World Provisioning for Beginners: What's not so common?

[DanCan]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

What about more mundane things? Ziplock bags? Thyme and Basil? My favourite shampoo? Are kitchen and bathroom cleaners different in different parts of the world?



A lot of you have suggested loading up on provisions, but if I walk into a big store in Panama, will I still be able to buy chocolate chips? Strawberry jam? Campbell's soup? Boullion? Just running down an old grocery list I can find tons of things I might suspect aren't as common as I think they are



Enquiring minds want to know...

When we traveled to South America (no sailing but budget trip) we found almost all items but most with brands we didn’t know about. We had to try. Some better than imagined and some I couldn’t stomach. Things like paper items were very low quality compared to ours in Canada and typical items to use in typical North American dishes non existent. So for basic eating we found no problem.

[Greg Mason]

Dan, we use a pressure cooker to can and it is fool a proof method. We had a bout 140 jars of meat aboard and replenished when necessary. Nothing like a midnight watch and opening a jar of chicken to eat or mix. hpeer, the reason we never used spam, was simple, we never ate it at home and we wanted food we knew and liked. Cheese in brine, butter, why would we ever sacrifice our favourite foods because we were cruising?

[hpeer]

Yes to zip lock bags. My Wife washes them and reuses.

Dry cell batteries can be had in huge packs cheaply stateside but in small expensive packs outside.

Cell phone charge cords and chargers. We seem to go through a lot.
A universal lap top power supply
Saran Wrap, was paper, HEAVY Reynolds aluminum foil. The aluminum foil is almost a tool, a basic supply.

I carry a few pieces of aluminum bar; 1/8 by 1” etc and a pop river tool to make stuff

The list gets endless.

Meat selection at a local market.

[barnakiel]

We sailed rtw 2003-2007 on the easy route: EU, Panama, NZ/AUS, RSA, Brazil, etc.


We never found any kind of food missing, not even in some very remote places.


In some places, like the more removed islands of Polynesia, we found the regular and common food a bit far from our daily fare (pasta,bread,rice,potatis, etc.). Say taro and yucca are not what I would like to eat day in day out.



At places (e.g. Spain) we were forced to replace say on kind of fat (say butter) with some other kind (say olive oils). Etc. Then again fat is fat, the body does not care. And garlic fried in olive oil sure beats garlic fried in butter.



So, basically, anything today can be had anywhere, except that at times what you get is maybe not what you grew up with yes.


Then again, if you can buy Heineken and a Big Mac in the remotest places, what point would there be left in cruising that far?


PS Note we only made one long (18 months) stop in NZ. If you get stuck in odd places for long time (say 6months +) then sure you may be forced to do without food X. This is why FedEx and DHL have been invented around 1950'ies I think. Order on Amazon, pick up tomorrow.



Cheers,
b.

[mako]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Dry cell batteries can be had in huge packs cheaply stateside but in small expensive packs outside.

Forgot about that one. When in the Middle East batteries from the store were nearly always completely dead. Even from big, reputable stores like Carrefour. I would avoid dry cells completely - it's better to use rechargeable onboard.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Greg Mason

Dan, we use a pressure cooker to can and it is fool a proof method. We had a bout 140 jars of meat aboard and replenished when necessary. Nothing like a midnight watch and opening a jar of chicken to eat or mix. hpeer, the reason we never used spam, was simple, we never ate it at home and we wanted food we knew and liked. Cheese in brine, butter, why would we ever sacrifice our favourite foods because we were cruising?

I used SPAM as a baseline for the storage time frame. Someone commented on keeping bottled food for 6 years. Well hell SPAM lasts forever so why should my bottled/canned food not last just as long?

The only issue I have with bottling In quantity is:
1- You need a kitchen, your own kitchen
2- You really need a pressure cooker designed for the process

I had a small cooker and it took me forever to make up all the bottles. Now I don’t have a kitchen and I just can’t see doing it on the boat in the tropics. I COULD, it would be a bit hassle, but then I don’t have access to good meat either.

But that’s just me, I’m old and lazy. LOL

[Dan Best]

But if they did have mustard, would it be the "real" yellow/american kind of some sort of european/dijon stuff

I prefer the real kind and my wife likes the dijon stuff. We were out of both and couldn't find either.

[Marathon1150]

Having lived in equatorial SE Asia (both north and south of the equator in Indonesia for 10 years) and recently sailed to French Polynesia, here are a few observations.

