Unimportant question about European refrigerators

[Ginevra]

I know that, certainly compared to American refrigerators, European refrigerators are often small and sometimes very tiny, like dorm-room sized. In many ways, I sort of envy this and I wish it were possible for me to just pick up fresh food regularly instead of depending on a big fridge (we actually have two of them) to keep food handy.

 

But here’s two things I wonder: 1) do European people infrequently use condiments; and 2) do they not typically keep pitchers of beverages in the fridge? I just cleaned out our fridge and I get so annoyed at the jars and jars and jars of condiments. Mayo, several kinds of mustard, hot sauce, salsa, ketchup, dressings, peppers, pickles, olives, capers, maple syrup. BBQ sauce. Chcolate sauce. Horseradish. I try to pare this stuff down, but people in the house want different things and we apparently cannot live without them.

 

But also, drinks. I always have a pitcher of iced tea made. There is always a gallon of milk for the kids and DH. There is Lactose-Free milk that I use. There’s half and half. There’s cashew milk for making smoothies. Those items are pretty much always in there, except sometimes not cashew milk. But sometimes ther is cider or OJ or lemonade. Do people in European countries with their tiny refrigerators have drinks handy? Or do they drink tap water or wine? Or something else?

 

I’m just curious about these things.

[Laura Corin]

Most condiments do not need to be in the fridge as anything with vinegar in it is already preserved. Most tea is drunk hot. In my fridge I have milk, soy milk and sparkling water. Most Brits use milk not cream in tea and coffee.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Laura Corin

[Jean in Newcastle]

I grew up in Asia with a small refrigerator.  We didn't drink milk.  And most condiments were not refrigerated. 

[lailasmum]

We have two fridges and that's not uncommon. One undercounter one in the kitchen and a tall fridge in our utility room. We don't ever have jugs of drinks in the fridge. We don't refrigerate a lot of condiments. There's plenty of space for enough milk and food for a family. Just the undercounter size is normally big enough for a couple of adults, maybe a small family if you shop regularly. We used to get our milk delivered daily so never had a huge amount at any one time.

[Guest]

Hmm. Thinking about non-refrigeration of condiments...i bought some chili paste last year and could find no indication that it required refrigeration after opening. So I kept it with my spices unrefrigerated. But it slowly turned brown. I could never be certain if it was going bad or it was just oxidizing, but it was very unappealing either way. So my next chili paste, I have kept in the fridge. It doesn’t turn brown.

 

Just musing.

[Twolittleboys]

Okay, first of all I wouldn't say most fridges are tiny. Some are US sized, some smaller but not necessarily tiny. Then of course it depends on family size. Where I live there are very few families with more than three kids (most just have one or two) which obviously means less stuff. 

 

As for condiments, my parents for example didn't keep them in the fridge (e.g. ketchup, mustard). Also, I think condiment containers are often smaller than in the US. Bottles (drinks) also tend to be smaller. We do generally have milk, oj and soda in the fridge but not many other drinks.

[ElizabethB]

Also, the eggs sold are not washed so are not stored in the fridge, and are sold in stores unrefrigerated as well.

[vmsurbat]

Where we are in south central Europe, where people still get most groceries walking to the store and back (this is slowly changing, though), but few items come in LARGE sizes and many come in small sizes.  Eg: baking powder comes in little packets which 10-12gr (1T), same with baking soda. And most of the spices....    I can buy as little as 50gr (@2oz) of mayo and mustard, and 100gr of ketchup. These come in metal pouches.  Milk comes in 1ltr UHT packaging and doesn't need to be refrigerated until it is open....  We've just recently had condiments like soy sauce, BBQ, and Tabasco made available (woohoo!) but there is just one brand, one size (7-8oz).

 

Plus, no, there is nowhere near the same number of items even available.  Our largest "Hipermarket" (in the second largest city in the country) is about 1/6th-1/8th the size of  Costco--most stores are about the size of 7-11 convenience store, some even smaller.  I can walk up and down aisle of our Hipermarket, get fresh produce, stop at the butcher counter (no prepackaged fresh meat), and the cheese counter and do our week's shopping in @20 minutes or less.  Can't do that when we visit the States.... 

 

Also, most people DON'T drink their drinks cold from the frig.  I handed out some peach juice the other day and was asked to warm it up, to take the chill off. 

 

Which leads me to a funny story.  When we first landed in Montenegro, we stayed with some distant relatives.  The first morning, our hostess gave the children fresh (as in, she milked the cow) milk all heated up.  They drank it but when the opportunity arose, we politely informed her that the children were used to cold milk and would that be a problem? Answer: Not at all.  So, the next morning, we were disheartened to see her put the milk on the stove to heat it up.  We reminded her and she replied: 'I know.  But, you don't let the kids drink milk straight from the frig, do you?" And she was slightly aghast that, yes, indeed, we all drank milk very cold (and lived to tell the tale)...

Edited November 11, 2017 by vmsurbat

[Maus]

I lived in Austria as an LDS missionary, so it's funny that I know this, but:  Europeans generally like their beer served room temperature.  I noticed that seems to apply to other drinks as well.  If you order a Fanta at McDonalds, for instance, you have to specifically ask for ice.

[Garga]

My parents lived in England in the 70s and all the condiment jars were tiny.  Maybe they are still tinier than American condiment jars.

