Grocery shopping: a cultural excursion

Ruth laughed at me when I told her that grocery stores are one of my favorite places to explore a new country.  It is true, though.  Where else tells more about a country, the culture and what they enjoy, than what its people bring into their homes for their families?  I am not sure which country has my favorite grocery stores, because they are all so different.

Just as you might imagine, go into a grocer in Italy, the aisles are full of pasta; in Austria they are full of beer, meats - especially sausage.  In France, I see the grocers are full of wine and cheese, meats, breads. The thing that is so striking is the balance (or lack of balance?) relative to other goods and the variety.  I can look for hours at the varieties of pastas and sauces (which are NEVER found in those jumbo sized spaghetti sauce jars, rather in 10-12 ounce jars) in Italy, or the wine labels in France.  More so, how the pates are packaged so beautifully, how the cheeses are just completely different from even those found in boutique cremeries in the states. Probably most fascinating are the products that are produced en masse - not just the special specialities like the one cheese variety, a chevre, was a wrikled moldy looking log. (maybe it tasted great, but I had to pass).  But the more 'everyday' cheeses,like the chevre pack that had 15 or so bite-sized chevres vacuum packed but each having a unique garnish - a few peppercorns, a sprig of rosemary, a teeny flower petal.  Fifteen garnishes for fifteen bites.  The pate en croute selection-an item that doesnt even have a presence in the usual Safeway- stacked like we're used to seeing ordinary cold cuts. Also notable are the absence of things, like prepackaged salads, of the aisle-long selection of cereals that we have at home. In Austria the cereal section had 6-7 varieties of the usual cornflakes or kid-pops, but this was alongside at least 2 dozen kinds of Muesli (chocolate, low fat, with fruit, with nuts, with seeds, hot, cold, lowfat chocolate,...etc).  On that note, I dont think I noticed any Muesli here in France.  Who wants Muesli when you can have a chocolate-almond croissant, anyway? 

You know those nasty looking square seed breads you sometimes see aging near the cheese section at Whole Foods?  You see tons of them in Austria.  They love it.  

The mustard section, even in Carrefour (the Safeway of France), in Dijon is unlike any other.  Ground mustards, seed mustards, mustards with herbs, wines, fruits...those are the usual ones.  I cant remember them all except for the one I ended up purchasing: crushed seed mustard with hazelnut and vanilla.  Let me just say, it was great with simple cheese on a baguette.

Rich, vanilla, and buttery madelines are everywhere-just prepacked and factory sealed like Pepperidge Farm.  The Bon Maman brand jelly people also make Bon Maman madelines, as do several other manufacturers packaged to go.  Chocolate covered (I prefer plain), traditional madeline shaped or mini-cupcake shaped.  Less of a fancy treat than an ordinary snack.