Why Can't We Get These Food Items?

[JR Texas]

Why can't we get these food items:

cornbread mix (pre-mixed...just add milk and egg).......and cornmeal?

pudding mix (for chocolate pies and other pies)

pies (apple, cheery, chocolate, etc)

cobblers wonderful food and can't get it in Thailand)

real hamburgers (is it really so hard to give us hamburgers)

real Mexican food (no......nobody is making the real thing....I guess I will eventually have to do it myself)

smoked BBQ (not one person is making the real thing.....will have to do it myself)

And while I am at it........why can't McDonald's offer us (the expats) pancakes and sausage like they all do at all of their restaurants in China?

Maybe if we start telling the managers at places like Foodland to purchase products we want, they will do it.

Relatedly, do not leave a McDonald's without telling the manager that we want breakfast items like pancakes and sausage and Egg McMuffin with cheese and sausage, etc. Nothing else is good there.........right?

[gennisis]

Why can't we get these food items:

cornbread mix (pre-mixed...just add milk and egg).......and cornmeal?

pudding mix (for chocolate pies and other pies)

pies (apple, cheery, chocolate, etc)

cobblers wonderful food and can't get it in Thailand)

real hamburgers (is it really so hard to give us hamburgers)

real Mexican food (no......nobody is making the real thing....I guess I will eventually have to do it myself)

smoked BBQ (not one person is making the real thing.....will have to do it myself)

And while I am at it........why can't McDonald's offer us (the expats) pancakes and sausage like they all do at all of their restaurants in China?

Maybe if we start telling the managers at places like Foodland to purchase products we want, they will do it.

Relatedly, do not leave a McDonald's without telling the manager that we want breakfast items like pancakes and sausage and Egg McMuffin with cheese and sausage, etc. Nothing else is good there.........right?

Dont know where you are but saw cornbread mix and cornmeal today in Rimping Chiang Mai.

Pudding mix...saw that as well.

Pie fillings.....and that.

Cobblers ?????...an english expression,but guess you mean something else.

Real Hamburgers....many different opinions on that.

Mexican food.......crap!!

Smoked BBq....agree.. a lot thesedays is simply flavoured with smoke essence......which I also saw today.but coming from UK I say that only smoke flavour is oak,but you probably say hickory.

MacDonalds....even more crap than mexican food....God help anyone eating in a mexican McDodalds.

Cheers

[tutsiwarrior]

inna regular supermarket (ie., nothin' special) in Jeddah yesterday I found monterey jack cheese with jalapeno peppers...not only that but it was made in Seaside, CA which is next door to Monterey...hadn't had none in living memory, can't even find it in England...

eat yer collective heart out...

[Tywais]

Dont know where you are but saw cornbread mix and cornmeal today in Rimping Chiang Mai.

Could you let me know which branch? Would love to get some.

[eek]

I definately saw pre-mixed cake mix at my local Topps supermarket when getting something from the baking section..havent looked for the other items so wouldnt know.

Im under the impression you can get most things from somewhere here? Actually i am surprised by how spoilt we are for choice here as some other countries ive lived in have had much less.

You could always order other things online?

Or try asking management nicely to see if they can get you what you want.

[Ulysses G.]

And while I am at it........why can't McDonald's offer us (the expats) pancakes and sausage like they all do at all of their restaurants in China?

I miss McDonald's breakfast.

Eat them EVERY day when I go to Aussie or Singapore!

[Cuban]

I found icing sugar the other day - I was not looking for it but looking at the bag lables in Thai playing guess the content.

Some things are present but not lablled in English.

Beef for beefburgers, no ham in them and they are made in Thailand....

The minced meat that I have seen is dire, very high fat content and in a country that offers "Chicken Tendon Rice Balls" I would prefer not to eat hamburgers I had not made myself.

I bought three kilos of beef from a road stall last week, 1kg pure muscle the rest a mixture of animal parts for various Thai dishes, cost was about 200 Baht for the 3kg. Once home cut up and processed for the various meals we had planned the meat was fine. About 0.5kg was for a chilli, all made with local produce turned out well.

I think you can make most things here with a little substiution when required.

[carnival1200]

Why can't we get these food items:

cornbread mix (pre-mixed...just add milk and egg).......and cornmeal?

pudding mix (for chocolate pies and other pies)

pies (apple, cheery, chocolate, etc)

cobblers wonderful food and can't get it in Thailand)

real hamburgers (is it really so hard to give us hamburgers)

real Mexican food (no......nobody is making the real thing....I guess I will eventually have to do it myself)

smoked BBQ (not one person is making the real thing.....will have to do it myself)

And while I am at it........why can't McDonald's offer us (the expats) pancakes and sausage like they all do at all of their restaurants in China?

