The PAX International Food Exchange - PAX Prime 2011

Decius

Wow, so PAX is only a couple weeks away. I'm sorry I'm late to the party with this, but better late then never. Anyhow, many of us come to PAX to share our love of games and gaming. That is the universal glue that adheres us to each another. However many of us share other interests and one of those is the love of food; especially prepared foods from far away foreign lands (like Canada and the UK) that travel well on airplanes. So this thread is dedicated to that interest.

A prime example of a Canadian delicacy. Click here for some more.

This the second PAX I've created this thread, and the first for Prime. As such, I've aped most of the info from the inaugural East 2011 thread. Many great meet-ups were arranged through that thread, and many delicious noms were had. We even had strange Chinese candy from a far away land....China.

And some other strange delicacies from another island nation with a strange accent.

So I'm back again for Prime 2011, creating a thread to encourage the exchange and delicious foods from all over. This is meant as an open forum to post what delicious noms you are bringing to PAX to share with your unfortunate American cousins, and for our awesome American hosts to make requests. You can make exchanges, offer cash, or in the spirit of the PAX community simply share for the sake of sharing. It's your call.

Note: Please be aware of the laws for importing and exporting foods, both in your country of origin and destination. Links to the three main governing bodies we will be dealing with can be found here. Any others? Suggest them in thread and I'll add them.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection
HM Revenue & Customs
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)

With PAX Prime 2011 only weeks away, and everyone buying their supplies, this may be a great opportunity to grab something special and interesting that you'd like to share. I think we can also take suggestions as to interesting things to take home, and probe around if a certain delicious nom is or isn't available in great USandA.

Protip: Do not try to import Kinder Surprise into the US. They will be confiscated by CBP and the parts within are deemed a choking hazard under US law.

Decius

I'll have a couple of these with me, though I think they're already spoken for. Hopefully I don't loose my arm in the exchange.

chaosisorder

Team China checking in and taking requests!

Oh, have I got candy for you....

Moe Fwacky

I don’t know if what China has can be legitimately called candy,

soonerjudd

Anyone out there able to bring some good German chocolate or cheeses?

Serenity

Hrm, well Vancouver is not that far away from Seattle so the food is not much different but if anyone has any requests from Canada...
Anyone coming from Britain? Some rock candy or other delicious british treats would be cool!

GeekyPrincess

If someone could bring me a jar of the crunchy speculoos spread I would be so very happy! I brought some home from France but my offspring found the stash....and liked it! I can get the smooth from Amazon, so just the crunchy please.

chaosisorder

Moe Fwacky wrote:

I don’t know if what China has can be legitimately called candy,

You cut me sir, you cut me deep.

Just because it has tuna fish in it does not make it less of a delightful candy treat.

And there are some really good candies...occasionally...

kropotkin

Greetings all from the land of burning and looted shops by bored teenagers. For yes I am indeed from the UK and I have long been a proponent of offering foodstuffs from here.

Here's a list of candies that I can bring along for those that request it:

Minstrels
Jaffa Cakes (technically not cakes)
Maltesers
Double Deckers
Boost Bars
Bounty bars (milk and black chocolate)
Whisper bar
Custard Creme biscuits
Jammy Dodgers biscuits
Thornton's Chocolates

This list is not exhaustive, but it does give you some ideas of what is available. Provided of course the shop I buy this stuff from hasn't been looted and raised to the ground.

tokyodove

australia doesnt have much in the way of chocies, and i dont think i could get away with bringing in kangaroo meat, so i guess i could bring some timtams, and some vegemite for those with exquisite taste

edit: after doing some quick research into aussie biscuits heres a list of ones i can bring:
-timtams
-choc teddy bears
-anzac biscuits
-royals
-wagon wheels
-cherry ripe

zezspecs

I am only a visitor to the UK, so I'm not up on where to find everything, but I can certainly grab some chocolate or Jaffa cakes for someone who asks before Aug 15th. I'm going to Edinburgh for a couple days to take care of some school stuff, and I'll have plenty of bag space to bring back goodies.

oO Wallace Oo

@kropotkin - Great opening sentence lol After almost a year in the US I've begun to miss so many UK foodstuffs (I had Hula Hoops in a bar one night and was almost in tears). My wish list would be far too long and I'm going to be back in the UK after PAX, but if you could accquire either a Honeycomb Yorkie or a Wispa Gold (If they haven't discontinued again) I will shower you with all the praise and dollar bills you desire.

Mystral721

@tokyodove - Do they still have Violet Crumble there? Oh man, I miss that one so much!

tokyodove

Mystral721 wrote:

@tokyodove - Do they still have Violet Crumble there? Oh man, I miss that one so much!

absolutely man ill bring you a few bars if you want?

vgc

I know you're not allowed to bring these, but if the Aussies or Limeys could somehow smuggle vacuum sealed meat pies into the country in a way that they're fresh and tasty when they arrive, I will love you forever and reward you handsomely. I'm rather fond of the steak and kidney ones.