 

And maybe there aren't as many choices?  My rather wealthy Spanish exchange student this summer was shocked at all the choices we have in America.  He stood staring at the different flavors of Gatorade and Pringles for a long time with a gaping jaw.  

 

ETA:  I point out that he was wealthy to show it wasn't a matter of him not having money to get a lot of stuff.  It's just that there isn't always a lot of stuff available in other countries the way it is here.  

Edited November 11, 2017 by Garga

[SparklyUnicorn]

My MIL has more than one fridge (so does my BIL).  She has tons of condiments and drinks.  Her fridges aren't particularly small.  Small by our standards, but not dorm size.  One major difference is their beverages (often) come in smaller containers.  So she doesn't keep large pitchers of drinks in there or gallons of milk.  Although in her case she has two fridges like I said. 

 

My MIL breaks all the rules about what is typical for Europeans.  LOL

 

 

[ondreeuh]

We are in Belgium, and our house came with a little fridge but no freezer. We acquired an American size fridge and use that for most of our food. I honestly never thought about not refrigerating condiments.

 

I do not have the desire to shop 5 days a week, and I'm not organized enough to plan my meals and only buy what I need. I like to make big dinners 3-4 nights and then eat the leftovers for lunches. I have an embarrassingly large quantity of pantry food, so I have plenty of staples on hand and just need to buy meat once a week or so. Hubby often brings fresh bread home in the evenings.

[CAJinBE]

Most people have a small refrigerator in the kitchen and a larger one in the garage or basement. We keep our drinks in the garage or on the stairs going down to the basement. The milk is UHT so only goes in the fridge after opening and is only one liter. There is a huge selection of sauces in the shops, even flavored ketchups, but the bottles and jars are much smaller usually. Buying in bulk is not usual. For instance, my local shop sells hamburger meat in 0.125 kg packs. So if I want to make hamburgers for my family I usually have to buy 6 to 8 packs. There are more bulk options at the larger hypermarkets or at the butcher you can order whatever you want. I often see people at the shop after work buying what appears to be exactly what they will eat that night. I usually am the odd person with the full cart in line with the others with only a handheld basket. Even so it seems like I'm shopping every two or three days for fresh bread, fruit, and vegetables at least. 

[regentrude]

I lived in Germany for 30 years. No, pitchers of drinks are not kept in the fridge. Most people I know drink carbonated water that comes in bottles. Or juice which they get in 1L cartons. Milk comes in 1 liter packages. If you buy UHT milk, it keeps in cartons at room temperature for months and you can buy a 12 pack and keep it in the basement/pantry.

Condiments come in smaller jars and bottles.

 

There are very different sizes of fridges, and even in my apartment, the tiny fridge in the tiny kitchen was larger than a dorm fridge.

 

ETA: When I grew up, ketchup and mustard were kept in the kitchen cupboard and kept just fine. They did not require refrigeration. I simply store mine in the fridge because there is so much space. 

 

Even with a small refrigerator, it was not necessary to shop daily or ever other day. Once or twice a week worked just fine. Except for fresh bakery rolls which you want daily :)

Edited November 11, 2017 by regentrude

[Ausmumof3]

I wonder if temperature variation makes a difference as well. There's stuff that I'll leave out of the fridge during winter but I won't risk it during summer.

[regentrude]

I wonder if temperature variation makes a difference as well. There's stuff that I'll leave out of the fridge during winter but I won't risk it during summer.

 

Like what?

 

I am not sure. It may not got as hot in summers in Germany (max in the 90s; 100 is very rare), but houses are no airconditioned. It is much colder inside American homes in the summer than inside German ones.

[Ausmumof3]

Like what?

 

I am not sure. It may not got as hot in summers in Germany (max in the 90s; 100 is very rare), but houses are no airconditioned. It is much colder inside American homes in the summer than inside German ones.

The record heat wave was 13 days consecutive over 100.

 

Stuff like potatoes and sauces. In winter I can keep butter in a dish on the bench so it's soft and ready to spread. In summer it just turns into a puddle. In winter I might store potatoes in the pantry and tomatoes in a fruit bowl. In summer the tomatoes go from ripe to off in a day on the bench. If the kids leave milk out for half an hour it's gone. We have rain water tanks so the water out the tap is hot. Hot enough to shower under kind of hot. We need to keep water in the fridge.

 

We do have air con but only got it two years ago and due to insane power prices tend to only run it when we are desperate and only in one or two rooms. When you go to the library or shops during the heat you will find people without air con just hanging around to survive.

[SparklyUnicorn]

My MIL keeps her condiments in the fridge.  She doesn't keep eggs in the fridge.

 

What impresses me is she often puts leftovers in unwrapped and stuff doesn't dry out to hell like if I do that in my fridge.  Took awhile for me to get this point across to my DH that he has to wrap stuff.  I just wonder what is different about her fridge. 

 

[Tanaqui]

I just cleaned out our fridge and I get so annoyed at the jars and jars and jars of condiments. Mayo, several kinds of mustard, hot sauce, salsa, ketchup, dressings, peppers, pickles, olives, capers, maple syrup. BBQ sauce. Chocolate sauce. Horseradish. I try to pare this stuff down, but people in the house want different things and we apparently cannot live without them.

 

None of the bolded items are supposed to live in your fridge. They go in your pantry.

 

(I also make my own pickles and thus they stay in the pantry as well, and are eaten at the correct stage of fermentation. And I often make my own dressings, which means that they get used the day off and thus don't go in the fridge either.)

