Submitted by Mark on Mon, 10/15/2007 - 2:46am.
I was standing in my kitchen last week taking stock
of my “dtoo jaan” (the dish cabinet that I keep food in)
and planning a shopping excursion when a strange craving hit me. I
wanted a box of mac-n-cheese like I lived on in college. I know
that's probably a strange desire but, well, I am half a world from
home. Feel free to imagine some other food item if you wish. Anyway,
you couldn't imagine my surprise when, walking down one of the isles
a local shop I saw a familiar shaped box. It was a box of Kroger
brand mac-n-cheese! There was only one but behind it were a couple
boxes of Kraft mac-n-cheese. Wow, it's a small world if Kroger store
brand products can show up half a world away in Cambodia. (Of course
it took a week to get that tune out of my head... Thanks Disney)
The Kroger one was $1.60. I don't know what they cost today but I
only had to pay $0.25/box back in my college days. I didn't actually
buy any and had fried noodles with fish sauce for lunch.
Vegetable
Field
When I first came to Phnom Penh a couple years back I expected
I'd be forced to shop in the traditional markets scrounging around
for anything that looks like it's eatable and paying 2x-5x the price
locals pay. Meat that's been hanging outside in the heat fermenting
all day had me resigned to possible vegetarianism.... Canned goods
with indecipherable Chinese labels concealing content that may or may
not be edible. Vegetables growing in filthy conditions and
fertilized with who knows what... and no safe water to clean them
with. I anticipated hunting, gathering and preparing food taking up
most of my spare time. I did get severely ill from vegetables I
didn't boil long enough and dump a few cans of mystery substances
that proved uneatable. Most foreigners just hire a “house
keeper” to do the cleaning, shopping and cooking which isn't
going to work for me just yet as I mentioned in my last letter. I
even had visions of waiting for care packages with a few favorite
items I could savor. (all my care packages were stolen so just send
email, no packages.) I had a package of “Jelly Bellies”
jelly-beans when I came the first time which I limited myself to one
a day to make them last.
Traditional Market
Fortunately there is an alternative. Shortly after arriving
and beginning exploring the city I discovered a little shop called
“Lucky Market”. It was similar to a small inner-city
American grocery store. It sold a combination of western and Asian
goods with a few local items and obviously catered to foreigners.
There were a couple of them when I arrived and a gigantic new one
opened while I was here the first time. Now most of them are large
and well stocked with American, Australian, French, Japanese, Korean,
etc goods. They all tend to sell basic household goods and some
include clothing. While my Cambodian friends can't believe I shop
at these because they're so expensive I find the prices are usually
better than I can get at the traditional markets and for things
manufactured in this part of the world, usually much better than at
Kroger. Certain imported delicacies, like Miracle Whip, are almost
double what I'd pay in the US. For instance; while boneless,
skinless chicken breasts are $4.20/kg or about $1.91/lb; lard for
making biscuits (or so a southern couple living here told me.) is
$4/1lb can. Meat in these supermarkets seems to be in good condition
and is now shipped frozen. Many American brands have Asian plants in
neighboring Thailand or Vietnam and sell familiar products here,
often with bi or tri-lingual labels, much cheaper than you can get
them in the US. Still, many Chinese and Thai products, and all
French products, have no English on the label so I'm occasionally
guessing when I buy things. (I'm learning Khmer, not Thai or
Chinese.) Interestingly most Cambodian products I find have some
English on the label but it's often of no help as it's just random
English words. Khmer-English dictionaries usually do a poor job with
food words. I've started eating chicken and pork at prices cheaper
than in the US. The only limitation is the size and quality of my
fridge and of course that I must carry the bags on my moto. I end up
needing to shop every couple days.
Pbroh
Hok (Fermented Fish) with Pork
For the inquiring mind it is possible to live on an American
diet here in Phnom Penh for around the same price as it would be in
America. (Though some items are 2-3x the American price.) This
would be impossible in most other cities in the country where there
are fewer (or no) foreigners. In America I tended to live on Asian
food so I just continue that practice here with local foods and
dishes added. All the cook books I find in the book stores are in
Khmer and I'm not quite ready to begin translating them yet.
Eventually I'd like to be able to do that, perhaps with a helper who
could describe the dish so I would know if I was interested. I
would, for instance, love to learn how to make Pbroh Hok (Cambodian chease, aka: Fermented
Fish) with pork. (Pictured to the tight in the little bowl)
Of course I don't exclusively shop at the foreigners
markets. Months ago I wanted to get a drip water purifier and found
them for $32 in the foreigners market. I got it for $20 at the
traditional market. (I guess a lot of locals use them so the price
is cheap, even for me.) More recently I decided to get a coffee
maker since my little press doesn't work well with the local coffee
grind. This is definitely a foreigner -only item. I found the ultra
cheap, $10 at Walmart, coffee maker for $20 in the foreigners market
and headed off to the traditional market. Prices there were higher
and even into the $30+ range. I'm a foreigner looking for a product
used only by foreigners so they jacked the price way up. Even
negotiating I couldn't get close to the foreigners market price.
That is often my experience here as a “rich” foreigner
and why I usually go to “Lucky Market” or “New
Pencil Market”.
Please keep my language studies in prayer. I've
finally developed enough vocabulary to have basic conversations...
which often lead to laughter. My understanding of grammar and usage
is amusingly limited but can now be developed since I know enough
words to say things. My health has been well and I am enjoying the
“cool”season. Lows are often below 80 and highs have
generally been below 90 the last couple months which is far cooler
than the last time I was here. Also keep my laptop in prayer. It's
failed twice and last time I lost all my data since my last backup
and had to spend a week re-loading all my software and downloading
updates.
For now “
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 3:14