Maybe if we start telling the managers at places like Foodland to purchase products we want, they will do it.

Relatedly, do not leave a McDonald's without telling the manager that we want breakfast items like pancakes and sausage and Egg McMuffin with cheese and sausage, etc. Nothing else is good there.........right?

Seems like a recipe for obiesity.  Lets not infect thailand with too much junk food

[JR Texas]

Why can't we get these food items:

cornbread mix (pre-mixed...just add milk and egg).......and cornmeal?

pudding mix (for chocolate pies and other pies)

pies (apple, cheery, chocolate, etc)

cobblers wonderful food and can't get it in Thailand)

real hamburgers (is it really so hard to give us hamburgers)

real Mexican food (no......nobody is making the real thing....I guess I will eventually have to do it myself)

smoked BBQ (not one person is making the real thing.....will have to do it myself)

And while I am at it........why can't McDonald's offer us (the expats) pancakes and sausage like they all do at all of their restaurants in China?

Maybe if we start telling the managers at places like Foodland to purchase products we want, they will do it.

Relatedly, do not leave a McDonald's without telling the manager that we want breakfast items like pancakes and sausage and Egg McMuffin with cheese and sausage, etc. Nothing else is good there.........right?

Seems like a recipe for obiesity. Lets not infect thailand with too much junk food

JR Texas: Thanks for the responses.........shocked that you can actually get some of these things in Chiang Mai (good news!). Many of these foods are "comfort foods" for Americans.........we make many things with the cornbread......other stuff. Yes, if you eat too much American food you get fat......have to exercise and eat a little. I just need to get over some cravings that I am having........and also seems strange that it is so hard to find these foods given the number of expats here from USA. Bad Mexican food and Smoked BBQ relates, I think, to lack of ingredients and lack of knowledge.

[ProThaiExpat]

The OP addresses two distinct issues, one restaurant menus and the other falang markets and their supply chain.

As a regular visitor to the Rimping and Top falang supermarkets in Chiang Mai for five years, I have concluded that there is probably one or maybe two major importers of falang food items and Rimping and Tops can only order what the importer brings into the country. Thus you will see Pepperage Farm Soft Baked Cookies for a couple of weeks and then after sell out, no more for months or never.

Also, I often wonder if demand actually drives their choices of what to stock on their shelves. There seems to be a very long shelf in Rimping Chiang Mai of various boxed milk products without shoppers for the items. Likewise, the most exhaustive supply of sauces from around the world, but microwave popcorn only sporadically.

My guess is that the "buyers" for these supermarkets are Thais, free of food preferences common to falang. Likewise, Brits probably have a completely different list of "vital" imported items from "Yanks".

[expatwannabe]

My guess is that the "buyers" for these supermarkets are Thais, free of food preferences common to falang. Likewise, Brits probably have a completely different list of "vital" imported items from "Yanks".

Boy that's the truth. In Rimping CM they had a whole section devoted to canned beans. You Brits need to get over your maritime history and eat some fresh food, Jeez!

Now .. I'm going off to nosh on some Ben & Jerry's.

Edited June 13, 2007 by expatwannabe

[JR Texas]

My guess is that the "buyers" for these supermarkets are Thais, free of food preferences common to falang. Likewise, Brits probably have a completely different list of "vital" imported items from "Yanks".

Boy that's the truth. In Rimping CM they had a whole section devoted to canned beans. You Brits need to get over your maritime history and eat some fresh food, Jeez!

Now .. I'm going off to nosh on some Ben & Jerry's.

JR Texas: I suspect that not enough of us are voicing our preferences to store managers.......and after some of the managers listen and order and put it on the shelve, not enough of us are buying it. And not enough of us want to cook anything.....lazy kee kians we are.

I do think that American and British expats should start asking store managers for what we want......examples.......

American.........cobbler, cheese

Brit.......beans

American.........cornbread, turkey, corn chips

Brits......beans

American.........top quality ground round, Jimmie Deans Sausage

Brit........beans

etc., etc., :D

[leisurely]

For the top quality ground round (I am assuming this is minced beef), simply go to your closest supermarket, choose a kilo of either round beef or the cheapest on offer and ask the good people to mince it for you. This is the way I purchase my mince and generally it is about 20 baht a kilo more expensive than the fatty floor sweepings that sometimes pass as minced beef. We either divide it up into smaller packs and freeze it or make it into chilli/spag bol/lasagne/shepherds pie and freeze them.

