# essential food etc to take to spain



## jacknjill (Apr 25, 2009)

Hi all, in the process of planning our late autumn/winter trip to spain. As we`ve never done this before we would like the benefit of your experience to help us decide what essential foodstuffs etc to take with us.
thanks
peter.


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## sweetie (Nov 28, 2005)

I'll start with teabags. Found spanish ones not that good

Steve


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## jacknjill (Apr 25, 2009)

thanks for that swift reply steve, my wife is very fussy about her tea bags.
peter


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

I filled up with tins and packets but when I got there I found shopping in their supermarkets Ok --they have a great variety of food that we enjoyed and we also ate out a lot.
So stock up with tins and packets to get you down there and then enjoy all the local food where ever you go in Spain.


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## 108370 (Nov 20, 2007)

They do eat quite well in Spain  

A lot of supermarkets stock UK products but the prices are usually high

IMO use local products , which will include a lot of known UK brands anyway.

The effort to carry stuff which will run out anyway is not worth the effort


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## marionandrob (May 14, 2005)

As Mavis said, their supermarkets are pretty good.
If you are visiting an area with a large resident british population you should be able to get most things otherwise:

tea bags
Heinz tomato Ketchup
Mustard Pickle
Brown sauce
Bacon
Cheddar Cheese
peanut butter

If you are curry monsters they are not big on "ethnic" food so we always take a couple of jars of the Patak's curry pastes.

If you visit a Mercadona look for red sprays of Bosque Verde brand of Disuelvemanchas Grasas - basically grease removing spray for laundry - they also do an enzyme spray - its brilliant stuff- always try to bring a couple of bottles back with me - even shifted ballpoint pen out of a pair of my daughters trousers ( one exploded in her pocket) after she had tried all the usual U.K. products with no success.

Have a good trip


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

Don't forget the Marmite 8O 
Avoid any supermarkets with a Union Jack displayed prominently. They will charge you the Earth for UK brands. Shop away from the coast if you can.
Patrick


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Baked Beans  difficult and expensive to get.

Olley


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## welshtust (Jun 9, 2008)

Agree, baked Beans the some places charging of a euro a tin. We came home all sorts of food, still using some of the Spanish smoked paprika, fantastic on pork. Also saffron and some great jams. And went last New Years.


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## GypsyRose (May 9, 2005)

Beans and sausages in a tin.....yes, they sell them in Spain but you will play "hunt the sausage"!!! :lol:


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

locovan said:


> So stock up with tins and packets to get you down there and then enjoy all the local food where ever you go in Spain.


I'm with Mavis on this one, its no hardship to go without what you cannot get.
Enjoy the change of life style and try something different otherwise what is the point in going?

peedee


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## oddball135 (Jul 30, 2009)

Things I have to take to Spain;

Tea bags;
Sweets, if you like sweets, dont like the ones in Spain.
Custard, they do some great cakes, but you cant get custard, we take the instant custard mix, about 7p in the supermarkets here.
breaky Cereal.
I cant believe its butter, its hard to find, and when you can its costs a lot.
Hard cheese, like cheddar, other than that they do some great cheeses in Spain.
Tins of mussy peas, a must if you like them.

Hope this helps.


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

Baked beans and tea bags.
The rest you can get here cheaper than the UK only if you shop well away from the coast.


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

Baked beans are essential if you want to come back and say you were gassed. :lol: 

Olley


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

assuming you shop at Carrefour or Caprabo or Euroski and use dicounters like Lidl you can get beans, cheddar and everything else except UK style bacon. But tea bags are weak.

My advice is take yorkshire teabags as they are specially blended for hard water which you will find all through Spain, tea without the scum and line you would otherwise get


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## peaky (Jul 15, 2009)

we eat the local brand coffee and baked beans, we never thought we could do without Sainsburys cafatier coffee but u adapt, only thing here... salad cream spanish dont do it, so bring some with u , if u do find it in the english shops it costs a fortune !!


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## apxc15 (Dec 1, 2007)

You can get most of the things mentioned, at Spanish Supermarkets but it does depend on where your going. 
Mas Y Mas stock a lot of Brit type foods and at a reasonable price but this is mainly in the areas where there are a lot of resident Brits.
Lidl, Mercadonna and Eroski also stock Brit. food at most of their stores but expect to pay more.
There are a few Overseas Iceland's about. Fuengirola, Xabia and Benissa are the one's I"ve used. 
They are, strangely, popular with the Spanish. 
Expect to pay over the odds for most things from them, and only use them for the stuff you can't get from the other stores mentioned.
Stay well away from the small Brit. stores such as Quicksave ( most seem to like to use that name ) as they are just a rip off.

