BOGO Salami! BOGO Salami!

In the previous episode of The Coupon Whisperer I told you about the BOGO Hebrew National hot dog deal at Publix. Well, today I went to Publix to pick up a few packs but when I got to the display, my eyes bulged out. Next to the hot dogs was something I had been waiting almost a year to go BOGO: Hebrew National salami. Since it is so rare to get that salami BOGO and because it seems like there is a good BOGO hot dog deal at least once a month, I ditched my plan to buy the hot dogs in favor of stocking up on the Hebrew National salami.

A year ago when that salami was last BOGO, I had some good overage going so I got the salami FREE. On one run, I was near the home of my sister-in-law, Marisol, in Miami so I picked up some salami for her. Amazingly she had never even heard of salami before. Actually not so strange since my wife was completely unfamiliar with it as well. I guess salami isn't something that is very available in Venezuela. Probably even less available now since food in general in that country is in short supply thanx to the antics of Señor Hugo.

Anyway, both my wife and Marisol went wild after their first taste ever of salami. They couldn't get enough of it. After that sale was over, I assured them that the salami would probably be on sale BOGO soon. Oops! I was wrong. Almost a year has passed until the salami went BOGO again but I'm sure glad it did. I just hope it doesn't take almost another year until the next such sale.

BTW, food availability seems to be much different in Venezuela. Another item that neither Marisol nor my wife had ever heard of was "bah-glez." If you are unfamiliar with that word, let me explain:

Years, ago, when The Coupon Whisperer lived in his previous mortal form in California, he met a Mexican guy who told him about a remarkable breakfast item called "bah-glez." The Mexican guy excitedly explained to me in Spanish how terrific those "bah-glez" were "especialmente los bah-glez de jalapeño y queso." This was strange to me because I am quite familiar with Mexican food but had never heard of "bah-glez." I figured it was some really exotic item so I asked the Mexican guy for the address where I could pick up some "bah-glez" and wrote it down.

A few mornings later, I showed up at the address in the San Fernando Valley and let loose with a big laugh when I saw the sign: "Western Bagel." Well, I stood on line outside with the crowd in which I was probably the only non-Mexican and waited for them to serve up "los bah-glez." When it came my turn, I of course ordered several of the jalapeno and cheese bagels. After one bite I realized the enthusiasm of these folks for those types of bagels. It was probably the GREATEST bagel I had ever eaten. It wasn't just the incredible flavor but the texture of the bagel itself. The chewiness of the cheese which worked perfectly with the cheese oils and the kick of the jalapeno to make it by far the KING of all bagels. Over the next couple of years, I made it a regular routine to pick up those Western jalapeno and cheese bagels on a fairly regular basis. It was one of the few things about California that I missed when I moved back to Florida.

Years later, I discovered that my wife was completely unfamiliar with bagels when I took her to the Boston Bagel Cafe which was rated as serving the best bagel sandwiches in Broward County. Again, I chuckled when I showed her the menu and she pronounced it as "bah-glez." Mispronunciation aside she really enjoyed her lox, bagels, and cream cheese although it took some effort to convince her that lox is not the same as sushi which she hates. However, to this day, I have never corrected my wife on her pronunciation and, in fact, make sure I call them "bah-glez" myself around her.

I hope she never finds out because she gets FURIOUS whenever she finds out that I don't correct her English. Yeah, imagine how angry she would be if she ever finds out I didn't correct the way she says Colgate ("Col-gah-teh") or Palmolive ("Pah-moh-leeveh"). Come to think of it, during the past week I have picked up several tubes of FREE "Col-gah-teh" and FREE bottles "Pahl-moh-leeveh" dishwashing liquid using my amazing couponing skills.

So enjoy your BOGO Hebrew National salami if you live in a Publix area and perhaps you can use them to make salami "bah-glez" sandwiches.