Immigrants: what foods from home do you miss most?

I'm a Greek living in Japan. I mostly miss dairy - greek yogurt, feta, other local cheeses. Actually I just ordered 2kg of feta online for $100 :sad: but I know I'll savor every single bite. I miss a lot of vegetable dishes I can't really make here (can't find the right ingredients), roasted lamb, all sort of pastries made with phyllo (baklava!) and sweet breads and cookies... But I think what I miss most is spending a lazy afternoon in the backyard chatting with my family...

Are you referring to Tommy's joint in San Francisco?

Not the exact same, but I moved from California to Georgia. I miss good artichokes. Random, but true. and In and Out Burger.

Oh yes, I miss the artichokes too. And tree-ripened oranges and tangerines. I still get these things at the store, but they are not even close to the real thing. Oh, and there was this little restaurant called Tommy's that had the best chili fries in the world, and Tommy burgers with chili... nutritionally they were horrific, but they tasted soooo good.

From Ireland been in the States nearly 24 years.

Decent Fish & chips, Steak & Kidney pie, shepards pie & the weird one stuffed lambs heart. Also some decent boiled bacon wouldnt go a miss. I started drinking coffee because like the great Arthur Dent I couldn't find a decent cup of tea.

Being in the northwest a majority of my life, I MISS REAL seafood.
I miss clam digging, I miss Dungeoness crabs, I miss yummy alder smoked salmon.

You cannot convince me that freaking catfish is seafood. Ugh.

^All of this (although I do like catfish). Oregon girl living in Vegas for the past eight years. I miss REAL seafood (especially bay shrimp and dungeness crab), Tillamook products other than cheese (although I have recently found some at WinCo), things made with marionberries, Taco Time, and drive through coffee stands other than Starbucks (Dutch Bros. and independents all the way!).

I was in US for 10 years, I missed many things. Some of them I could cook myself or find in restaurants but they weren't the same and some I simply cannot find in US.

Ful (pronounced fool) fava beans boiled till they break, with veggies, cheese, falafel, olive oil, spices. It is extremely yummy. Cannot find anything close to even the real thing in US.

Hummus: What is it about Americans and getting rid of the chick pea flavor in hummus. The US hummus tastes like cream to me. You're supposed to taste the chick peas in it. With olive oil

Mutabbaq: veggies with meat and eggs on cheese wrapped in very thing dough and then lightly fried! yes please. Cannot find anything even close to it in US

Biryani: Cannot find good biryani in US

Many other things really but these were the biggies.

Next time, try Dearborn, MI.

Lived about 45 minutes away from Dearborn MI (Flint, MI). Believe me, I've looked.

I had some lovely Ful in Dearborn. Maybe the restaurant is no longer there. DC would be second best for Middle Eastern food--some decent Lebanese restaurants there, at least.

There are lebanese versions all over the US. Sadly I prefer Egyptian or Sudani versions and very much so hate the lebanese version

What didn't you like, Gowri, about these Calypso, [in my photos] ??!! Well, never happen to be in India, but have tried Thai mangos - nah, don't like 'em! Too sweet

:sad: The mangoes! During Mango season in India, it is like being in heaven itself! I have got my entire day's nutrition in just mangoes and happily too! The ones I can get now in Australia shouldn't even be called a Mango really. :grumble:

You haven't had a mango till you have had one in India! It is everything perfect and wonderful!

Ah, something to look forward to then!

What didn't you like, Gowri, about these Calypso, [in my photos] ??!! Well, never happen to be in India, but have tried Thai mangos - nah, don't like 'em! Too sweet

:sad: The mangoes! During Mango season in India, it is like being in heaven itself! I have got my entire day's nutrition in just mangoes and happily too! The ones I can get now in Australia shouldn't even be called a Mango really. :grumble:

You haven't had a mango till you have had one in India! It is everything perfect and wonderful!

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to the OP: "Unfortunately snert is delicious, but takes hours to make " no it doesn't, all you need is some split peas, carrot, onion and spek and you'll have it in like 40 min; though you can let it simmer longer if you want. it's super-easy to make!

I'm Estonian now living in the Netherlands and while I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of the things that taste exactly the same (salt herring with onions and the snert to name 2), I have almost completely stopped eating bread because it's always SUCH a disappointment here. The crust hurts my mouth and the filling soft part is just air with no taste I miss the dark rye bread SO much. the Frisian bread is kind of an ok substitute if it weren't so dry and crumbly.

Also, for a country that prides itself on the dairy products, the choice in yoghurt is abysmal - there are only 2 or 3 major brands, one being Activia, which though it has the largest variety of flavours, might as well be sold as laxative, and the flavours of the more "full" brands are... sad. Like, what if I don't want strawberry yoghurt at either 0% or 5% fat? What if I want lingoberry-bread flavoured yoghurt with probiotic bacteria at 2.3% fat?

ham. Like, proper ham that tastes meaty and smoky and salty. Smoked fish and dried fish - you'd think, the NL being a sea-bound country they'd have a lot of variety of fish but they don't it's all the "standard Western European" kind of fish and if you want to get something really simple like smoked flounder... nope! you can get flounder but only within about a month in early summer when it's in season, and then you can only get it pan-fried in loads of batter and butter. Which is tasty, don't get me wrong. But it's not smoked flounder.

I spent a lot of my childhood in Malaysia. I miss roti canai, rambutans, and good Chinese food :sad:

I do miss rambutans too, too expensive and not fresh rambutans here in Houston, TX. You can come here for good Chinese food.