...No? Then I'll take the chocolate from Canada (I believe Britain has them too) with the air bubbles inside them. I believe they're called Aeros.

tokyodove

vgc wrote:

I know you're not allowed to bring these, but if the Aussies or Limeys could somehow smuggle vacuum sealed meat pies into the country in a way that they're fresh and tasty when they arrive, I will love you forever and reward you handsomely. I'm rather fond of the steak and kidney ones.

i had a quick read through the CBP website:

Meat, milk, egg, poultry, and their products, including products made with these materials, such as dried soup mix or bouillon, are either prohibited or restricted from entering the United States

sorry man which is a real damn shame because there's a bakery near where i live that makes a wicked nice meat pie

SmallLady

Aussies:

If somebody would care to bring me a few pkgs of these.. I would be very grateful! I haz monies!! also.. Blueberry-Pom is my main priority.. as I've never had that one before


http://www.dlea.com.au/blueberry-pomegranate-liquorice.html
http://www.dlea.com.au/green-apple-liquorice.html
http://www.dlea.com.au/mango-liquorice.html
http://www.dlea.com.au/blackcurrant-liquorice.html



Edit: and by monies, I mean I can paypal you in advance

tokyodove

store finder says there is one close to where i live, ill grab those for you

SmallLady

Thanks, wanna PM me your email address & how much I should send?

tokyodove

nah dont worry about it ill just trade you it for some american sweets

tsrblke

tokyodove wrote:

vgc wrote:

I know you're not allowed to bring these, but if the Aussies or Limeys could somehow smuggle vacuum sealed meat pies into the country in a way that they're fresh and tasty when they arrive, I will love you forever and reward you handsomely. I'm rather fond of the steak and kidney ones.

i had a quick read through the CBP website:

Meat, milk, egg, poultry, and their products, including products made with these materials, such as dried soup mix or bouillon, are either prohibited or restricted from entering the United States

sorry man which is a real damn shame because there's a bakery near where i live that makes a wicked nice meat pie

This is of course the fun of CBP. 999/1000 they'll just confiscate it (as opposed to actually punishing you), so I suppose if your willing to chance losing it....(I don't promote lawbreaking!)
That being said, Meatpies are most likely out, but not neccisarily. That rule is remarkably vague , considering Chocolate is often made with milk, but you can bring that in until the cows come home. I know during some of the various cow disease scares in Britian meet was "restricted" but not entirely banned from importing, you could see about that. Whence I was coming back from Spain, I bought my importables at a larger store that had them pre-packed and approved for entry into the US (and I brought back Cheese, sans problem).

SmallLady

tokyodove wrote:

nah dont worry about it ill just trade you it for some american sweets

how about canadian ones instead?

tokyodove

even better

Teletheus

tokyodove wrote:

Mystral721 wrote:

@tokyodove - Do they still have Violet Crumble there? Oh man, I miss that one so much!

absolutely man ill bring you a few bars if you want?

OMG. I loved Violet Crumble. I don't think I've seen that in two decades--I lived in Australia for a year and a half when I was 8-9.

chaosisorder

For those Americans who cannot live without the Canadian, Brit and Australian COMMON candy, Cost Plus World Market carries a small imported food section and usually has coffee crisps, violet crumbles, the aero bars plus some random US throwback candies that are getting harder to find.

Not to discourage the international candy trade and the illicit marshmallow rings, but just in case you are /really/ in need and between PAXes.

Decius

They don't have mint Aero though.

I still hold the key!

Teletheus

chaosisorder wrote:

For those Americans who cannot live without the Canadian, Brit and Australian COMMON candy, Cost Plus World Market carries a small imported food section and usually has coffee crisps, violet crumbles, the aero bars plus some random US throwback candies that are getting harder to find.

Not to discourage the international candy trade and the illicit marshmallow rings, but just in case you are /really/ in need and between PAXes.

Thanks for the tip. I'm actually not sure if we have that around here, but now that I think about it, they probably carry some of this stuff at Central Market, which is (I think) our equivalent.

GeekyPrincess

chaosisorder wrote:

For those Americans who cannot live without the Canadian, Brit and Australian COMMON candy, Cost Plus World Market carries a small imported food section and usually has coffee crisps, violet crumbles, the aero bars plus some random US throwback candies that are getting harder to find.

Not to discourage the international candy trade and the illicit marshmallow rings, but just in case you are /really/ in need and between PAXes.

For those in the Seattle area the British Pantry in Redmond has a lot of candies and things too. It's where I stock up on Maltesers and Mars bars.

stabn_

Cost plus prices are really terrible though. Avoid if you can.

Fenrisknight

Decius wrote:

They don't have mint Aero though.

I still hold the key!

I will bring some mint Aero, no problem

Decius

Damn this thread kinda died.

Ok I really have to go pack, but I just want to share my final count with you guys.



- 1 pkg Oreo cookies (special request)
- 4 pkg Smarties
- 10 KitKat bars
- 16 Coffee Crisp bars
- 12 Aero Mint
- 6 Aero
- 4 Aero dark

That's 53 chocolate bars coming with me to Seattle. I want to leave with exactly 0 chocolate bars. You have your challenge laid out for you.

zerzhul

you will have zero issues having your mint aeros taken off your hands

vgc

zerzhul wrote:

you will have zero issues having your mint aeros taken off your hands

Nor your regular areos!

tokyodove

vgc wrote:

zerzhul wrote:

you will have zero issues having your mint aeros taken off your hands

Nor your regular areos!

those smarties arent safe either :P

soonerjudd

Are those Oreos somehow different from the ones we have in the States? It's my favorite cookie.

Decius

Supposedly Canadian Oreos taste different, and potentially better. I don't know, I haven't had the opportunity to compare.

soonerjudd

Hmmm... any chance you can bring another pack (if it's not too late already) and we can do a comparison test? I'll bring the American ones!

Decius

sadly it is too late, but I'll gladly try an American Oreo.

soonerjudd

Cool, hit me up at the show and I'll share my stash.

zezspecs

I ended up being limited to what I could grab at the airport in Edinburgh, but if anyone is interested, I'll have this stuff with me:

5 mint Aero bars
2 bags of 36 mixed mini pieces of Smarties, Kit Kats, Rolos, Lions, and Regular Aeros.

mage

OMG. Unf.

I miss Aero bars so much. They came out with a Hershey version in the states but it's SO not the same.