[Zinnia]

None of the bolded items are supposed to live in your fridge. They go in your pantry.

 

(I also make my own pickles and thus they stay in the pantry as well, and are eaten at the correct stage of fermentation. And I often make my own dressings, which means that they get used the day off and thus don't go in the fridge either.)

 

I can't seem to make the perfect amount of salad dressing.  THere is always  a bit leftover after a meal, so into the fridge it goes.

[justasque]

Back in the day, Europeans generally shopped frequently.  The milkman delivered milk, butter, etc regularly.  While people didn't have big fridges, they might have a large deep freeze.  There were stores that sold only frozen foods (Iceland?), and you could hire-purchase the freezer from them.
When you are eating lots of fresh foods, you don't really need much in the way of condiments.  You would have vinegar on your fries, not ketchup.  No maple syrup; Lyle's golden syrup did the trick and was kept in the pantry.  Water to drink, unless you had milk.  Ice cream was purchased at the local shop, or when you were in the park or at the theater.  If you had hot apple crumble at home, it was topped with cream, not ice cream.  Asian foods were generally not made at home (unless of course you were of Asian descent), so no soy sauce or teriyaki sauce.  You might have curry made at home but of course that just needed curry powder or other shelf-stable spices.  It's not that long ago that most people ate locally, based on their traditional cuisine.  All of this Thai-German-fusion cooked-at-home stuff has come about in the last fifty years or so.  People used to have a fairly basic list of pantry items, plus local meats, dairy, and produce, and they didn't do much cooking outside of their traditional culture.

[Guest]

None of the bolded items are supposed to live in your fridge. They go in your pantry.

 

(I also make my own pickles and thus they stay in the pantry as well, and are eaten at the correct stage of fermentation. And I often make my own dressings, which means that they get used the day off and thus don't go in the fridge either.)

That is actually so hard for me to imagine - putting those items into the pantry. What about my chili paste experience? Are people just unbothered when they turn brown?

 

Do you make your pickles with a pickle bed in crockery?

 

I would like homemade dressing made just for that particular salad. I would actually be all over that. It’s the other people here who want their ranch or what-not that foil that for me.

 

I wish we bought tiny jars and quantities. I have some notions about a correllation between American giant sizes/variety/quantity of food and how that relates to obesity in America.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Back in the day, Europeans generally shopped frequently.  The milkman delivered milk, butter, etc regularly.  While people didn't have big fridges, they might have a large deep freeze.  There were stores that sold only frozen foods (Iceland?), and you could hire-purchase the freezer from them.

When you are eating lots of fresh foods, you don't really need much in the way of condiments.  You would have vinegar on your fries, not ketchup.  No maple syrup; Lyle's golden syrup did the trick and was kept in the pantry.  Water to drink, unless you had milk.  Ice cream was purchased at the local shop, or when you were in the park or at the theater.  If you had hot apple crumble at home, it was topped with cream, not ice cream.  Asian foods were generally not made at home (unless of course you were of Asian descent), so no soy sauce or teriyaki sauce.  You might have curry made at home but of course that just needed curry powder or other shelf-stable spices.  It's not that long ago that most people ate locally, based on their traditional cuisine.  All of this Thai-German-fusion cooked-at-home stuff has come about in the last fifty years or so.  People used to have a fairly basic list of pantry items, plus local meats, dairy, and produce, and they didn't do much cooking outside of their traditional culture.

 

Don't tell my MIL she doesn't need condiments.  She loves her condiments. 

 

She eats plenty of fresh food.

[Tanaqui]

That is actually so hard for me to imagine - putting those items into the pantry. What about my chili paste experience? Are people just unbothered when they turn brown?

 

They just don't brown that fast. We buy ketchup every few months, and it does not go brown before we use it up. Likewise with everything else. I've had hot sauce go brown, though it took four or five months. We resolved to buy smaller bottles. (Note, if you eat maple syrup very very slowly, it might have a chance to develop harmless, but unappetizing, mold. The bottles say you should heat the syrup and skim it off. I've never seen this happen, but we love maple syrup and so it rarely lasts longer than two weeks!)

 

Do you make your pickles with a pickle bed in crockery?

 

I use a jar and I salt brine them.

 

I would like homemade dressing made just for that particular salad. I would actually be all over that. It’s the other people here who want their ranch or what-not that foil that for me.

 

Homemade ranch dressing, maybe?

 

[Rosie_0801]

That is actually so hard for me to imagine - putting those items into the pantry. What about my chili paste experience? Are people just unbothered when they turn brown?

 

Stir it up and it's fine.

 

I have half a jar of a capsicum based pasta sauce sitting on my bench. Vinegar is the only preservative in it, and it still hasn't gone mouldy yet. It's been there about three months now. Somehow I don't feel like eating it though because I feel very sure it *should* be mouldy. :lol:

[Guest]

They just don't brown that fast. We buy ketchup every few months, and it does not go brown before we use it up. Likewise with everything else. I've had hot sauce go brown, though it took four or five months. We resolved to buy smaller bottles. (Note, if you eat maple syrup very very slowly, it might have a chance to develop harmless, but unappetizing, mold. The bottles say you should heat the syrup and skim it off. I've never seen this happen, but we love maple syrup and so it rarely lasts longer than two weeks!)

