Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - No comments

Journey to Jordan #3: Edible Amman

Bottomless chips and salsa at Chili’s was not what I pictured for my first taste of Jordan.  Nor were the Triple Dippers - Boneless Buffalo Wings, Southwest Egg Rolls and Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers with blue cheese, Ranch and honey mustard dip - that followed.  But when our friend that picked us up from the airport asked if we wanted “typical Jordanian food” or “American food you can’t get in Turkey,” we opted for the latter, figuring we’d have plenty of time for baba ghanoush and künefe the rest of the week.  

And, oh, did Chili’s deliver. 

The next day, when my roommate and I headed down to the neighbourhood grocery store to buy a couple of things for the next morning’s breakfast, we discovered we were living in an imported food gold mine.  The most dinky, unassuming little shops where men were buying cigarettes and kids were plunking coins down on the counter for Pepsi and candy stocked their shelves full of Bisquick and pancake syrup, Duncan Hines cake mix and frosting, Kraft singles cheese slices, tins of coconut milk, even microwave popcorn.  Modern and well-supplied as our Turkish grocery stores may be, most of those items can’t be found even in the fanciest foreigner-friendly ones.  

I’d better eat up the last of my tuna and Ramen noodles ASAP to make room for all these goodies in my suitcase!

(Don’t worry - our second dinner consisted of falafel, pita bread and some seriously creamy hummus.  Wouldn’t want to forget where we are....)

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