Tonight I received an email from my friend Heather (thanks Heather!) with the big news that my familiar Bs.As. grocery stores are going to look a little less familiar come June 1st. Argentina is officially banning the importation of products that have a "Made in Argentina" alternative. Say What?! Any product that is has a similar cousin that is made in Argentina will no longer be offered in our local grocery stores. Some of the items that this article pinpoints are Pringles, Tabasco sauce, Jif peanut butter and Philadelphia cream cheese. The only item on that list that I'm really worried about is the cream cheese because I have yet to identify an alternative and it goes into a number of my go-to appetizers.The original article in the Argentine Post refers to a ban on such things as Italian imported pastas and Spanish prosciutto. This is wild, considering that in the US the international food aisle is the recent popular hot spot of shopping - even if there are items in that aisle that are also produced by local distribution plants. It doesn't say much about these equivalent products, if the government has to mandate that there cannot be any competition. What would we do without authentic Italian/Asian/Mexican cuisine? I guess I'll find out. My suitcases may be a little more full now when I return from the US...
Oh no!!! That is bad news for us, especially because we just found the peanut butter.
ReplyDeleteHey... just to let you know. There is an alternative to Philadelphia, which is called Finlandia. It doesn't come in a block, just in a plastic pot. And it is not the same, but good on crackers and toast. I haven't used it for any recipes yet, but should try. Sad news about the import ban.
ReplyDeleteThere's a great local peanut butter, too! It's called Dame Mani. It could pass a blind tasting!
ReplyDeleteGood luck
Mike
www.yanquimike.com.ar
Thank you both for these suggestions! I will report back when I have a chance to try these products after I return to Argentina.
ReplyDelete