What to Bring to Germany - Food and Ingredients you can't find here! (Revised 1/27/15!)
Moving to Germany was no easy task, with the paperwork, and logistics, there isn’t much time to worry about what you will be missing when you get here. Word to the wise: If you are obsessed about a certain brand, or can’t live without your beloved seasonings, make sure you pack or ship them with you!
Thank GOD for Facebook communities, without whom we would have gone insane trying to find that one ingredient needed for our favorite american recipe. Our friendly expat FB friends advised we make sure to bring an excess of because it is impossible (or very rare or ludicrously expensive!) to find here. Of course this is not a full list and all of the sources i used have extensive forums that would take days to read and find absolutley everything, and is only based on my experience and what I have had one heck of a time finding, but if you have any questions or concerns feel free to comment or email me!
(Don’t forget that somethings are not able to be shipped! Meats, explosives, corrosive fluids, etc. are not allowed, so make sure to be careful what you pack. We were able to ship a large bag of our cats favorite food because it contained no meat products.. Yay!)
Eventually you will get used to how to change recipes to fit local or seasonal ingredients, make or find the seasons or ingredients your looking for, or just grow accustomed to the amazing foods here! Anyone know a good schnitzel recipe? hehe
REVISION! Many of the ingredients originally listed below have been FOUND! haha, thanks to those who helped me translate and made my cooking like 300% easier now! Of course not all taste EXACTLY the same, but are pretty damn close!
Seasoning:
Cumin (**Found at Marktkauf - "Kreuzkümmel"**)
Chili Powder (**Found at Marktkauf - "Chilipulver" or "Mexikanisch"**)
Buffalo Seasoning
Ranch (they have something like it… of course not the same)
Yout favorite seasonings (you can try and find the recipe or hope to god they have it, but my suggestion is to ship it instead, no harm done)
Cilantro
Enchilada Sauce (Lots of taco stuff appearing lately but you know...)
REAL mayo - The mayo here is sweeter than normal, but if you like Miracle Whip, there is plenty of that here! You can always make mayo the old fashioned way though.
Soups/Canned Goods:
Cream of Mushroom/Cream of Chicken - ANY condensed soup bases (Tomato Soup - Available but pretty pricey)
Canned Baked Beans
BLACK beans - Very Hard to find! Find in a specialty store like the italian market.
Pantry Items
REAL Kraft Mac & Cheese!
Soba Noodles (I know there are many chinese markets here, but have yet to find them!)
Instant Grits/Oatmeal - (Nothing is easy here...)
EVERY CEREAL YOU LOVE! Only a rare few can be found here, and they are crazy expensive if you do!
Almond Butter
Baking:
Cornstarch
Corn Syrup
Brown Sugar (Sucks to make it yourself! All germans will tell you they have brown sugar here but its really just raw sugar. Not the same!)
Chocolate Chips (The REAL kind! They have baking chocolate but not the same)
Caramel/Butterscotch
Cake Mixes or Brownie Mixes
Vanilla Extract
Maple Syrup (**Found at Real.- but really freakin expensive!**)
Sweetened Coconut - But they have coconut milk, whole coconuts, shavings, etc.
Canned Pumpkin (Sucks around the Holidays to not have canned pumpkin!)
Canned Sweet Potatoes or Yams (But this is much easier to make than canned pumpkin!)
Junk Food:
Root Beer
Twinkies!
Salsa - Of course can be made with the cilantro you brought
Wheat Thins
Cheezits
Jiff/Skippy Peanut Butter
Candy Corn (Halloween came and went and i didnt have ANY!!)
Cool- Aid/Water Flavoring
Saltine Crackers
Triscuits
PopTarts
Cheetos (The fake ones here stink... i think they use real cheese.)
Twizzlers
Your Favorite Gum - Not a lot to choose from
Fritos
Lemonade/Kool-Aid Mix - Really any drink mixes
Lipton Tea
Girl Scout Cookies (If you have an obsession like I do, this is a BIG DEAL!)
Cleaning:
Clorox Wipes/Windex wipes
Pledge
American Measuring Cups - metric measurements only here!
REAL Saran Wrap - they have a different brand but doesn’t work well at all. (I need my Press n' Seal!!!)
Ziplocks of all Sizes - They only have the small ones and again, not very good.
Tampons with applicators (sounds ridiculous but they are hard to find the ones with plastic applicators!)
Medicine (You can find similar antibiotics but if you are weary like me, bring the kinds you know):
Advil
Benadryl
Dayquil & Nyquil
Tums
Hydrocortisone cream (In the states is a lot stronger than anything they have here)
Stain Remover Pens
Shout
Tylenol
Sudafed/Nasinex
Sources: Toytown Germany (http://bit.ly/1LeE5g6), ChowHound (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/490397), The Germany Way (http://bit.ly/1zq7lNT), and Yahoo (http://yhoo.it/18pfVjY)