 

 

I use a jar and I salt brine them.

 

 

Homemade ranch dressing, maybe?

My dd has made homemade ranch before (not recently, but before she went to college), but the consistency of it does not seem to be a big hit. I am not a mayo-person at all, so I have no opinion on how to make it in such a way that others like it.

 

I do think it takes a long time for us to exhaust condiments. Especially mustard; dh is the only one who likes it a lot. When I was cleaning the fridge today, I threw away half a jar of fancy mustard that I *know* I bought last Christmas. And it wasn’t furry or funky; I’m just sick of seeing it take up space. Only DH eats it and *he* doesn’t eat it so overly much. So it sits there, annoying me for ever and ever amen.

[Annie G]

My dd has made homemade ranch before (not recently, but before she went to college), but the consistency of it does not seem to be a big hit. I am not a mayo-person at all, so I have no opinion on how to make it in such a way that others like it.

 

I do think it takes a long time for us to exhaust condiments. Especially mustard; dh is the only one who likes it a lot. When I was cleaning the fridge today, I threw away half a jar of fancy mustard that I *know* I bought last Christmas. And it wasn’t furry or funky; I’m just sick of seeing it take up space. Only DH eats it and *he* doesn’t eat it so overly much. So it sits there, annoying me for ever and ever amen.

 

Pioneer Woman has a very good recipe for ranch dressing and you can choose the consistency. It's delicious. 

 

Second paragraph...my family has a bajillion specialty condiments in the fridge but as soon as I toss one that hasn't been used in ages, someone is bound to NEED it. 

 

Drinks in the fridge- I really can't explain why I have so many drinks in the fridge. For instance, dh drinks a Pepsi a week but I have at least six in there. WHY????  Same with bottles of water. Why do I feel compelled to have a dozen chilled and waiting? I have never once had a dozen thirsty people show up. 

[Liz CA]

I know that, certainly compared to American refrigerators, European refrigerators are often small and sometimes very tiny, like dorm-room sized. In many ways, I sort of envy this and I wish it were possible for me to just pick up fresh food regularly instead of depending on a big fridge (we actually have two of them) to keep food handy.

 

But here’s two things I wonder: 1) do European people infrequently use condiments; and 2) do they not typically keep pitchers of beverages in the fridge? I just cleaned out our fridge and I get so annoyed at the jars and jars and jars of condiments. Mayo, several kinds of mustard, hot sauce, salsa, ketchup, dressings, peppers, pickles, olives, capers, maple syrup. BBQ sauce. Chcolate sauce. Horseradish. I try to pare this stuff down, but people in the house want different things and we apparently cannot live without them.

 

But also, drinks. I always have a pitcher of iced tea made. There is always a gallon of milk for the kids and DH. There is Lactose-Free milk that I use. There’s half and half. There’s cashew milk for making smoothies. Those items are pretty much always in there, except sometimes not cashew milk. But sometimes ther is cider or OJ or lemonade. Do people in European countries with their tiny refrigerators have drinks handy? Or do they drink tap water or wine? Or something else?

 

I’m just curious about these things.

 

My grandmother kept some basic condiments in her small fridge but not multiple bottles of hot sauce and this or that. She made a lot of things from scratch so premade sauces and seasonings were rare in her kitchen. She was Eastern European / Scandinavian if that matters. She also had a large garden that yielded nice produce in the summer which was much shorter than my summer is here in CA but still managed to get a lot out of her garden and can and preserve. Perhaps part of it was that she just put a lot of effort into food-related activities like cooking, canning, preserving, mixing up seasoning on the spot, etc.

 

ETA: Beverages were half a case of plain mineral water and the other mineral water mixed with some lime/ lemon - not sure exactly what it was. This was purchased by the case (25 bottles) and this case was stored in the stone basement from where she brought up a bottle or two at a time. I have a Berkey water filter and I refrigerate one bottle of cold water in the summer - refill it with filtered water after every time I pour a glass - during cooler days, we drink the water straight from the Berkey, squeeze a little lemon into it or mix it with Kombucha.

Edited November 12, 2017 by Liz CA

[Hannah]

My aunt in the Netherlands lives in a small town.  She has a split stacked fridge/freezer in the kitchen (60cm wide and 1,6m tall - about 24inch * 5foot and a bit) and a freezer of about the same size in the brick shed in the small yard.   Their garage is down the road, not connected to the house.

There is a market in the square once a week where she 'fetches' (as it translates) fruit and vegetables, cheese and sometimes meat and fish.  They live in the old town centre in a house that was built in the 1600's. One steps out of their front door and a short walk down the cobbled street gets one to the baker, butcher and fishmonger. 

 

There is also a small Albert Heijn supermarket with about 6 aisles.  If she needs anything it is a 5 min ride on her bicycle.

Once a week she goes to the Aldi which is probably 10 minutes by car for bulk items.

 

So, for her, shopping is not a hugely time-consuming chore.  She can literally start a meal, find she needs something, and quickly fetch it. 

 

There are litre sized drinks in the fridge, a type of drinking yoghurt for dessert, cut meats and cheeses for bread, pre-cut salad ingredients and some condiments, but most go in the pantry cupboard.

 

[Amira]

I’ve noticed from living outside the US (but never in Europe) that Americans tend to refrigerate everything, buy in larger quantities, are more likely to buy something that won’t get used fairly quickly or that only is needed for one recipe, and buy lots of premade condiments. Basically, Americans place a higher value on convenience than many other parts of the world. It’s just a different mindset about how to deal with food.

