Saturday, July 5, 2014

Shopping South African Imports

Well friends, it has been a busy week so far and tomorrow (Sunday) I am getting a visitor so I will be busy for another week or so.  I went out today and had a very long day of shopping.  I was looking for some sheets (bed linens) as I have another family guest arriving tomorrow.  After that I ended up on an impromptu get together with a friend when I ran into her at a local coffee shop. We had a very long visit and needless to say I am ready to drop into bed, but first I need to get this post published.

Many of you seemed to enjoy my rather long list of "To Dos" posted for the last week of June. I did make excellent progress on the listed items in the short time I had.  Alas I did not have time to finish the "works-in-progress" or to start any new projects. What was I thinking?!  I don't know how I ever thought I would accomplish all that in one week but there's nothing like giving it a good effort, lol.  I won't likely have time over the next week either but after that things should settle down a bit and give me time to work on more enjoyable things (crochet, quilting and knitting).   I can't tell you how glad I am to have finished an enormous amount of work over the past few months. Now I hope to kick back a bit, enjoy my time with my niece and after that keep plugging away on on-going paperwork and crafting.
Antique store near 4th & Alma.

For those of you who read and enjoyed my post about outreach efforts in Kenya, I ask you to continue to pray for these efforts. Both for strength for those involved more directly in the work (Jonah and the missionaries and church volunteers) and education (Elvis) and for the funds to undertake and/or finish the work.

Today's post has a South African angle.
An interesting store in the area.

For a long time now I've been meaning to get over to what we call 4th Avenue (in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) to take a browse through a shop that imports and sells foods and products from South Africa.  I never seem to get over that way but just over a week ago I had an errand to run in that neighbourhood so I decided to stop there and see what was on offer.

The shop is called African Breese Imports and is located near Alma Street.  There is another location in the North Shore but that is much further away from where I live.

I had an ulterior motive in wanting to go to this shop. I happen to LOVE dried meat and had read on line that this shop sold 3 kinds of biltong (dried meat or jerky). I really love dried moose meat which you cannot buy in the store and is actually very hard to get these days.  I thought I might have a chance to sample some exotic meats from South Africa.

What struck me about the food and products on offer is just how global our world is these days.  Many of the snack products on offer are also available in Kenya and here in Canada. I recognized a lot of the chocolate bar brands, lol. I ended up choosing these snacks:  1 small bottle of bitters (I haven't tried it yet); 1 small chocolate bar called "TV Bar" and 1 small bag of biltong.



The biltong was very good and was seasoned with cilantro and a few others spices. I didn't get any exotic biltong (it was made of beef) because the wild game from South Africa cannot be imported for sale.  I should have known this would be the case because one can't sell moose meat in Canada either.

In any case, I did enjoy the biltong and will stop by and purchase  more whenever I get that way again.

If you happen to come to Vancouver you can find African Breese Imports at 3654 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC.


Note:  I was not compensated for writing this review of the African Breese store. 

I'm linking with Our World Tuesday.
This view looks west. It is a just a few blocks from here to the site of  Vancouver's Annual Folk Festival.






18 comments:

Jo said...

Oh Penny, that's so neat that you have a South African shop in your city. I love that you love biltong. This is iconic South African snack and I'd glad you were able to sample it. I recognize the TV Bar. I wondered if you saw bottled items in the store: for instance Mrs Balls Chutney, Appletiser (soda) or preserved figs in syrup which is South African, Such a great post. Blessings. Jo

jabbott said...

Oh I have never heard of biltong before until now. Sounds like you will have to visit the shop soon x

Meredith said...

Very interesting shop, I bet you had a wonderful time visiting it. Have a great time with your guest.
Hugs,
Meredith

Elisabeth said...

I always enjoy visiting your blog...so very interesting with all your stories and photos...especially this recent one of the South African import store! Have a wonderful time with your niece, and looking forward to your next post!

Joy said...

You do keep busy Joyful, and achieve so much - I'm glad you managed to fit in a visit to the South African shop and found a little bit of what you fancied. I'm wishing you a wonderful time with your company this week. xoJoy

Ceil said...

Hi Joyful! I had no idea what biltong was. Thank you for introducing it to me! And those lists...you know, I make lists all the time. And they always have a few things that were left over from the day before. Just gotta keep trying, and at the end of the day, be glad something got checked off!
Blessings,
Ceil

Phil Slade said...

Very good photos with an informative and interesting commentary.

Cynthia said...

I've never been in an African shop but that would be really interesting. The area of the store looks like it might have other good shops to explore.

carol l mckenna said...

Fascinating post and fun shots of the shops ~ prayers you got ~ thanks, ^_^

artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

Carole M. said...

wonderful account .. I enjoyed reading over. Enjoy some relaxing time with your company Carole, at snaphappyonline.blogspot.com

Carver said...

Interesting post and I enjoyed the shots.

Gattina said...

It's the first time I visit your blog and couldn't find out where you live ! Finally you mentioned Canada, so I suppose you live in Canada. Your post is very interesting !
My "Our world" is here : http://gattinatravels.blogspot.com/

Gattina said...

Sorry I must be still sleeping ! Just read your profile !

My name is Riet said...

What a nice and interesting post.What is so nice about blogging I learn so much about other countries and there manners. Thank you for sharing

Anonymous said...

Nice to find some interesting shops.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, you are keeping busy. It will be nice to have some visitors. The shops are nice and the biltong sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing your world..Have a happy week.

My "our World" post http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/2014/07/4th-of-july-weekend.html

orchid0324 said...

Hello; having visitors sounds fun even if keeps you busy. Oh, I wish I could try biltong :-) Love to read and know another culture.

Sending you Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

John's Island said...

Hi Joyful, Thank you for your report on the visit to African Breeze Imports. This store is definitely going on my list of places to see when I'm next in Vancouver. What an interesting shop. And I will certainly try the biltong. Actually, that is a new word for me ... I have always called it jerky. Really, really good jerky is kind of hard to find, but when found, it is a special treat! I guess I've always had beef jerky, but would sure like to try some of the exotic ones like you mention, but guess I'll need to do some more distant travel to find that. On to a new subject: I'm wondering if you did a blog post giving some information on your work in Africa? I'm pretty sure you did, but before I started following SNAP THAT. Perhaps you could suggest some posts to check out? I sure enjoy your blog and you do such a nice job putting it all together with the photos. This morning the sky is clear and it looks like it's going to be a very warm day, mid to upper 80s F. Do you prefer temperatures in C or does it matter? I know C is the standard for Canada and perhaps I should state both F and C when mentioning that in my blog. I seem to have a lot of visitors from distant parts of the world. Hope you have a good day, Joyful, and take care. John

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