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RNW1215 t1_j5vpzji wrote

Curious. Is there some reason there's specifically a "UK" aisle at your store? Like is there a large population of UK workers or something in the area?

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PandaNoTrash t1_j5vwu5e wrote

Most grocery stores throughout the US carry a few British products, not always in their own section. Digestives (McVities especially) are popular. Some of the sauces and teas. Typically not the candy, biscuits, and crisps though :(.

Most places with say at least a couple hundred thousand people will have a dedicated British import store, usually run by an expat with a much larger selection.

I think watching too many BBC dramas (Netflix you aren't fooling anyone with your "Netflix Original" British shows) causes many Americans to seek out some of your more interesting products. And we do actually like tea, its not as popular as coffee but we drink a fair amount of it.

Also the Bake Off has caused a huge surge in baking here and while most stuff is easy to get you definitely use a few items that are hard to substitute here. I was ecstatic to find Treacle and Golden Syrup the other day in Nebraska. Definitely some delicious bakes soon. I just wish we could get your double cream.

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KS_HasRead t1_j5vu7up wrote

Every Publix has one aisle that has sections of all sorts of things... The 'international foods' aisle. Indian, Asian with subsections for thai, chinese, and japanese. You name it. I'm Jewish. But I live in the mid-south with an insanely small Jewish population. Yet they have a Jewish section on the aisle for all things gefilte fish and matzah. IDK why. Even I don't buy any of it. Who likes gefilte fish??

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[deleted] t1_j5w9pp2 wrote

Does your Publix also have the Jewish frozen section with the blitzes and schmaltz and the big loaf style gefilte fish?

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KS_HasRead t1_j5yu03z wrote

I've not seen it but I don't really buy much frozen food so I can't say I've ever looked. They keep the frozen dino nuggets on the corner of the frozen aisle, so I can just grab those for my toddler and bounce without passing the rest (which is great because I can't deal with an 'i want ice cream' tantrum in Publix again. The manager came out to comfort me last time since I was basically in tears haha.)

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MaxMMXXI t1_j5xqxyn wrote

I simply do not understand how gefilte fish survived into the age of refrigeration.

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KS_HasRead t1_j5yv7yi wrote

Well the one you know now (mysterious lump in a jar) was actually made in the age of refrigeration. the original type of gefilte fish was interesting (if you like fish). Gefilte means stuffed in yiddish. You'd take a whole fish with skin on. You'd flay it open and pull out all the insides and carefully de-bone it. But you'd keep the skin intact. Then you'd add veg (onion, garlic, matzah etc) to the fish meat you'd pulled out. Then stuff it back in the skin. Then roast the whole thing. So when you put it on the table it was a very elaborate presentation of a complete fish. But the inside was basically fish meatloaf.

The jar goop came around during the 1940s and 50s along with tv dinners. No more laboriously flaying out a fish. You could just grab it from a jar. So modern!

(In the spirit of the real story of gefilte fish, I make a fish croquette mix from fresh fish basically and use a cookie cutter to shape them like fish. Then deep fry it.)

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MaxMMXXI t1_j5zh990 wrote

So it wasn't a preserved fish until it was unnecessary to preserve it as grey lumps in a jar of glop? I wondered why those were called "gefilte" too, so thanks for answering that mystery.

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KS_HasRead t1_j5zhkc1 wrote

>So it wasn't a preserved fish until it was unnecessary to preserve it as grey lumps in a jar of glop?

yep. lol. It originally was something you might make ahead. But it also was very pretty and tasty. https://memod.com/BabiesBriefsAndBooks/putting-the-gefilte-back-in-gefilte-fish-5890

Then the 1940s f*d it up.

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MaxMMXXI t1_j601g6h wrote

As the writer in your link rightly said, gefilte fish has been done a disservice by modernity. I can check this one-of-those-things-I-wonder-about off my list.

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Rogukast1177 t1_j5vytjc wrote

It's more of a section of the aisle, most stores have an international aisle with different foods from different parts of the world.

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