 

I’ve actually had a hard time here in Saudi with grocery shopping because I can’t get to the store often so I have to fill up the fridge once a week. It’s the first time I’ve shopped like an American in over a decade and it’s not what I prefer.

[eternalsummer]

I know that, certainly compared to American refrigerators, European refrigerators are often small and sometimes very tiny, like dorm-room sized. In many ways, I sort of envy this and I wish it were possible for me to just pick up fresh food regularly instead of depending on a big fridge (we actually have two of them) to keep food handy.

 

But here’s two things I wonder: 1) do European people infrequently use condiments; and 2) do they not typically keep pitchers of beverages in the fridge? I just cleaned out our fridge and I get so annoyed at the jars and jars and jars of condiments. Mayo, several kinds of mustard, hot sauce, salsa, ketchup, dressings, peppers, pickles, olives, capers, maple syrup. BBQ sauce. Chcolate sauce. Horseradish. I try to pare this stuff down, but people in the house want different things and we apparently cannot live without them.

 

But also, drinks. I always have a pitcher of iced tea made. There is always a gallon of milk for the kids and DH. There is Lactose-Free milk that I use. There’s half and half. There’s cashew milk for making smoothies. Those items are pretty much always in there, except sometimes not cashew milk. But sometimes ther is cider or OJ or lemonade. Do people in European countries with their tiny refrigerators have drinks handy? Or do they drink tap water or wine? Or something else?

 

I’m just curious about these things.

 

Well, I'm not European but we could live easily with a dorm-room size fridge, and we are a family of 8.

 

1) we don't use a lot of condiments.  We sometimes have ketchup, occasionally mayo, one mustard, on rare occasion tartar sauce.  I don't cook a lot of things that would be made better with condiments (fish and rice and broccoli, beans and bread and kale, etc., don't get better with fancy mustard).  I don't keep maple syrup in the fridge (why would you?  should I be doing this?); I make dressing fresh every time I make a salad (which is 3-4x per week).  Occasionally we do have olives and maybe twice a year I get capers.  DH keeps salsa on hand.

2) we just drink water.  Sometimes I keep soy milk on hand because I like it.  On very rare occasion we have OJ, but it is gone the day I buy it.

 

That said, condiments is not (I think, anyway) the problem. Beverages, maybe.  Mostly, though, I just go to the store every other day for vegetables and fruit, and I don't keep a lot of other stuff in the fridge.  We don't eat eggs or dairy, I keep frozen fish in the freezer until I'm ready to cook it, and leftovers only last a day, so I've never got very much in there.

 

What is likely in my fridge on a given day, right after I've shopped:

a head of lettuce

a bag of brussels sprouts

2 lemons

garlic

an onion

3 avocados

green onions

container of fake butter

jar of salsa

bag of pears

7 bananas

leftover rice and fish

soy milk

 

What is likely in my fridge on a given day, right before I go shopping:

chewed up pear core with 1/4 of pear left on it

jar of salsa

1/2 container of fake butter

garlic

leftover beans

 

 

Freezer space, on the other hand, is at a premium.  Always in the freezer I have 10-30 bags of blueberries, 10-20 Amy's burritos, various bags of frozen vegetables, frozen fish/shrimp/squid/etc., and occasionally frozen venison.  

[Rosie_0801]

My aunt in the Netherlands lives in a small town.  She has a split stacked fridge/freezer in the kitchen (60cm wide and 1,6m tall - about 24inch * 5foot and a bit) and a freezer of about the same size in the brick shed in the small yard.   Their garage is down the road, not connected to the house.

There is a market in the square once a week where she 'fetches' (as it translates) fruit and vegetables, cheese and sometimes meat and fish.  They live in the old town centre in a house that was built in the 1600's. One steps out of their front door and a short walk down the cobbled street gets one to the baker, butcher and fishmonger. 

 

There is also a small Albert Heijn supermarket with about 6 aisles.  If she needs anything it is a 5 min ride on her bicycle.

Once a week she goes to the Aldi which is probably 10 minutes by car for bulk items.

 

So, for her, shopping is not a hugely time-consuming chore.  She can literally start a meal, find she needs something, and quickly fetch it. 

 

There are litre sized drinks in the fridge, a type of drinking yoghurt for dessert, cut meats and cheeses for bread, pre-cut salad ingredients and some condiments, but most go in the pantry cupboard.

 

That sounds adorable.

[Hannah]

That sounds adorable.

 

It is very quaint.  The area is touristy and in the summer months the population quadruples with holiday makers.  I did a gap year there nearly 25 years ago.  I had a few part time jobs including cleaning and apple picking but the one I enjoyed most was working in a pancake restaurant where the flour was ground in the adjacent mill.

 

My uncle insists on calling the town a city, because in 1248 Earl William II of Holland gave it 'city rights'.  One can still see the city gates and a small portion of the wall as well as where the moat ran.  The parts outside of the wall are called the 'new build' although some of that is more than 100 years old!

He has lived in the house since he was born 70 years ago.  He cared for his widowed mother until she died and before he met my aunt.

[ondreeuh]

Well, I'm not European but we could live easily with a dorm-room size fridge, and we are a family of 8.

