Speculoos

One of the foods I’ve missed while we’ve been here is graham crackers. A stack of graham crackers with a glass of cold milk is one of my comfort foods! I haven’t found grahams in France, but I figured there was probably something close — a lightly sweet cookie that was almost a cracker.

So I started exploring and happily, early on in my explorations I tried a package of Speculoos. They’re not the same as grahams, but they’re a great substitute when I can’t get the real thing. A tall stack of Speculoos, accompanied by fresh milk from the neighbor, is… heavenly!

Speculoos are actually a product of Belgium, but they’re common in the stores here. Have you ever tried them?

We fly to the U.S. on Thursday and one of the things the kids keep talking about are foods they can’t wait to eat. Rootbeer! Smashburger! Mexican Food! Krispy Kremes! Bagels! I’d love to hear: What food would you miss if you moved from home?

88 thoughts on “Speculoos”

  1. Definately, being from Argentina, DULCE DE LECHE!
    There’s nothing like it, even If I’ve been testing other things… (speculoos spread is not bad) and “dulce de leches” maden in France, there is anything like a good white bread toast with a LOT of Dulce de Leche on it, for tea time ;)

    Sil from mamadeultramar.blogspot.com

  2. We moved from Texas to Arizona and miss Tex-Mex with a passion. Arizona Mexican food is actually….uh….Mexican and so not covered in cheese.

    That and queso. Can’t get it here.

  3. We live in Ireland, and like everyone else here, we miss Tex-Mex the most. Especially Haas avocados. The avocados sold here just aren’t the same. We try to work with what is available over here, and when we’re really craving something, we make it from scratch. We got our graham cracker recipe out of ‘Jam It, Pickle it, Cure It’ by Karen Solomon. It has all sorts of recipes for comfort foods you can’t find when you live overseas. I love the book! Also, the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion cookbook has a lot of helpful recipes as well. Of course, it’s hard to beat a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup…

  4. I ate many speculoos when I lived in Belgium almost twenty years ago, and never once missed graham crackers! Actually I liked the local cuisine in Belgium so much that I don’t remember ever pining for American delicacies.

    When I lived in Amman, Jordan as a pregnant newlywed with morning sickness, however, it was a very different story. I craved familiar comfort foods and would pay top dollar for things like canned chicken noodle soup, would make my own tuna casserole, and ate out at American chains whenever possible. There was a Popeye’s Chicken near us and it always tasted delicious. I could never get enough of it.

    I just bought some Biscoff brand speculoos at my local Walmart last week! The world is getting smaller in some ways.

  5. Being Brits in California, we miss Heinz baked beans, Marks & Spencers Earl Grey tea and Heinz Salad creme.

    When we move back to the UK we will miss red velvet cake, mint oreos and Trader Joe’s organic mayonnaise.

  6. Just another person urging you to try the Speculoos spread at the earliest opportunity! I’m in New Zealand so it’s rare when we get a jar, but when we do it never sees a slice of bread – it’s devoured by the spoonful!

  7. We moved from Vermont to Texas 8 years ago. Today we are back East for part of our summer holiday. What my kids (and I) are most excited to eat are maple creemees, bagels (salt and sunflower seed) and grinders. We have been plotting and planning the places we want to stop at.

  8. As I read this I’m making home-make rice krispy treats for my son’s pre-K class (his 5th birthday is tomorrow). We both LOVE rice krispy treats – especially with salted butter, gormet marshmallows and sparkly red and blue sugar crystals sprinkled on top!

    Do you have rice krispy treats (or even rice krispies) in France?

  9. McVittie’s Digestives are a good substitute for graham crackers. They’re a British biscuit, so that’s what I use here in London, but I also found them in Russia, so I’d bet you can get them in France.

  10. I’ve lived in the UK for nine years now, and I’m pretty adjusted. Still, I’m going home for a visit next month and we’re already planning all of the junk we’re going to eat!

    Mexican food, I make my own but have to special order chillies and spices and there are *no* corn tortillas. They have something called “corn tortillas” in the grocery stores, but they are flour tortillas with a tiny bit of corn flour added. They are bright yellow and disgusting. There is one place in London that makes proper corn tortillas, but it is very expensive to have them shipped to me, and they don’t last very long.
    “Mexican” food has taken off in England in the last decade, so there is a lot more available in the grocery stores, but everything is aimed at convenience foods and an English palate. I miss both authentic Mexican food, Tex-Mex and even bad American Mexican! Come back horrible pot luck taco salad! I’m sorry I said all of those bad things about you!

