i landed in san juan one time when we were going on an eastern caribbean cruise. i think san juan is the capital. really pretty, but i bet not much different from southern california....except maybe hotter. we didn't stay there....it's just where the airport was.
all of the islands sell lots of coconut and banana type things....all the same stuff and many things that are just commercial items that you can find elsewhere (tortuga rum cakes can be bought in niagara falls, ontario!). thing is, many of them ARE those prices b/c they're being sold at tourist shops all over the islands. so, despite wholesale prices....tourist retail is probably what they're using. (also, remember, small items equaling the same amount of product = more packaging, which drives the price up.)
if you were't aware, plantains are close relatives to bananas, except i don't believe they're sweet. have you ever had banana chips? that's basically what you have there, but, as i said, not sweet. nothing like potato chips. i'm not the biggest fan of dried fruit (i don't like the taste of the sulfites used to dry them) but some people just love them. the coconut/pineapple candies are the best part of that box! i had something similar one one of the islands and SO GOOD!!
not the best box you've had, but not a bad representation....at least of the general feel of the tourist parts of the caribbean islands.
Small items having some mark up, I agree, but $10 for a 4 oz bag of coffee when the 14 oz is about $6.50? That's silly.
The plantain chips tasted just like regular potato chips. I thought they'd be more exotic, or at least more banana-y, but nope - if it didn't say plantain on the bag I would assume they were just regular ol' chips. I think they slice them so thin and fry them in so much oil they're virtually indistinguishable.
But the pineapple-coconut candy is SO GOOD. I would eat all of them for days.
Got the next box (London) today,and it doesn't look promising. I think this box has taken a permanent dip in quality and it's probably time to unsubscribe. :-/
Life's just been busier than usual :-p I've been to about a half-dozen book events in the past two weeks and that, combined with chemistry classes at 7:30 in the morning, hasn't left me much time for the blogging :-p But thank you for asking!
all of the islands sell lots of coconut and banana type things....all the same stuff and many things that are just commercial items that you can find elsewhere (tortuga rum cakes can be bought in niagara falls, ontario!). thing is, many of them ARE those prices b/c they're being sold at tourist shops all over the islands. so, despite wholesale prices....tourist retail is probably what they're using. (also, remember, small items equaling the same amount of product = more packaging, which drives the price up.)
if you were't aware, plantains are close relatives to bananas, except i don't believe they're sweet. have you ever had banana chips? that's basically what you have there, but, as i said, not sweet. nothing like potato chips. i'm not the biggest fan of dried fruit (i don't like the taste of the sulfites used to dry them) but some people just love them.
the coconut/pineapple candies are the best part of that box! i had something similar one one of the islands and SO GOOD!!
not the best box you've had, but not a bad representation....at least of the general feel of the tourist parts of the caribbean islands.
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The plantain chips tasted just like regular potato chips. I thought they'd be more exotic, or at least more banana-y, but nope - if it didn't say plantain on the bag I would assume they were just regular ol' chips. I think they slice them so thin and fry them in so much oil they're virtually indistinguishable.
But the pineapple-coconut candy is SO GOOD. I would eat all of them for days.
Got the next box (London) today,and it doesn't look promising. I think this box has taken a permanent dip in quality and it's probably time to unsubscribe. :-/
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also, you've been really quiet lately.....everything okay?
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