Ersatz Guide to the Expat Kitchen

Ersatz is a German word meaning, roughly, a substitute or replacement.  The word came into its own during the First World War when naval blockades of Germany meant that some products were hard to find. People had to develop substitutes. 

Over the years I have found that life as an expat means a life of compromise and of finding substitutes. While this has the potential to be depressing I have found that it can actually be quite fun, particularly if you approach it as a series of challenges.

One of the biggest challenges of expat life, particularly in more exotic destinations must be trying to cook with unfamiliar ingredients.  There is almost always a way to make something approaching your favourite recipe but it sometimes requires a knowledge of possible substitutes and the ability to make your own store cupboard staples, so easy to buy at home and so difficult abroad.

Here is a collection of recipes and suggestions to help make life a little easier.  Cooking the ersatz way, I hope it helps...

Ersatz Workarounds 

• Building Your Larder from scratch every few years is a pain.  This list gives a guide to the basics you should aim to collect in the first few weeks.
• Substitutions in cooking are a way of life for expat cooks. Here are some useful tips.
• Self raising flour, it is possible to bake without it (and even withut baking powder), you just need to know what to add.
• Cooking chocolate, you can make your own or use normal chocolate - this guide tells you how.  
• Sugar, speciality sugars used in baking and cooking can be hard to find but there is a way to bake without them.
• Fruit and Vegetables may not always be safe to eat.  This guide will tell you how to clean them.
• Crème Fraiche is another recipe staple that can be difficult to source but alternatives are available.
• Vanilla Extract  is so necessary for baking but almost impossible to find in some places.  This guide tells you what to use when you run out and how to make your own.
• Clove oil - is an essential natural antiseptic and painkiller that can stave off the worst effect of toothache.  It is easy enough to make your own if you forget to bring it with you.  
• Pasteurise Eggs for raw egg recipes, essential if cooking for expectant mothers.
• Ants often like to visit the expat kitchen.  Solutions are available.  

Ersatz Recipes 

This is a list of recipes you should be able to make (and enjoy) everywhere in the world.

• Sun-dried tomatoes are a cupboard staple used in many recipes.  Here is how to make your own.
• Passata is another way to process and preseve tomatoes, it is also a staple ingredient that can be hard to find but easy to make.
• Make your own icing (frosting) for cakes.
• Easter is an important celebration for our family.  Favourite foods to make include the traditional English Hot Cross Buns and Jarpy Eggs and some Dutch Gevulde Eieren.  
• No matter where we are in the world I can usually find the ingredients for a family staple - Banana Bread.  
• Our Christmas would not be the same without micemeat pies and Christmas Pudding.  
• Other seasonal foods are also important.  They are very evocative and making them can help your family settle in to their new home.  
• Orange Chicken Fajitas with Guacamole and Salsa are a family favourite.  
• Meatloaf is another favourite comfort food.
• Marble Biscotti are an expensive coffee shop favourite but easy to make at home.  
• Fresh Spring Rolls are perfect for warm weather.  
• Hollandaise Sauce is a must for the perfect Eggs Benedict.
• Limau Assam Boi is the recipe we will take with us from Malaysia.