packaging

Getting cabin fever with my cold, so I ventured out this afternoon for pho deep in the Rainier Valley. Afterwards, I popped into my favorite Vietnamese bakery--Q Bakery at Graham & MLK (which is not remotely Columbia City, as Yelp claims). I picked up a rather random selection of treats--custard puffs, something like housemade corn nuts, sesame caramel patties, housemade yogurt (which is half sweetened condensed milk and SO GOOD), a couple giant/delicious/preposterously cheap sesame bread sticks (seriously--the size of my arm, for 60 cents). After I was rung up, Cap'n pointed out a case tucked in the corner that had various canned goods--mostly pates of various kinds, and some fancy tins of mushrooms. The weird one was butter. 

The diameter was similar to a CD, and about as tall as a large can of tuna--either 11 or 12 ounce total. It was a sad greyish-lilac color, like a dingy 80s bridesmaid dress, with darker cursive writing on it. The name brand wasn't obvious, but I remember it starting with a B. Basically all I can find online for canned butter is this Red Feather brand, which is from New Zealand or possibly Australia, depending on which web source I trust. There's one Austalian company that seems to make five different brands of canned butter, primarily for the Asian market, but with at least a small clientele of survivalist weirdos from around the world. I hesitated at the $11 price--my fancy farmers market butter is about 65 cents per ounce and this stuff is about a buck an ounce. I'll pick some up on my next trip just to try it--a few bloggers mention that they tried other brands on a whim after a trip to an Asian grocery store, and were surprised at the high quality. 

Finding it feels a bit like finding milk in a vacu-bag. It's perfectly reasonable for that food to be in that packaging, and it could be totally common in other regions--but it's not at all what I'm used to seeing.