  11. I miss cinnamon bears, and good fresh mexican food. But on our last trip home we ate so much mexican food, I think I’ll be good for at least a couple months.

    Have you tried the Petit Brun Extra, in your search for Graham cracker alternatives? They are my favorite cracker/cookie over here. Have fun back in the States!

  12. We’re totally missing graham crackers here in the UK as well. It seems I miss junk food the most (I guess we’re eating healthier here?!), including red vines, riesen, Annie’s mac n cheese, queso, and fresh tortillas. Thankfully visitors kindly load up their bags for us!

  13. We temporarily live in Jamaica for the next few years and I miss sooo many things we can’t find here such as:
    Mexican Food
    Thai Food
    McDonald’s (can you believe it?)
    In n Out burger
    Boba bubble drinks
    Oh and anything and everything Trader Joe’s

    Whenever we go back to the U.S., I always, always order Thai food and also try to get some Mexican and even McDonald’s in.

    I’m sure I can add to this list if I think about it, but hey, here they have exquisite curry goat, jerk chicken, red peas and rice and oxtail, yum :-P

    1. Hmmmm, now I’m getting hungry and I’m remembering things I loved in other countries we lived in
      Philippines: Manila mangoes, the best ever!
      Brazo de Mercedes–incredible merengue and egg yolk dessert
      Eggpie–it’s like a flan pie, haven’t seen anything like it anywhere
      Flan
      Palabok – yummy noodles with shrimp based sauce

      Germany: Lebkucken and chocolate cookies around Christmas time

      Mexico: Exquisite spiced shrimp from the Zona Rosa craft market
      Tacos al pastor from the street vendor

      Ecuador: Fish stew they have around Easter

  14. When I moved to England with my family as a teenager, my sister and I couldn’t stop going on about Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, but they’re readily available now. Graham Crackers are definitely missed (particularly as my friends here want to try making S’mores!) as are goldfish crackers and Pepperidge Farm cookies.

    But, I love digestive biscuits (my alternative to Graham Crackers) and have discovered the Sunday Roast, which makes up for it all!

  15. I had my baby in Belgium last July, and through my first trimester when I was constantly nauseous, I ate Speculoos! They have ginger, so settled my stomach. It was Christmastime, so the Speculoos were St. Nicholas-shaped and a bit bigger than normal. Now I’m in Scotland and can’t find the Speculoos. And I love Speculoos ice cream too xx

  16. Well, I keep the local import store in business here> The things I miss most: chocolate (American chocolate doesn’t compare), squash (various fruit flavoured drinks), prawn coctail flavoured crisps (that’s chips to the Americans amongst you), iced buns (basically bread with frosting on). My favourite meals can still be created over here (eg. Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings), but for baking I buy British flour and sugars from the import stores, as I got fed up of the differences in the flours messing up the final outcomes… Ooh, that reminds me, I miss the bread. American wheat bread is ok, or maybe even better, but I miss the other bread from back home.

    My husband missed the Mexican food when he lived in Europe, but we’ve found that you can now buy enough things in English supermarkets to make a passable version. The Mexican restaurants are a bit hit or miss.

  17. They sell speculoos spread at trader joe’s now! I’m glad you posted this because I didn’t actually know what speculoos was.
    When I lived in England as a teenager, the things I craved most were pixie sticks, tootsie rolls, mexican food, and a big frosty from Wendy’s. In fact, on a trip home, I ordered the biggest frosty I could find at an airport in Texas during a layover. The first bite resulted in the worst brain freeze I’ve ever gotten!! Totally worth it, though. :) Enjoy indulging in your favorite american delights!

  18. When I lived in Belgium for several months, it felt like heaven when I finally found refrigerated milk. The shelf milk just didn’t cut it for me!

  19. as the good french i am, i terribly miss French cheese (you know, the ones that smell very bad and taste heavenly! ^^) when i’m in another country. Actually, i didn’t miss cheese when i was in Spain because they have very good cheese of their own but whenever i go to england or ireland, well, i’m very happy to go back to france just for the cheese ^^ hehe, terrible, i know!
    I also love speculoos, they taste so yummy!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top