More preparation: Things you cant get in Croatia


While Croatia is a wonderful country there are certain things there which are not quite right to the British sentiment.
Coffee for instance. They have wonderful coffee but it is a different experience and has different usage. It seems to be drunk at certain specific times of the day and there is a huge social culture around the taking of coffee. Groups of men seem to spend large parts of the day hanging around cafes drinking coffee and it seems to be the lubricant for all social interaction. Business is done after the consumption of coffee and being invited to take coffee is something of an honour for a stranger. 
The coffee comes in tiny volumes and is intensely strong. More of a pharmaceutical event than a relaxing moment. It has to be accompanied with a pint of water otherwise intracellular ion flux occurs with potentially serious consequence. So a couple of large bags of good old fashioned freeze dried Kenco instant will be needed.
Similarly tea. While you do get teabags in Croatia I am not convinced that they contain tea, certainly not as we know it. You can leave the Croatian bag stewing for 20 minutes and the infusate is still lightly stained and tasting of almost nothing. A sort of homeopathic tea. So in order to brew some proper builder's style tea a large box of PG tips will be going.
I have also considered the essential nature of Marmite but there is anxiety about the consequence of rough baggage handling and what the inside of the bag might look like. That might be a non-recoverable event.
However Pataks is an essential. Margaret has kindly agreed to have a couple of jars of Garam massala and Madras paste in her bag.  
There seems to be a national moratorium on certain herbs and spices. Cumin was just not to be had in any supermarket in Split last time we were there so a selection of familiar herbs and spices is going.
Margaret is also currently packing our entire DVD collection for long nights of notalottodo.  I have rejected the Karaoke kit!!

Comments

  1. Helen Ryan7 May 2018 at 15:14

    Well it’s just not British us it?! Clearly suitabke provisions must be taken... though would suggest that the more solid nature of Marmite is likely to be less damaging than leakage of Patak’s curry sauce!! Anyway... Ship ahoy me hearties...avast behind! Looking forward to following the adventures of Pugwash and Crew!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Colin7 May 2018 at 19:00

    I would not put the Patak's in my bag!
    Who remembers the names of Pugwash's crew then? better check before publishing now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Liz7 May 2018 at 22:54

    Have a great time!

    ReplyDelete

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