[bendix]

JR . I realise you're a bit of a red and all that, but I'm assuming you've heard of market forces. In your particular question, it works like this.

If there was enough demand to be able to justify bringing such stuff in or creating new products ala McDonalds, they would do it. There aint, so they don't. Economic rationalism. . . . it's a wonderful thing baby.

[expatwannabe]

I flew to London once to see a show and just take a short vacation. I went to Starbucks for breakfast and ordered a "breakfast panini with egg and sausage." Ok .. sounded alright. But to my shock and disgust, it was stuffed with baked beans!

As my mother told me once, "isn't it a shame .. they can take such good food and just seem to ruin it?"

Edited June 13, 2007 by expatwannabe

[gennisis]

Dont know where you are but saw cornbread mix and cornmeal today in Rimping Chiang Mai.

Could you let me know which branch? Would love to get some.

The new one by Airport Plaza

[Tywais]

Dont know where you are but saw cornbread mix and cornmeal today in Rimping Chiang Mai.

Could you let me know which branch? Would love to get some.

The new one by Airport Plaza

Thanks gennisis, will stop by from work.

[sceadugenga]

I flew to London once to see a show and just take a short vacation. I went to Starbucks for breakfast and ordered a "breakfast panini with egg and sausage." Ok .. sounded alright. But to my shock and disgust, it was stuffed with baked beans!

As my mother told me once, "isn't it a shame .. they can take such good food and just seem to ruin it?"

Som nom nar for eating breakfast in Starbucks. A proper English breakfast is world class if a little high in cholesterol molecules. I try to restrict myself to two a week. Any cafe in London that looked as if it catered for the lower classes, like sceadugenga, would have served up twice the meal for a fraction of the price.

Breakfast is the best meal of the day for me as I always wake up hungry. In Lao it was usually noodle soup; Thailand when traveling in the country, rice and omelet.

BUT, in the absence of a decent English cafe, if I sight a Maccas, it's two sausage and egg macmuffins and a serve of hash browns and about a gallon of that excellent OJ.

Edited June 13, 2007 by sceadugenga

[sceadugenga]

PS, I though a panini was something you washed your back with in the shower anyway.

[expatwannabe]

PS, I though a panini was something you washed your back with in the shower anyway.

I think that's a loofah. But I would have been better served using that panini as something else - maybe a door stop.

[JR Texas]

JR . I realise you're a bit of a red and all that, but I'm assuming you've heard of market forces. In your particular question, it works like this.

If there was enough demand to be able to justify bringing such stuff in or creating new products ala McDonalds, they would do it. There aint, so they don't. Economic rationalism. . . . it's a wonderful thing baby.

JR Texas to Bendix: Market forces? Do you mean "forcing the market?" Wait, let me dust off my brain.........now I remember, one line going up and another one right by it going up........supply-demand crap or something like that.

Maybe if you would ask the managers for something other than red beets, cabbage, and Smirnoff Vodka, we would have some good food in Thailand! Its YOU.........you are the problem........not enough proper demand from you.

And I think you know how to demand things........but maybe not so properly :D

Seriously......it seems like we do have enough Western expats here to push demand up enough so that profits can be made. Also, when I was in China the place I was at had very few Westerners wanting pancakes and sausage.........but McDonald's made them. They key was that McDonald's introduced a new item to the local Chinese and many of them were eating pancakes and sausage (very open minded about new food items). So demand was sufficient.

[Gary A]

Well JR, it looks like a great opportunity for you to set up a business that stocks farang specialties. Put me down for some Velveeta cheese if you're making a list. While you're at it, put in my order for some authentic Kielbasi.

[JR Texas]

Well JR, it looks like a great opportunity for you to set up a business that stocks farang specialties. Put me down for some Velveeta cheese if you're making a list. While you're at it, put in my order for some authentic Kielbasi.

JR Texas to Gary A: Actually, I am seriously thinking about starting a "farang specialty store" (more like the first Foodland) in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, along with a smoked BBQ restaurant and a Tex-Mex restaurant. I would do it in Thailand but the insane visa/business rules are persuading me not to invest a dime in the country. Velvetta cheese.......what a wonderful product.

[bendix]

In Sihanoukville? No no no. please tell me you're kidding. Sihanoukville is where farangs who have not only failed in Thailand, but also in Phnom Penh go to die. I can't see them spending 300 baht for a lump of Colby Cheese when they rely on that to pay next week's rent.