Pete 8)


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## loddy (Feb 12, 2007)

Whats the saying"when in Rome"

Why cart loads of food to a foreign country??

Loddy


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## tommytli (Aug 7, 2008)

loddy said:


> Whats the saying"when in Rome"
> 
> Why cart loads of food to a foreign country??
> 
> Loddy


i agree with loddy,imo thats one of the reasons for going to a foreign country to experance everything especially the food :wink:


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Dictated from the wife.

1/ Tea bags

2/ Gravy granules.

3/ Brown sauce.

4/ Baked beans.

5/ Fray Bentos pies in tins various.

She also said make sure to make a list as 3 months without proper gravy would be intorable :lol:

The rest you can buy there!.


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## loddy (Feb 12, 2007)

Ray

Do you let your Mrs use gravy granules,

Does she whant a recipe for gravy


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## Lunarvictim (Aug 15, 2009)

Hi. Just take all your favorite foods as you can bet you wont be able to get them, funny how you miss them as well.Foreign substitutes just arent the same,having said that i found Portugese produce and chicken far superior to ours.Regards Rob.


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## steco1958 (Mar 5, 2009)

I find that I just stock up what we normally eat and when it runs out or we need anything, I go to the nearest super market, would you believe it they eat much the same as us, but usually better quality.

For goodness sake get over the "I can't eat those there not Heinze" mentality.

And if you dont already get some basic sentences for asking for things.

How much is that
I would like 100g of " product"
Thank you
Please
How to you say that in "Spanish / French"


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## ThursdaysChild (Aug 2, 2008)

Patrick Phillips very properly mentioned Marmite, but I am horrified that none of you take Heinz Salad Cream with you !!

What on earth do you put on your chips ?


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## 38Rover (Nov 9, 2006)

http://www.overseas.es/store_locator.php
There are several ICELAND stores in Spain full of Brit goods see link there is also Dunnes stores on the Costas they also stock brit goods.
Dont be frighten to try local goods most are very good.
If going south there is also Morrisons at Gibralter


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## MyGalSal (Dec 8, 2008)

ThursdaysChild said:


> Patrick Phillips very properly mentioned Marmite, but I am horrified that none of you take Heinz Salad Cream with you !!
> 
> What on earth do you put on your chips ?





> Well vinegar of course!
> (Is vinegar a northern thing?)
> Sal


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## 108370 (Nov 20, 2007)

MyGalSal said:


> ThursdaysChild said:
> 
> 
> > Patrick Phillips very properly mentioned Marmite, but I am horrified that none of you take Heinz Salad Cream with you !!
> ...


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## MyGalSal (Dec 8, 2008)

As in others' posts you can get most of the things we are familiar with (Some a bit more expensive) plus a lot of other really nice things we are not so familiar with but which are usually very acceptable.

The 'when in Rome' brigade are right - to a point! It is a great opportunity to try local produce etc, and supermarkets are much like ours with a wide variety of choice. However, if there is something you really enjoy then why not take it? Better safe than sorry is my maxim. A couple of weeks holiday etc is very different to a long trip of say, 3/6 months. So, apart from what has already been mentioned (certainly never seen my favourite Lady Grey tea!):
1. Ground coffee - can get decent stuff in France but haven't found it in Spain. 
2. And wait for the bombardment.... we take our own milk, can't stand the Spanish stuff.
3. A Brita water filter. Spanish water is dreadful - full of minerals and lime. We have a Nature Pure filter in the van but we also use a Brita filter (only need it in Spain)and I still need to descale the kettle! 
We, too, are off end of October for 4 months Spain/Portugal. See you on the road. You will love it.
Sal


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## apxc15 (Dec 1, 2007)

steco1958 said:


> I find that I just stock up what we normally eat and when it runs out or we need anything, I go to the nearest super market, would you believe it they eat much the same as us, but usually better quality.
> 
> For goodness sake get over the "I can't eat those there not Heinze" mentality.
> 
> ...


If you live with the rural Spanish for any length of time, you will find that they eat a lot of things that either (A) We would never dream of eating or (B) We would only ever consign to the bin.
A good Spanish friend of mine who delights in trying to feed me snails collected in the campo, often says that we (Brits) have no idea about what is good food. The Spanish prefer their food to be chewy and spend most of the meal chewing to get the full flavour. I think we would call it tough and or stringy. They think chickens feet and combs are a delicacy?
There are 2 kinds of Paella, tourist and local and believe me you really do not want to know what is in the local one.

Pete 8)


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

I can buy hens feet in my local cash & carry in IOM, they aren't foreign.

Delicious in a chinese sauce, gelatinous, not tough, suck the meat off the bone.

