Last weekend we went to a Korean supermarket because I needed some Korean hot pepper flakes and paste. This was one of the products I wanted to buy (Gochujang) – luckily one brand had the name written in English; otherwise I wouldn’t have even known I was in the right section – but other than that I could read almost nothing on the labels.

It brought to mind all our years of living overseas and facing the same problem to varying degrees in Japan, Turkey, Hungary and Saudi Arabia – the frustrating inability to read labels in grocery stores. I even had to consult a Korean woman in the store to make sure that the other product was what I thought it was. We finally checked out, and I used them in dinner last night. All I can say is that the Koreans must really like very hot, very spicy food! (So do we, but I ended up getting "extra hot" and for the first time I can remember, I'd say it was a bit over the top.)

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly unsharp.

The obsessive coot, posted earlier: