Cooking in a new land
With my recent move to Bern, I’m discovering the challenges of cooking in Switzerland, a nation where food costs for fish, fowl and meat are eight times as great as in Berlin. I admit to suffering sticker shock at the market, to the point where I wandered through the popular supermarket chain store, Migros, for over an hour without actually being able to select food. In the end, urged on by my husband, I did manage to pick out the makings of a salad. A month later, I’m more used to spending a minimum of 40 CHF every time I go to the market, but I can’t say I like it. A new friend showed me a couple of Asian markets where prices seem more reasonable, but meats and fish are still only for special meals.
Nor are restaurants really an option — after fantastic Brazilian buffets in Berlin, all-you-can-eat for 9 Euro, it’s pretty tough to stomach slapping down 40 CHF per person for mediocre faux-Chinese food.
On the other hand, I have to say that Swiss milk and dairy products beat the German ones hands down. I never though I’d enjoy boxed milk, so there’s an upside to everything. My new project is coming up with inexpensive, healthy and delicious meals that don’t break the bank!
January 28th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Prices in the u.S. are not as bad as in Europe, but everything has gone up in price while the average person is making the same or less than they were a couple of years ago. On certain things, like clothing for my daughter, I can go to Target and spend much less. But when it comes to feeding my family, I finally broke down and started shopping at Costco. I want to keep the neighborhood grocery stores in business but they just can’t compete in price.