An Indian expat’s experiences in Canada:
And today, because it is still scorching thanks to the aforementioned heat wave, I am going to list the things in my freezer. By my freezer I mean our freezer, my three roommates and I. This is not a promotion for any of the food brands, although this writer is quite open to paid promotions at this point in life. That you would be paying me to promote things to less than 20 readers is another matter.
It is quite simple; it is 45 degrees and the closest shop within walking distance carries these items.
- Frozen Spinach, Frozen Edamame and Frozen Brussels sprouts: I bought these three in an attempt to eat more greens. However, the spinach has been in the freezer for more than a month and the edamame and brussels sprouts for about a week. The block of spinach makes for a great ice-pack in this heat.
- The Phyllo Pastry: This box belongs to my roommate. A friend did something nice for her, so now she is doing something nice by baking Spanakopita for her friend in return. It is Canada, everyone is really nice. I think she is particularly nice because using an oven in this heat to bake a surprise treat for anyone is absolutely cuckoo even if nice. The kitchen was about a solid 100 degrees in the afternoon and my poor, nice roommate walked around looking like a baked lobster for the rest of the day. The Spanakopita is a Greek pastry filled with spinach and feta cheese. It tastes really nice. The box of Phyllo Pastry does not make a nice ice pack.
- Frozen Ice-Pops: Honestly, up until I started rooting around the freezer for this photo, I had no idea it existed. I do not know who got this blue bag of assorted ice-pops but in all probability, they will not live to see tomorrow.
- Frozen Bananas: At first, I thought these were blood sausages too. For some inexplicable reason we seem to have a dozen blackened frozen bananas in the freezer. Not recommended to use as ice-pack
- Frozen Mochi: We have one boy roommate, who is also very nice. He gets us little treats. This frozen strawberry Japanese dessert is just one example of many of the treats he gets for his 3 girl roommates but will not partake of himself. His range of little surprises for us varies from Breakfast Sandwiches and bags of Miss Vickie’s chips, to bags of Maltesers, Scratch cards and Lottery tickets. He is also the one who does most of the fixing, cleaning, taking out the garbage, carrying cartons and replenishing of bathroom products. Yes ladies, he is single and kind. I am open to sharing his contact in exchange of a lifetime supply of Salt-N-Vinegar chips. I suspect the frozen blood sausage-looking bananas are his though.
- Ice -cream & Frozen Blueberries: These belong to my 2 girl roomates. One is a flavour called Divine and the other ice-cream is called Raw Cookie Dough. Ice-creams here are not just strawberry, vanilla, pineapple and all. The names represent backstories, nostalgia, feelings of euphoria and ecstasy.
- Frozen Pizza Pops, Frozen Pizza and Frozen Pizza-topping Flatbread: Pizzas come in many shapes and sizes in Canada. Pizza-cheese bread swirls, pizza chips and pizza flavoured rolling paper are just a few of the types of pizzas found in the great white North.
- Frozen Butter Chicken & other Frozen Meats (assorted): While I know my look screams butter chicken, all frozen meat products belong to my roommates. There is a bag of frozen mutton-samosas in there as well. None of my roommates are Indian but boy do they love Indian food in Canada!
- Frozen Potatoes: You can find potatoes of just about any type, variety, flavouring, origin and level of cooking from ready-to-eat to needs baking or needs just hot water mixed or half done, par-boiled, only steam needed, etc. Currently we have the ‘umble frozen diced potatoes. A bag of thick cut English potatoes seasoned and frozen into wedges, something called crinkle cut potatoes to make crinkle cut fries. Crinkle is a commodity that has been fetishized beyond even Marxist imagination in the West. Crinkle cut potatoes, crinkle cut carrots, crinkle pickles, crinkle paper and of course crinkle scissors and crinkle cutter to cut all those things crinkle. Also, there is a bag of frozen Polish potatoes perogies with cheddar which I plan to devour this week.
- The Fridge: Finally, because I have run out of things in the Freezer, we move to my shelf in the Fridge. It has one glass of mango lassi that I plan to decimate as soon as I finish this post. Some cheese and half a bar of chocolate. A pack of Garlic Naan that can be baked in the oven. A jar of hot peppers, one tomato, cucumbers and a dabba of olives that have been in there for a month stored with a giant onion that will last me the rest of the next month. There is also a 3 pack of Heinz sauces I found on sale – Sweet Relish, Mustard and Ketchup. There will be many slapdash sandwiches for future dinners.
For all our sakes I hope this heat wave ends soon.
