We had only been in the new apartment for a few days when I left for India. I really didn’t have the opportunity to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Now that I’m back, and have got plenty of time on my hands for cooking, I am learning about what it takes to cook here.
Besides making alterations for baking at sea level (as opposed to 7000 ft) there is the issue of ingredients. There is no vanilla extract here. The replacement that we have for liquid vanilla is awful. It is ground vanilla suspended in an oily, syrupy, concoction, and it is truly bad. It not only tastes horrible, it doesn’t measure correctly. So I got a vanilla bean grinder. That is working great for cakes and in crème brulee. It is fantastic in coffee. However, I still haven’t figured out how to work the measurements for cookies. I am told that the reason there is not vanilla (or lemon or almond or any other extract) is because they are alcohol based. While that makes sense in a Muslim society, one would also think that alcohol based mouthwash would also be verboten. But no… We can get that! Side note: I haven’t ever heard of a hardcore alcoholic drinking vanilla but I have heard of them drinking mouthwash. I don’t get it.
Also not available? Pinto beans, regular cream cheese (there’s plenty of low fat and/or whipped stuff), honey crisp apples, or good baking chocolate. The kind I need for ganache cookies, flourless chocolate cake and well, ganache. So as not to be too big of a whiner, I need to also point out that there are things standardly available here that you would have trouble finding – or not find at all – in the US. For example fresh quail (always in the poultry section here), camel milk, and a bunch of fresh fruits regularly in the produce section including guava, dragon fruit, mangosteen, jackfruit, kiwi berries and a whole lot more. The great news is that I can bring all of that stuff back after Thanksgiving in the states. Then… I will have a perfect pantry. I’ll bring back the stuff I need and add it to the fresh ingredients here. Happy me!
Speaking of the i
ngredients here… I finally made it to a spice souk. WOW! My favorite shop had over 30 bins each filled with a different ground or whole spice (or spice mix)
and great raw ingredients like turmeric root and vanilla beans. Other bins had many different teas, dried fruits, grains, and beans. He also had 3 cuts of saffron. It is 
more expensive than the other spices, but WAAAAYYY less than it is in the US.
About $4.50US per gram for first cut Iranian saffron. Wow. And it’s beautiful! 
This shop also had multiple varieties of dates (most food shops here will have at least 2 or 3) a couple of varieties of camel milk chocolates – which are delicious – and an entire wall of oils. Being able to buy as much or as little of whatever I need ensures I’ll be a regular here.