It is the scrapheap of the expat world. It's wear Chang-beer vests and muscle shirts are considered polite evening wear. Let's face it, fellow-TVer Begbie has left Thailand to go there. I think that's all we need to say about THAT.

You might want to rethink that business model idea.

Edited June 14, 2007 by bendix

[lazeeboy]

Why can't we get these food items:

cornbread mix (pre-mixed...just add milk and egg).......and cornmeal?

pudding mix (for chocolate pies and other pies)

pies (apple, cheery, chocolate, etc)

cobblers wonderful food and can't get it in Thailand)

real hamburgers (is it really so hard to give us hamburgers)

real Mexican food (no......nobody is making the real thing....I guess I will eventually have to do it myself)

smoked BBQ (not one person is making the real thing.....will have to do it myself)

And while I am at it........why can't McDonald's offer us (the expats) pancakes and sausage like they all do at all of their restaurants in China?

Maybe if we start telling the managers at places like Foodland to purchase products we want, they will do it.

Relatedly, do not leave a McDonald's without telling the manager that we want breakfast items like pancakes and sausage and Egg McMuffin with cheese and sausage, etc. Nothing else is good there.........right?

i gave up looking for special food things in thailand a long time ago ,what you have to do is punch in a google search for fanny craddock the original tv chef of the 50s and 60s before fast food and ready made meals,lots of recipes with ingrediants you can find in thailand small shops anywhere ,ie bisto gravy not instant in the 50s but with corn flower and meat juice its easy ,try having a look ,most things on her web site

[retiredusn]

Why can't we get these food items:

cornbread mix (pre-mixed...just add milk and egg).......and cornmeal?

pudding mix (for chocolate pies and other pies)

pies (apple, cheery, chocolate, etc)

cobblers wonderful food and can't get it in Thailand)

real hamburgers (is it really so hard to give us hamburgers)

real Mexican food (no......nobody is making the real thing....I guess I will eventually have to do it myself)

smoked BBQ (not one person is making the real thing.....will have to do it myself)

And while I am at it........why can't McDonald's offer us (the expats) pancakes and sausage like they all do at all of their restaurants in China?

Maybe if we start telling the managers at places like Foodland to purchase products we want, they will do it.

Relatedly, do not leave a McDonald's without telling the manager that we want breakfast items like pancakes and sausage and Egg McMuffin with cheese and sausage, etc. Nothing else is good there.........right?

i gave up looking for special food things in thailand a long time ago ,what you have to do is punch in a google search for fanny craddock the original tv chef of the 50s and 60s before fast food and ready made meals,lots of recipes with ingrediants you can find in thailand small shops anywhere ,ie bisto gravy not instant in the 50s but with corn flower and meat juice its easy ,try having a look ,most things on her web site

Have lived here 4 years and have not been without anything you mentioned except the MC breakfast, but then no mc in Chanthaburi. My wife bakes homemade pies of which the apple hot out of the oven with a little ice-creme on it is my favorite. We do a lot of BBQing and always make too much so we freeze the ribs/chicken ect ect and I can have bbq any time I get a hunger.

[Firefoxx]

I also would like to see McDonald's serve egg mcmuffins here. I had them in Singapore, and of course had it at every opportunity when traveling to the US. But the thing is that McDonald's here is mostly a tie-in to a department store, and it opens at around 10 or 11 am, too late for a breakfast (I can't remember how many times I went to a US McDonalds hoping for an egg mcmuffin only to find that they stopped serving at 10am or whatever). Also, anyone know where to find things like Ho-Hos and Hostess Cupcakes (the genuine item)? Yes, all these things are junk to a gourmet, but they have special meaning for many.

There are some really hard to find things here, like for example glucose, glycerin, corn syrup, and other baking things like ready-made pie crusts. I think it's not much of a surprise since an oven is not an integral part of a Thai kitchen. Even modern Thai kitchens usually don't sport an oven, and the ovens sold here are all quite small compared to a normal US one.

[Clipped]

99% of what you guys are looking for is available at villa thong lor....bangkok

as a matter of fact im going to head down there right now...

[eek]

Boy that's the truth. In Rimping CM they had a whole section devoted to canned beans. You Brits need to get over your maritime history and eat some fresh food, Jeez!

I always associated beans with cowboys, kinda thought it was more of a mexican and yank thing than a brit thing. Anyway..your making a big assumption about the brits and non-fresh diet, i personally dont see that many brits complaining about lack of food produce, but i may of course be wrong.

[steve w]

heinz baked beans in tomato sauce ,so versatile you can have them on toast for breakfast,lunch and dinner.