Convenience stores: a glimpse into cultural identity
One of our first stops when we arrive in a new country is always a convenience store or a local supermarket.
We stock up on a few essentials (mostly fizzy pop, honestly) and make sure that we have plenty of snacks for our hotel room pitstops and midnight snacks, as well as things to take for breakfast on early starts and pop into our backpacks for big adventure days or take down to the pool. And we’ve stumbled on some unmissable snacks.
Food is one of the central parts of what makes us who we are, what defines a country and it shapes and helps to form the identity and cultural footprint of cities, countries and islands in lots of ways.
We were eager to try the Carbonara in Venice, the pizza in Naples, the nasi goreng in Bali, the mushroom soup in a bread bowl in Reykjavík and a burger as big as our heads on our first trip to the US. But those are parts of food culture that are instantly recognisable, and even define a place in the case of burgers in America. But for me, what really forms the culinary identity of somewhere is the things that get picked up on a daily basis by the locals; the last minute snacks and the lunch-on-the-go essentials. And that is where the convenience stores come in.
We’ve been surprised with liquorice Haribo and sambal crisps, instant ramen for 5p better than any we’ve tried before, and Kinder pastries that we couldn’t stop eating. Melon bread, perfectly formed rice balls, pizza flavoured Pringles, steaming bao buns, cannolis, fresh coconuts, packets of dried seaweed, pre-cooked and packaged boiled eggs - things that we’ve never encountered, and even seemed a little alien, but were eager to try as a part of becoming immersed in a new culture. But there is familiarity too.
A sense that even though you are 4000 miles away from home, if you can walk into a convenience store, open the fridge door and pull out an icy can of Diet Coke, you’re never really that far from home. There will always be the foodie things that bring everyone comfort – a big packet of cheesy crisps, an indulgent chocolate bar, moreish biscuits, and the reassuring, slurping warmth and comfort of a pack of cheap but delicious noodles ready to be adapted and changed to be just what you need in that moment. Comfort, food is comfort, even on the other side of the world.
Written by Sophie
