Panic buying: what are we light-hearedly learning about our hosts?!

[lekkerkroketje]

I'm in Paris and have just gone back from the shop. It's been quite the culinary-anthropological field trip. For a land supposedly so keen on good food, instant noodles seem to be a necessity. Even the corona virus can't persuade people to buy lentil, wholegrain or Alsation pasta. To put on your (white) pasta, only reblouchon and comte are permissable. Mozzarella and parmesan are untouched! Nice French couscous and rice are great, but the ones with Arabic on are weird and foreign and probably infectious. Dish wash sponges and laundry detergent are running surprisingly low, but that may be to save space on the lorries.

What have you learnt about your host country from their panic preferences?

The shortage of flower is due to packaging capacity.
Apparently (UK source) 95% of flower is bulk distributed like in tankers.
There is very limited packing capacity for small bags that are sold in supermarkets.

In Perth, Australia. Aside from all the usual stuff, I couldn't get lemon juice or white vinegar for several weeks. People apparently using it for cleaning. Pretty much everything is available now, except for flour. It sounds like that is a problem everywhere!

I’m in Romania. Supermarkets are all fully stocked, no queuing, no restrictions on what you can get. There was a yeast shortage for a few weeks but you can get fresh and dried again now. There has been queuing for the hypermarkets but not for the regular local supermarkets. The open air markets are re-opening soon, which is great.

Yeast and baking powder are the hard to find items in NZ

I'm in Melbourne and no shortages now, though bizarrely lime juice was absent for about a fortnight.

Oooh - late to this but very interesting thread! Ukraine here - it has calmed down but initially it was buckwheat and jam! People survived the siege of Leningrad by living on homemade jam - it is what people still go to!