 

1) we don't use a lot of condiments.  We sometimes have ketchup, occasionally mayo, one mustard, on rare occasion tartar sauce.  I don't cook a lot of things that would be made better with condiments (fish and rice and broccoli, beans and bread and kale, etc., don't get better with fancy mustard).  I don't keep maple syrup in the fridge (why would you?  should I be doing this?); I make dressing fresh every time I make a salad (which is 3-4x per week).  Occasionally we do have olives and maybe twice a year I get capers.  DH keeps salsa on hand.

2) we just drink water.  Sometimes I keep soy milk on hand because I like it.  On very rare occasion we have OJ, but it is gone the day I buy it.

 

That said, condiments is not (I think, anyway) the problem. Beverages, maybe.  Mostly, though, I just go to the store every other day for vegetables and fruit, and I don't keep a lot of other stuff in the fridge.  We don't eat eggs or dairy, I keep frozen fish in the freezer until I'm ready to cook it, and leftovers only last a day, so I've never got very much in there.

 

What is likely in my fridge on a given day, right after I've shopped:

a head of lettuce

a bag of brussels sprouts

2 lemons

garlic

an onion

3 avocados

green onions

container of fake butter

jar of salsa

bag of pears

7 bananas

leftover rice and fish

soy milk

 

What is likely in my fridge on a given day, right before I go shopping:

chewed up pear core with 1/4 of pear left on it

jar of salsa

1/2 container of fake butter

garlic

leftover beans

 

 

Freezer space, on the other hand, is at a premium.  Always in the freezer I have 10-30 bags of blueberries, 10-20 Amy's burritos, various bags of frozen vegetables, frozen fish/shrimp/squid/etc., and occasionally frozen venison.  

 

I didn't know people refrigerated bananas, avocados, garlic, or onions!  I wouldn't refrigerate the pears or lemons either, but I can see why others do. But don't the bananas turn brown???

 

My refrigerator(s) have:

6 1/2 liter bottles of tap water that I refill as we drink them - but we go through several a day and I like them cold.

Almond milk (1L)

milk (1L)

cream (0.5 L) for a recipe

twelve bottles of condiments - we use them on sandwiches & fries regularly, but could pare down

lemon juice

2 salsas

3 salad dressings

2 jams

yogurts (probably a 2-week supply)

lunchmeat & sliced cheese

carrots

celery

grapes

bell peppers

hummus

gnocchi for soup this week

cream cheese

shredded cheese

tortillas

leftover refried beans & green chiles for lunch burritos

beer

bottled iced tea

Edited November 12, 2017 by ondreeuh

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Tiny Euro fridge here.  

 

I'm sure it's already been mentioned, but our milk comes in smaller containers and we can also buy it shelf-stable.  So we keep a 2L milk carton in the fridge door and have a cupboard with lots more milk to pop in as we empty the carton.  I keep a 2L carafe of water as well, but that is unusual.  Many juices are also shelf-stable and only placed in fridge once opened.  We don't drink juice, so it's not in our fridge.  

 

Condiments: mayo, mustards (2), ketchup, BBQ sauce, homemade salad dressing, 2 jams, jar of pickles.  

 

Pretty much everything else in our fridge is fresh.  If I really needed more space, I could move the onions and potatoes into the pantry, but generally this isn't necessary.  All our fruit is stored on the counter.  

 

We have a separate freezer where I store meat until I need to thaw it.  

 

 

 

When I go to my parents in CA, I'm shocked by their 18 different salad dressings, sauces, condiments, 10 different cold beverages, half gallon of lemon juice... etc.  It took a while, but I finally accept the superiority of the tiny fridge.  :-D  Nothing ever goes bad in the back corner due to being hidden, there are no preservative laden salad dressings that have been in there for over a year, etc.  Like with everything, we expand to fill the space we have.  If we had a giant fridge, I'm sure I'd fill it, so I'm glad we don't!

[ondreeuh]

Tiny Euro fridge here.  

 

I'm sure it's already been mentioned, but our milk comes in smaller containers and we can also buy it shelf-stable.  So we keep a 2L milk carton in the fridge door and have a cupboard with lots more milk to pop in as we empty the carton.  I keep a 2L carafe of water as well, but that is unusual.  Many juices are also shelf-stable and only placed in fridge once opened.  We don't drink juice, so it's not in our fridge.  

 

Condiments: mayo, mustards (2), ketchup, BBQ sauce, homemade salad dressing, 2 jams, jar of pickles.  

 

Pretty much everything else in our fridge is fresh.  If I really needed more space, I could move the onions and potatoes into the pantry, but generally this isn't necessary.  All our fruit is stored on the counter.  

 

We have a separate freezer where I store meat until I need to thaw it.  

 

 

 

When I go to my parents in CA, I'm shocked by their 18 different salad dressings, sauces, condiments, 10 different cold beverages, half gallon of lemon juice... etc.  It took a while, but I finally accept the superiority of the tiny fridge.  :-D  Nothing ever goes bad in the back corner due to being hidden, there are no preservative laden salad dressings that have been in there for over a year, etc.  Like with everything, we expand to fill the space we have.  If we had a giant fridge, I'm sure I'd fill it, so I'm glad we don't!

 

Maybe this is a good challenge for me. I might just shift what we really use to the mini fridge and see how that goes. I am sure our giant fridge uses an enormous amount of electricity. But if we got rid of the big fridge, that would get rid of the freezer (no freezer in the kitchen). Honestly we could live without a freezer too; it's just convenient to have frozen meat.

