, Brownies, etc.).  Sometimes you just have to resign yourself to shopping in a British high street stalwart, no matter where you are…..hence my shopping basket (which also holds, but which is out of sight, a Melton Mowbray pork pie for my husband!)