There was a huge supermarket right across from my accommodation during my business trip to Finland, so I popped in right away! I feel like overseas supermarkets offer a glimpse into a country’s food and culture, and personally, I see them as a kind of entertainment spot. The first photo is of sushi, but it didn’t look very appetizing. And just like in Sweden, salmon was definitely the main focus.
Long, slender carrots, surprisingly cheap “caviar” (fish roe), and crayfish were all familiar ingredients from Swedish supermarkets. And I often bought and ate the round bread. It was fluffy and slightly sweet, delicious whether eaten as is or toasted, and I couldn’t resist buying some during this trip out of nostalgia. I also thought the wide variety of cheeses was very Nordic. Personally, I absolutely love Norwegian brown cheese, which looks like a cube in the middle and has a rich, caramel-like flavor, and I used to eat it a lot. It’s a shame I couldn’t buy it due to my business trip schedule (I wonder if there’s a good way to bring refrigerated items like this back to Japan while traveling…)
This is just one corner of the beer section, but they had such an impressive variety of beers, it made me so jealous! Also, it seems non-alcoholic beers have become quite popular recently, with non-alcoholic versions of brands like Laffe available. I’d personally love to try a bunch of them. What’s really interesting is that they even had non-alcoholic Asahi Super Dry and Ichiban Shibori, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen in Japan.
In the drinks section, I noticed some Coke packages that strangely had people’s names on them. Also, some energy drink-like cans had interesting colors and black top designs, which I found pretty cool. It’s fun to discover things like that.
Flat peaches, which you hardly ever see in Japan. They’re a bit firm and taste like a cross between an apple and a peach. You can just bite into them with the skin on, and they’re one of my personal favorite fruits. In Europe, they’re cheap and easy to buy, but in Japan, they’re often treated as a luxury item. Having these kinds of fruits readily available in European offices was also something I really appreciated.
I’ve seen machines that squeeze oranges on the spot to make juice, but this is the first time I’ve seen a pineapple version. At first glance, I wasn’t quite sure if it makes juice (the cup on the left suggests it might…) or if it’s just for peeling.
However, upon closer inspection, it says “Ananas kuorittu” on the back of the machine. “Kuorittu” means “peeled” in Finnish, so it seems like it’s a pineapple peeler! I sometimes buy pineapples and peel them myself with a knife, but it’s quite a hassle, so this machine could be really handy. For some reason, the thought of trying it didn’t even cross my mind at the time, but I really should have…
So yeah, overseas supermarkets are just so fascinating!
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