 

ETA: I moved most things over. There are a few things I can throw away & use up this week, and then we can unplug the fridge/freezer. It will be an interesting experiment to see if we like having the smaller space.

Edited November 12, 2017 by ondreeuh

[Guest]

When I go to my parents in CA, I'm shocked by their 18 different salad dressings, sauces, condiments, 10 different cold beverages, half gallon of lemon juice... etc. It took a while, but I finally accept the superiority of the tiny fridge. :-D Nothing ever goes bad in the back corner due to being hidden, there are no preservative laden salad dressings that have been in there for over a year, etc. Like with everything, we expand to fill the space we have. If we had a giant fridge, I'm sure I'd fill it, so I'm glad we don't!

Yes. This is exactly what I believe. I am one of those people who like things half-empty. I feel anxious when things are stuffed full. It irritates me to look in the fridge and see stuff pushed back and burried; that is what makes things rot and be wasted.

[eternalsummer]

I didn't know people refrigerated bananas, avocados, garlic, or onions!  I wouldn't refrigerate the pears or lemons either, but I can see why others do. But don't the bananas turn brown???

 

My refrigerator(s) have:

6 1/2 liter bottles of tap water that I refill as we drink them - but we go through several a day and I like them cold.

Almond milk (1L)

milk (1L)

cream (0.5 L) for a recipe

twelve bottles of condiments - we use them on sandwiches & fries regularly, but could pare down

lemon juice

2 salsas

3 salad dressings

2 jams

yogurts (probably a 2-week supply)

lunchmeat & sliced cheese

carrots

celery

grapes

bell peppers

hummus

gnocchi for soup this week

cream cheese

shredded cheese

tortillas

leftover refried beans & green chiles for lunch burritos

beer

bottled iced tea

 

The bananas get eaten the day I buy them, or maybe the next day, so they don't have a chance to go brown.  If I didn't have the space I'd keep them out, but I like them cold :)  Avocados the same, and garlic and onions.

[MotherGoose]

I've never lived in Europe, but during a recent trip to Italy i observed that everything is sold tiny at the store-- half gallons of milk, half dozen eggs, etc. imagine how much fun that was with all the people we were trying to feed! Huge bottles of coke don't exist. They drink sparkling water, which is quite expensive so you can't buy tons of it. Frankly I don't see how the entire country isn't chronically dehydrated! 😠I doubt mayo, mustard, and ketchup plays much of a part of their diet. And salad dressing is oil and vinegar. That's pretty much your only choice. I also observed that even if you have a car, it will be so tiny that you couldn't possibly put a typical American load of groceries in it. Chances are good that you will have to walk to the store.

[Guest]

I didn't know people refrigerated bananas, avocados, garlic, or onions! I wouldn't refrigerate the pears or lemons either, but I can see why others do. But don't the bananas turn brown???

 

My refrigerator(s) have:

6 1/2 liter bottles of tap water that I refill as we drink them - but we go through several a day and I like them cold.

Almond milk (1L)

milk (1L)

cream (0.5 L) for a recipe

twelve bottles of condiments - we use them on sandwiches & fries regularly, but could pare down

lemon juice

2 salsas

3 salad dressings

2 jams

yogurts (probably a 2-week supply)

lunchmeat & sliced cheese

carrots

celery

grapes

bell peppers

hummus

gnocchi for soup this week

cream cheese

shredded cheese

tortillas

leftover refried beans & green chiles for lunch burritos

beer

bottled iced tea

Yeah, I don’t refrigerate most fruits, unless it’s a leftover bit of fruit. I usually have bananas or apples (or both) on the counter to encourage healthy choices (In myself, too.) I don’t refrigerate onions or potatoes; in fact, I store them away from one another. I do refrigerate my garlic, but this is probably more because it is small and crumbly, so I like it contained in the frige.

[regentrude]

I've never lived in Europe, but during a recent trip to Italy i observed that everything is sold tiny at the store-- half gallons of milk, half dozen eggs, etc. imagine how much fun that was with all the people we were trying to feed! Huge bottles of coke don't exist. They drink sparkling water, which is quite expensive so you can't buy tons of it. Frankly I don't see how the entire country isn't chronically dehydrated!

 

You may have been to a small store in the city, where the only sparkling water comes by the individual bottle and is brand name.

There are also huge supermarkets where you can buy sparkling water in 12 packs of 1.5 liter bottles with each bottle costing 20 cents or so.

[Bluegoat]

I can't imagine keeping potatoes and onions in the fridge - it seems like they would go mushy!

 

Pickles also don't need to be in there (the vinegar based kind.)  The reason for the vinegar is to preserve them.  Same with jam.

 

I don't think I could bring myself to buy shelf-stable milk, except for emergencies.  

 

Anyway - I keep a lot more than I need to in the fridge because I have a ginormous one, but only two tiny cupboards.  I do try and keep condiments down though, by limiting the cuisines I cook.  I just can't justify a whole bunch of specialized ones for stuff I might cook once a year.  So if we want that, we eat at my sisters (she cooks a lot of Asian food) or we eat out.

 

 

[J-rap]

From our experience living in some other countries (and these have probably all been listed already):

 

Smaller containers (milk, condiments, etc.); menus tend to be more simple (they don't generally have all the variety in their stores); they tend to not have the mindset of shopping for the future (so pick up a couple fresh things daily, for example, when they need it); they don't refrigerate everything.  