I know that this is off topic but I do want to know what us in local paella, different for each region and I do want to eat the local, not tourist version

The Spanish do great sald cream in plastic squeezy bottles

Vinegar no you won't get Sarsons malt from the chemical distillery but you will get lots of wine and sherry and cider vinegars including balsamics

You will get the best coffees ande everything else

Anyway why aren't you doing salds at tea time with cheese and salami and having a good 10 euro menu del dia lunch with three courses and water or half bottle wine and bread?

The only thing you will not get is satisfactory tea and unless you filter every bit of the water you need Yorkshire


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## apxc15 (Dec 1, 2007)

Vinegar no you won't get Sarsons malt from the chemical distillery but you will get lots of wine and sherry and cider vinegars including balsamics Quote.

Just hang on a mo there is nothing chemical about Sarsons vinegar.
Barley, Roast Barley and malt extract and no chemicals at all.

Made in good old Lincolnshire the home of the finest of foods.

Pete 8)


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## 108370 (Nov 20, 2007)

we use bottled water for tea ( still not sparkling ,before there is a comment) and not fancy mineral water either.

twinnings is usually around and yes you can get lady Grey and Roobush ?? and green tea. I know because thats all my good lady drinks.

lilly coffee is easy to find and laverna is around if you prefer to avoid Spanish blends ( which are very good IMO)

we are away next Monday so hoping the good weather stays


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## 04HBG (Dec 9, 2007)

If you like a good curry then take some with you as we have struggled to find any in Spain or Portugal.


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## PeterandLinda (Feb 21, 2009)

Hi

Marmite, OXO cubes and Shredded Wheat can only be found in specialist shops in France, Spain, Portugal or Germany and the tea is none too good either. You can't buy foil trays (for roasting) in Germany

P&L


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## C7KEN (May 27, 2005)

There is absolutely no need to bring food from the UK to Spain. There are Iceland centres opening up here and lots of small supermarkets selling UK stuff that is not too expensive. As an example just off the N332 soiuth of La Marina there is a complex with Mercadonna, Lidle, Iceland. Slightly further south still on the 332 at Guardamar there is Del Boys shop . Very obvious because of the 3 point plug (Reliant) displayed on the front. Do the Spanish people look starved ? of course not and some of their food is a great buy. Things like Panga fish. Where two can be fed for less than 1 euro each. Try Consum supermarkets for beer, fahita making ingrediants, mince, chicked fillet. Try Mercadonna for Panga and try the spanish bread instead of paying too much for imported UK bread. Iceland do lots of jars like Curry, Bolognaise, Chicken Tonight, and all the packets of sauce for stir fry's like Oyster with black bean etc.Try Lidle for many things like wine, ground coffee, coffee filters etc. So even me can turn out a meal that looks and tastes good.Even if you are not fish lovers try panga poached. Put in aluminium foil with Virgin Extra Olive oil. place some onion , mushrooms, herbs on top with ground pepper and stick in a hot oven for 20 mins, remove and serve with rice or potatoes. It is boneless and does not taste or smell fishy. 
I forgot to say . Twist the ends of the Ali foil to stop the Olive oil from escaping and to keep the heat inside the foil.


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## markandlorna (Jan 17, 2009)

What about cheddar, we love cheddar! is that hard to get hold of??


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## thieawin (Jun 7, 2006)

No


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

C7KEN said:


> Things like Panga fish.


And don't eat too much of it ! Alternative name is Vietnamese River Cobbler, also on sale in UK ( Tesco etc) as well as Germany and France. It is farmed in the Mekong delta, one of the most heavily polluted river systems in the world.

Look it up !

G


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## julie798 (Jun 13, 2007)

*food*

I miss tinned salmon and cornedbeef for sandwhiches, and for me malt vinigar is a must, for the black peas I always fetch with me


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## Stevemotorhome (Oct 31, 2008)

Tinned steak and Kidney pies (fray bentos). Last forever and you don't need fridge space.
Also tinned curry as they don't have curry over there.
Having recently come back from Norway I'm glad we stocked up.

Have a good holiday

Steve


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

In my prolonged periods abroad in the 70's I used to fantasize about pork pies!!!


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## goldi (Feb 4, 2009)

Evening all

SPAM



norm


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## eddied (May 9, 2005)

*SPAM*

  Ciao tutti,
SPAM? SPAM? apart from getting loads of it on my emails; surprised that a nation that turns up its nose at nourishing rural Spanish or Italian foods such as nice fat snails, or goat's innards,could even contemplate taking a tin of SPAM off the shelves!   
:lol: 
saluti e buon appetito.
eddied
:wave: Hi Peter.


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