1/2 Baked, 1/2 Cola, and 1/2 & 1/2

A little commentary on some food products...

Bread rolls are standard here, served at just about every meal unless dumplings are included on the plate which are made from bread rolls. You're hard pressed to find a loaf of sandwich-type bread, the closest being "toast bread" which is already-stale sliced white bread. It has little flavor and few redeeming qualities. The great thing about Austrian bread rolls are that they are baked fresh daily and really are quite delicious. The negative side is that because they are fresh, with no added preservatives, they are only tasty for about a day. On day two they tend to be gummy, and while heating them in the oven helps, they still taste old. Sundays used to be old bread roll day (because no stores are open) until we discovered half baked bread. You can buy baguettes or rolls, pop them in the oven, and in nine minutes or so, you've got fresh baked bread - even on a Sunday!

Coca Cola and Pepsi products abound here, but are pricier than the local brands. Diet soft drinks exist, but are not common and a Coca Cola Lite tastes more like that classic Tab Cola than Diet Coke as we know it. One of our favorite drinks here is Spezi, a half cola - half orange soda mix. We've introduced it to each of the student groups we've brought over on spring break trips in the past, and it's always been a hit. While Coca Cola manufactures Mezzo Mix and Pepsi makes Schwipp Schwapp, every grocery store chain has their own generic version of cola-orange mix. Amusingly, this Cola Mix from Hofer has the slogan "The New American Taste" in the small white letters at the bottom of the label. Do people really buy it because they think they are buying a little slice of Americana? While not yet a popular American drink except among our former students who mix their own cola and orange sodas, I think Spezi could very well make a quick million for a savvy entrepreneur!

At some point over the years, Peter and I switched from using milk in our coffee to going all out with 1/2 & 1/2 cream. For me, coffee is not about a quick caffeine fix. I love the whole experience - the warmth, the aroma, the sugary sweetness, the creaminess. They sell cream here, but they also sell Kaffee Milch (coffee milk), which is an odd beigy-grey, and is quite a bit cheaper than cream. Why is is such an odd color? If you check the ingredients, coffee and tea grounds as well as salad greens are listed. Salad greens?! Peter's grandmother once explained that during the war (WWII), extra things were thrown into the mix to bulk up cream. Somehow the recipe stuck as Kaffee Milch still exists, the contents of which I found a little off-putting at first. The other day, a Sunday, we ran out of coffee milk. Peter set of for the gas station to see if they had any in their mini-mart, and he came home with 1/2 & 1/2. I have to say, compared to Kaffee Milch, it made for really bland, really disappointing, and somewhat flavorless coffee. I never would have guessed that I would miss those salad greens in my cup!