[Annie G]

You may have been to a small store in the city, where the only sparkling water comes by the individual bottle and is brand name.

There are also huge supermarkets where you can buy sparkling water in 12 packs of 1.5 liter bottles with each bottle costing 20 cents or so.

 

Holy cow. I wish I had known that! We spent a fortune buying water when we visited. I think we paid about a dollar for a liter bottle. It was probably brand name but we would have been fine with a generic. 

[JFSinIL]

My 'fridge has:

 

powdered buttermilk

yogurts

choc. sauce

homemade pesto (small blocks of it live in the freezer - we grow a ton of basil each year)

pasta sauces

salsa

grated Romano

various leftovers

eggs, milk, cheeses, hubby's lunch meat (he brown bags it)

a can of peaches

pound of butter

jam

yeast

couple cans of son's diet soda

V8

OJ

one or two bottles of hubby's homebrew (bulk lives in basement)

mayo

mustards

catsup

bbq sauce

soy sauce

fish sauce

jug of chili paste - sambal oelnik?

lime juice

lemon juice

a fruit syrup from Ikea ds likes on ice cream

tamarind paste

Worcester sauce

ginger paste

minced garlic (fresh cloves live on the counter)

probably more ethnic seasonings I am not remembering off the top of my head.  I make a lot of Indian, Thai or Korean meals.

lettuce, B.sprouts, carrots, peppers, fennel, etc.

apples, plums etc.  Depends what is in season/sale

and some defrosted berries from the freezer for hubby's morning yogurt.

 

Oh, and a jar of leftover espresso/rum/sugar mixture (made too much syrup for tiramisu the other day)

 

 

Edited November 12, 2017 by JFSinIL

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Another thing I notice about my mom's (American) fridge:  She stores random shelf stable stuff in there, like soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, maple syrup, etc.  I guess it's just because if there's space, then why not?  All that stuff I store in the pantry.  

 

Shelf stable milk took some time for me to get used to.  I spent a lot of time reading about it, and basically it comes down to:  either you believe in raw, unpasteurized, un-homogenized milk and you buy it straight from the farmer (in which case you probably only want to store 2-3 days at a time for freshness anyway) or you don't.  And the difference between PAST (fridge stable) and UHT (shelf stable) in terms of nutrient breakdown is really negligible.  

 

I did go through a year where I went and bought raw milk every Wednesday at the market (best year or my life!  :-D  ) but my DH was really uncomfortable with me giving raw milk to the kids, so eventually I gave up on just going to buy my own milk.  Now we all drink the UHT stuff and my milk consumption has probably dropped 90% because it's just not the same as fresh, raw milk.  On the other hand, we do eat a ton of raw cheese- much easier to come by here than in the US!  

 

 

[HomeAgain]

I've never lived in Europe, but during a recent trip to Italy i observed that everything is sold tiny at the store-- half gallons of milk, half dozen eggs, etc. imagine how much fun that was with all the people we were trying to feed! Huge bottles of coke don't exist. They drink sparkling water, which is quite expensive so you can't buy tons of it. Frankly I don't see how the entire country isn't chronically dehydrated! 😠I doubt mayo, mustard, and ketchup plays much of a part of their diet. And salad dressing is oil and vinegar. That's pretty much your only choice. I also observed that even if you have a car, it will be so tiny that you couldn't possibly put a typical American load of groceries in it. Chances are good that you will have to walk to the store.

 

We lived in Italy for a while.  Thankfully we got there after other travels which had changed our diet.  But we didn't shop much at the grocery store. The grocery store behind our house was for the parts of the week when we didn't have the traveling market that came to our town square. (it went to every town, just about)  We'd go down first thing on Monday morning and buy the fruits, veggies, wine, meat, and cheese for the week, then go to the grocery store for things like semolina and coffee.  Bread was at the bakery.  We shopped more often because really, Italian homes aren't set up for lots of food storage, in a fridge or in a cupboard.  We moved a small cube bookcase into our kitchen to be our 'pantry'. 

 

Fast forward to here.  Our condiments in the fridge are a tiny jar of mayonnaise (I don't have an immersion blender yet), jam, and a few kinds of mustard.  I think if there is any ketchup it has long gone bad.  Our spice cupboard has exploded with condiments though. :lol:  We eat a lot of different cuisines so I have jars of spice blends that I've mixed up, vinegars, oils, and a handful of hot sauces.  I have an herb garden to make pestos and salsas with, so those are made as needed.

[Word Nerd]

I follow what the label says about whether to refrigerate condiments—for example, the Worcestershire and soy sauce I have both say "Refrigerate After Opening," so I do. 

[Tanaqui]

I follow what the label says about whether to refrigerate condiments—for example, the Worcestershire and soy sauce I have both say "Refrigerate After Opening," so I do. 

 

...those were literally created to be preserved for a very long time and also to stretch salt. They don't need refrigeration. My soy sauce has been kicking around for two years on my shelf. (It's an enormous jug.)

 

I don't know why your bottles say to refrigerate, but it's wholly unnecessary.

 

Edited November 12, 2017 by Tanaqui

[regentrude]

I don't know why your bottles say to refrigerate, but it's wholly unnecessary.

 

butt covering on part of the manufacturer?