One of the things I always liked about living in Germany is the near total absence of “convenience foods” in German supermarkets.
Instead of rows of ready-meals, the German supermarket tends to offer packets of pasta, bags of potatoes and a range of fresh produce with which the Hausfrau is supposed to feed her family.
Visiting friends and relatives in Britain became pure joy as other parents squirmed in embarrassment as their kids whined for tinned Thomas-the-Tank-Engine pasta shapes, while mine ate what was put in front of them (give or take a few exceptions like sprouts).
But last week I saw the start of the long slippery slope for German cuisine in our local supermarket. Readers… I give you exhibit A:
This, readers, is a packet of scrambled egg mix.
Now, I may not be the most accomplished chef on the planet, but I do know how to make scrambled egg. You break a couple of eggs into a bowl, add a splash of milk and a pinch of salt, mix it up and cook in a pan (or even easier – microwave for a minute or so). It’s got to be one of the easiest things on earth.
Packet scrambled egg involves opening the packet and cooking it in the same way as with the real egg.
As we all know, modern day packaging is designed so that you need first to buy a hammer, chisel, monkey wrench and chainsaw in order to actually get into it…
And once inside the package you find not just egg-extract, but reconstituted milk and a list the length of your arm of preservatives, colours and flavourings (well… I suppose they have to make it taste of egg somehow).
So I am struggling to work out how packet scrambled egg could possibly be considered more convenient than making real scrambled eggs… you know, using, like real eggs. And given the long list of additives… how it could be a superior product?
Not only that… a 3-egg portion costs more than a box of 10 eggs from the same supermarket.
Could anyone enlighten me as to who would buy this stuff?