Almost everything is available everywhere if you are in the right spot at the right time. Some things are however harder than others, again depending on location. The smaller the place, the harder it is to find things that are commonplace "back home" wherever that may be.

Fresh vegetables and greens are very hard to grow in tropical climates for a variety of reasons. If there are high altitude locations available (above 2000m/6000ft), the temperature difference makes it possible to grow some things like carrots, beans, cabbage etc but the number of creatures available to eat those things prior to and after harvest still makes it challenging without an all out chemical assault. "Organic" in these situations means that everything is well coated in some kind of organic chemical pesticide.

I agree with the comment re UHT milk being a gift from a future civilization. It is many, many times better than powdered milk and can be frothed for capuccino.

My only comment about canned butter is that is never good. We prefer to live without it and substitute olive oil, which is often but not always available. But it keeps well and IMHO is worth the storage space that it uses, and the weight that it adds to the boat.

Good coffee beans can be hard to find but if desperate, there is sometimes Nescafe. I have been to places in China where there is no coffee, ever.

In the Marquesas: fresh, identifiable, meat; fresh chicken and fresh fish (unless self caught) are generally not available. Strangely, my absolutely most favourite granola from New Zealand was available and for nearly the same price as in NZ. Tomatoes on the other hand were very hard to find. Between supply ship visits, lots of things are sold out (dairy products, eggs, frozen meat and chicken).

In Papeete: we are tied up in Marina Taina, a 10 minute walk away from a Carrefour that has pretty much everything, most of the time.

The OP asked about flour. It can sometimes be hard to find, and it usually behaves differently in bread recipes - likely a result of different wheat, storage conditions and ambient climate in the galley.

Lastly, if you are not using "green bags" to store produce, look into it. We kept things like green peppers for up to 4 weeks without refrigeration (the fridge was full of other things). They are amazing, inexpensive and can be used over and over again.

[Donald Bryden]

Provisioning in foreign lands is part of the adventure. In the Marquises, the only meat available was canned corned beef and occasionally frozen chicken. If you have ever had canned corned beef, you know bares no resemblance to the real thing. I once bought a frozen chicken and it had a broken wing and was missing a leg. Road kill? On the other hand, the fresh baked baguettes are indescribably great. The problem with the baguettes is getting them back to the boat. I often eat them on the way. These are happy memories of our visit there. More on topic, there is to much variation to make any observations that would apply everywhere would be impossible. Most places, there are many small stores with limited items available and occasionally huge supermarkets that carry almost everything one could want. The one rule of shopping I use is if I see something I might want or need, I buy it then. That's because if the purchase is postponed there is a good chance it will be sold out and restocking may or may not ever happen. I've been out 18 years now and many times I find things I really like that are available at a certain country and nowhere else. That is what makes it fun and eating enjoyable.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

After my last trip for groceries and being unable to get the oddest things because people afraid of Covid are definitely weird shoppers, it occurred to me that if I ever actually did set off to sail the world I would encounter a lot of missing items that I normally don't think twice about. For example I remember my first trip to Europe and provisioning our boat and not being able to find milk that wasn't UHT. I imagine it gets much weirder the further off the beaten track.

So as an exercise, what things would the typical North American be surprised are not commonly available as one sailed around the world? Please tell me white flour is universal

One's diet is something that gets ingrained into us at an early age and can be difficult to overcome in later years...an adult neighbor, years ago, would only eat his peas if they were mixed with mashed potatoes...poor upbringing. So, being opened minded about different/foreign foods is a big positive if you are sailing the world. High Maintenance individuals can always go the canned/packaged/dehydrated route to ensure they don't starve or go on a forced diet.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[Zzmeyer]

In Mexico I've found it hard to find shallots, beluga caviar, truffles and a decent Port. Lots of napoli cactus and tequila, which are good substitutes, though.

[skalashn]

The best substitute for caviar in Mexico is chapulines. Also salty and high in protein

[Dougtiff]

NUT'S, take lots if you like me use alot, nut's in Mexico, SOOOO expensive, a hand full costs the earth, buy in bulk, and vacume pack.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Dougtiff

NUT'S, take lots if you like me use alot, nut's in Mexico, SOOOO expensive, a hand full costs the earth, buy in bulk, and vacume pack.

That's another surprising one. I would have thought nuts were easier to get outside of North America...

[Matt Johnson]

What does the American in me miss most? Ranch salad dressing I could find in the Caribbean and South America, but it doesn't seem to exist over on this side of the pond.

Matt

P.S. I'm too cheap to buy the 8oz import on Amazon for $10.