8 things I already regret buying – Montenegro

1. Meat in a tube

Alright, fair enough, I brought this one on myself. There were no surprises here. It’s called Pipi and it’s exactly what it looks like – disgusting meat in a tube.

Things that sucked me in:

1. From a distance, the packaging had the appearance of cookie dough.
2. Upon closer inspection there was a delightful little graphic of which animal starred in which tube of meat (that’s how you know it’s not cookie dough) – I chose chicken.
3. It’s prevalent in Montenegrin supermarkets everywhere, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
4. We saw a man on the street peeling the wrapper off and biting into the cylinder of meat as though it were an apple. (That guy’s got it all figured out.)

2. Canned Strawberries

An item I only regret buying because upon returning to our our apartment from the store, we realized we don’t own a can opener. That can is still sitting on our shelf taunting me with the promise of nonperishable strawberries and I’m dying to know what they taste like. (We’ve found most canned goods here come with a pull tab – just brilliant.)

3. Jaffa Cakes

Although I rarely buy junk food at home, I can’t get enough of other countries’ crappy, processed foods and I try them often. (see #4.) Jaffa cakes seem like a winning cookie combo of orange and chocolate but they have the consistency of old sponge.

4. Smoki

We see people eating this snack food all over the place. These little salty snacks have the texture of cheese puffs but taste exactly like peanuts. They actually aren’t half bad, but for an option with 85 fewer ingredients, you can always just go with peanuts.

Fun fact, peanuts here are called kikiriki, which like cacahuates (and ‘peanut’ for that matter), is really fun to say.

5. Olive oil cheese

I’ve learned that trapist cheese is monastery-style cheese that exists all over the world, but is most popular in Hungary. It’s a semi-hard, cows milk cheese with a mild, creamy, buttery flavor – unless you pick the olive flavor by accident, and then it’s just terrible.

6. Sour cream

An item I only regret buying because I thought it was yogurt and tried to pair it with fruit and muesli. It turns out that sour cream is actually a local specialty.

7-8. Two bottles of $2 Serbian wine with a bear on the label.

Continue reading for things I regretted buying in France. . .