European expats, post-Brexit, where are you buying your Christmas presents from this year if you previously bought from UK?

[Ultraopaque]

Are you going local? The trouble is, where I live, local retail tends to be either cheap and tacky, or massively expensive, with very little in between. Or just
X 3 the price that I paid for the same thing in UK.

Are you going to order from different countries? Maybe on-line department stores within Europe? Or Zalando maybe?

And if you normally send parcels to UK (which you can no longer do because of tax and customs charges) are you going for vouchers sourced within UK instead via Funky Pigeon or some such?

I must admit I am going to miss buying from sites like Not on the High Street or from other more unusual small artisan-type places in UK. There must be the equivalent here in Europe (low countries) but they seem harder to access somehow, even though I speak two local languages.

Or are you going back to the UK for a shopping trip and risking customs charges?

Any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

We'll have to wait and see then. I bought some Waitrose items yesterday but generally a lot of items were out of stock so supply routes may still be difficult.

@Geamhradh another reason to visit Puglia next summer! Although I wonder about the potato quality, Italian potatoes are disappointing when baked. Unless I’ve been buying the wrong ones?

[quote Melassa]@Geamhradh another reason to visit Puglia next summer! Although I wonder about the potato quality, Italian potatoes are disappointing when baked. Unless I’ve been buying the wrong ones?[/quote]
Doubtful. I never do baked potatoes for that reason, the fear of finding something nasty on the inside. In fact yesterday (on the back of the baked potato shop opening) I bought 3 what looked like proper baking spuds - like Marfona, big and smooth.
Chickened out and chipped them instead. The disappointment would have been too much! They were fine chipped, but not sure they'd have been fluffy loveliness baked.

Waitrose is gone today from BCS and M&S is in!

Yes Geamhradh chilled products will not be sold by BCS for the foreseeable future (scroll down for explanation)::

blog.britishcornershop.co.uk/2021/06/new-eu-warehouse-all-you-need-to-know/

But at least having the warehouse in the Netherlands means it can expand its product list again. I am confused because I thought it was the country of origin that was significant in relation to tax and customs duties but maybe not?

Lunde I am going to miss my Waitrose products that's for sure!

We're giving money to all the children we'd usually buy for - we've done it for the birthdays during COVID and everyone seems happy with it!

I’ve just had a look at BCS, never knew it existed before. Why is it in pounds though? if they have a fulfilment centre in NL, surely they can set up payment in €? Paying in GBP is a right pain and with Brexit the transaction cost has gone up on my credit card.

Lol at them selling Maille French mustards! Do they make it in a different flavour for the Brits?

Got my eye on the extra thick cut vintage marmalade, I found a nice Sicilian bitter orange jam which is not too bad, but there are not enough bits in. I like my marmalade to be heaving with bits. Am I going to be disappointed that Frank Cooper now skimps on his bits?

I’m worried that anything I might buy for nostalgia’s sake is going to taste different, either because my taste buds have changed or they’ve “improved” the recipe. I had a friend bring me out a jar of sandwich spread a few years ago, I used to live on the stuff as a student in the 80s. Tried it and couldn’t eat more than a bite, it was awful. Not sure if that was me or Heinz tweaking the recipe

Nostalgia is good I bought Vesta Chow Mein with my first BCS order to take me back to 1970s Saturday nights!

I actually emailed BCS when they first started the EU distribution and asked about the chilled and they replied saying hopefully in due course but not yet.

For anyone who uses Amazon- I now get lots of grocery stuff from them. Yorkshire tea bags, catering pack of 450, Marmite, Golden Syrup, Black Treacle, Stuffing Mix etc. Tend to be packs of 6 for the above. Works out a lot cheaper than BCS.

[quote Melassa]@Geamhradh another reason to visit Puglia next summer! Although I wonder about the potato quality, Italian potatoes are disappointing when baked. Unless I’ve been buying the wrong ones?[/quote]
You need to work out the local equivalent to waxy/floury. I have found the wikipedia article about potatoes in the appropriate language to be the most helpful here.

Lol at them selling Maille French mustards! Do they make it in a different flavour for the Brits?

Ironically it was my Maille tartare sauce that got my last box before they moved to NL impounded by UK customs ... noone knows why as they were sure it was OK. After a month (and my box not leaving Britain) it was declared "non-clearable" and returned to BCS. I bet my short date scones were not nice to know!

@BertieBotts I have tried a variety of potatoes amongst those available in Italy but none have produced a half decent baked potato. I can do great roast potatoes, great sauté potatoes, perfectly acceptable boiled and great mash, but the perfect baked potato still eludes me.

I once brought back a baking potato from the U.K. and planted it on my balcony so it could give me baking potato babies. Alas it died

[quote Melassa]@BertieBotts I have tried a variety of potatoes amongst those available in Italy but none have produced a half decent baked potato. I can do great roast potatoes, great sauté potatoes, perfectly acceptable boiled and great mash, but the perfect baked potato still eludes me.

I once brought back a baking potato from the U.K. and planted it on my balcony so it could give me baking potato babies. Alas it died [/quote]
In the interests of research, I got another 4 of the spuds that looked like bakers yesterday and I did them.
They were OK. But still no medal. The outside was perfect but the inside still watery.
I think there just isn't the right weather/soil conditions here (at least where I am) Locals go on about "these are potatoes from town X" which is famous for its spuds and I go "oh aye, it's not going to be like an M&S Marfona though is it "
Oh well.

Yes, someone recommended patate del Fucino, the Agata ones. Not quite there, texture was wrong, no different to the Bologna ones. Tried Sardinian potatoes, nope. The only ones that came near were the French potatoes I bought from the Chinese shop once. Only I’ve not found them since as the guy buys whatever is available that week.

Incidentally, Marmite is cheaper in my local Chinese supermarket than in BCS. There was a while I couldn’t find it anywhere and had to go to Chinatown in Milan and buy at a hugely inflated price but it’s settled down now. Do you not have ethnic supermarkets down south?

@Melassa

Yes, someone recommended patate del Fucino, the Agata ones. Not quite there, texture was wrong, no different to the Bologna ones. Tried Sardinian potatoes, nope. The only ones that came near were the French potatoes I bought from the Chinese shop once. Only I’ve not found them since as the guy buys whatever is available that week.

Incidentally, Marmite is cheaper in my local Chinese supermarket than in BCS. There was a while I couldn’t find it anywhere and had to go to Chinatown in Milan and buy at a hugely inflated price but it’s settled down now. Do you not have ethnic supermarkets down south?

Mwahahaha. Our biggest non ethnic one has 4 tills but they only open the fourth on Christmas Eve. Sushi places come and go. Everyone going "euwwwwee how disgusting" whilst happily eating things out of the sea that are still running across the bloody table.