In which I declare my love for cheese

By Emily Williams
September 22nd, 2009

7 Comments »
Posted in ( SEO Tools )

As an expat, it’s easy to miss all sorts of things. Friends, family, customs and regular hang-out spots may come to mind first, but if you ask anyone who’s lived abroad for a while, they’ll probably mention something else: food.

Call me crazy, but I specifically miss cheese. Sure, Chile has cheese and plenty of it. But most of it’s some form of mild and light yellow – gouda, mantecoso and chanco being the main options – with the other two major categories being quesillo/queso fresco (white, soft and even milder) and goat cheese (not the spreadable chevre style, this stuff has the consistency of provolone).

This is just about every variety of cheese available in Chile, source: www.visitingchile.com

There are other options, ranging from parmesan to gruyere to edam, and you can easily find camembert and brie. What’s the problem then, you may be wondering. Here it is, in a nutshell: no cheddar. Don’t count on finding any of the other typical US cheeses either. I didn’t realize just how often I used cheese, from sandwiches to quesadillas, until none of the stuff available to me tasted quite right.

I’m half English, so maybe that’s where the cheese obsession liking comes from. The English do their cheeses well, and it seems like every little town has its own delicious variety. Coming from that to a land with no Lancashire or Wensleydale and not even a cube of Monterey Jack isn’t easy, and there are times when I’d kill for a slice of Swiss on a sandwich.

Friends and family you can call on the phone. Customs you can attempt to recreate on your own or with other expats. And you’ll make new hang-out spots. But food? If the ingredients can’t be found then you can’t recreate it, and often customs regulations make it hard to import your own supplies.

It explains why when I go home, I plan out what I’m going to eat to make sure I satisfy all my cravings. Why a friend’s mom brought her US candy and Goldfish crackers. Why that same friend earned herself some serious brownie points when she shared the goods with the rest of our gringa friends. And why I was once the thrilled recipient of a two pound block of Tillamook medium cheddar brought by a visiting friend. Luckily for me, Chilean custom agents have no problem with pasteurized cheese.

Delicious, source: www.tillamookcheese.com of course

Emily Williams is a US gringa living in Santiago, Chile. She writes about expat life at AffordableCallingCards.net and on her personal blog, Don’t Call Me Gringa, and loves hearing from readers!

Rate Post

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Tags: Chile, expat life, Food

Get Affordable Calling Cards For Cheap Long Distance Calls

Make talking fun again with PIN-less dialing and guaranteed clear calls.

Check out Pingo.com's calling cards!

No hidden fees or rates - don't lose minutes to dirty marketing.
Top-rated prices per comparison reviews on AboutCallingCards.com.
Fast dialing through speed-dial.

Pick Country or View Rates

Comments

After living here almost 5 years I really do not miss much any more. At first I did. Now I am used to the local food. Sometimes I think about English muffins or Mexican food, but now I have other things that I really like.

(The cheese situation is the same here)

Comment #1 by Deby Novitz

October 4, 2009 Rate Comment

When my mom asked my son what food he would eat when returning to the US, he said a big salad with lots of cheese and blue cheese dressing. The kids at 2 packs of colby-jack the first couple of days back! We know what you are saying!