Aussies, Yankees, Pommies and others - ask your questions here...

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Aussies, Yankees, Pommies and others - ask your questions here...

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Started 1 year ago by ozegal
Latest reply from juliapenguin
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ozegal
Member

I was replying to a post in another thread and it got me thinking about the differences in other peoples' countries. I always try to 'American-ise' my posts in case no one knows what I'm talking about, eg. In Australia, we don't call them sweaters or pull-overs, we call them jumpers...

So I thought I'd start a thread so people can ask - or even just look at what we all call different things...

WHAT ARE 'GRITS'? They've been mentioned in a couple of American books I've read and I imagine they're similar to a pancake with corn in it, but with a texture more like a biscuit? I could be right off the mark here of course...

And is it true maple syrup can be put on savoury items? The syrup they sell in OZ is only maple flavoured and sickly sweet - I just can't imagine it on bacon...

I know there are a million others - but I'll get back to you as they come to mind :)

Posted 1 year ago #
Ron C
Member

Grits are easiest described as rough-ground corn, similar to polenta (they have polenta down under, right?) - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grits. They get cooked like an oatmeal or polenta into a mushy thing like a porridge, and are typically served at breakfast time. Served often with butter and sugar to make them have some flavor.

Maple syrup on bacon is the result of an accident that occurred when maple syrup is on a plate (from pancakes or waffles) and bacon fell into it - it turned out to be something that resonated with American palates, so packagers injected maple syrup into the bacon to short-cut the process.

Remember that you people are just as strange to us as we are to you, no doubt. I'm still trying to figure out why you all don't fall upwards into the sky, being on the bottom of the globe and all ;)

Ron C

Posted 1 year ago #
Marcia
Member

I live in Melbourne (Australia) and we certainly DO have pure maple syrup here! I lived in Quebec, Canada for 18 months also and I can vouch for the authenticity of the imported Canadian maple syrup here in Melbourne - readily available from supermarkets - 2 brands spring to mind immediately (one certified organic). Of course the Cabane au Sucre (Sugar Shack) visits with our visitors while in Quebec were essential!

Everything imaginable is available in Australia - perhaps it depends where you live/what you have access to.

Posted 1 year ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

@ ozegal - my kind of question :)

grits are like cream of wheat - and it is considered southern food (The South in USA)

I've only had them for breakfast, interchangeable with cream of wheat. If you like cream of wheat you'll like grits.

Question: what's a "pommie?"

Posted 1 year ago #
nws2002
Member

Why do Australians hoard all the Tim Tams? Those suckers are $8 a package here in the U.S., and I can only find them at one local store or order them online. :)

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

Okay,what's a Tim Tam? :) I'm thinking a pommie is a person from the UK?

Posted 1 year ago #
nws2002
Member

Tim Tams are the best cookies ever! Two chocolate cookies, with a lighter chocolate cream between them, covered in a chocolate coating. Hard to explain, but they are one of my favorite treats.

Posted 1 year ago #
irishbell
Member

Grits or oatmeal with a little butter, salt and pepper...mmm good! Put a sunny side egg on top and you've got a meal fit for a queen!
I can't stand maple syrup on my bacon or sausage, but my kids love it.
A little maple syrup on a Monte Cristo Sandwich is also a yummy thing and could be considered savory.
(A ham and swiss cheese sandwich dipped in a french toast batter and then slapped it on a griddle)
i'm gettin' hungry....

Posted 1 year ago #
lucy1965
Member

Aw, darn it, people, the expat food store is closed and I can't have any Tim Tams! Or chocolate digestives! You're being mean! ;-)

Posted 1 year ago #
badkitti
Member

I think timtams are just expensive penguin biscuits!

A pommie is an English person. Apparently we whinge a lot and don't shower often!?!

Maple syrup on bacon and pancakes or even salmon, is lovely!

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

ugh, I hate Tim Tams! Ditto Vegemite. I grew up in Australia and pretty much the only thing I miss is coffee-flavoured Moove (flavoured milk, mmmmmmmm) and Cherry Ripes (chocolate bar with coconut and cherry pieces in). You just can't buy decent flavoured milk in the UK, why is that? I love going food shopping in foreign countries, they always have the weirdest stuff in common with what you can get at home, plus a massive load of country or culture-specific stuff which you can puzzle over, particularly if you don't understand the language well so have only pictures to go on.
One thing the Brits do find funny though is the way Americans call trousers 'pants'. In Britain pants are knickers, so talking about your underwear as outerwear is quite comical! Mind you, in Australia 'thongs' are worn on the feet rather than referring to rather skimpy underwear, so the Poms find that funny too!

Posted 1 year ago #
badkitti
Member

You can mix drinking chocolate powder with milk in the UK, but you're right - aussie stuff is better there. Maybe we'd rather have tea anyways ;)

Lottielot - "One thing the Brits do find funny though is the way Americans call trousers 'pants'. In Britain pants are knickers, so talking about your underwear as outerwear is quite comical! Mind you, in Australia 'thongs' are worn on the feet rather than referring to rather skimpy underwear, so the Poms find that funny too! " - don't even get me started on 'fanny packs' in the US - I won't mention what the word means here in the UK!

Posted 1 year ago #
lucy1965
Member

@badkitti I had to pull aside my Pilates teacher and explain why everyone in a class of UK expats was falling off their Reformers laughing every time she said "Now scoot your fanny back towards your neighbour" . . . . *grin*

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

OMG, yes! ROFL!

Posted 1 year ago #
badkitti
Member

lucy - I am a child and it makes me giggle!

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

Husband and I had a great time in a huge Tesco in Chester when we were in the UK. We were obvious tourists gawking, but we did meet some lovely people, including one couple who were soon to leave on a trip to the US and had lots of questions.

Posted 1 year ago #
lazycow
Member

This might be a bit rude, but an American friend said she was having 'fish tacos' for dinner and when I told my husband (we're Aussies) he thought it was the rudest, grossest thing ever. Apparently they're delicious, but not if you have a dirty mind...

Posted 1 year ago #
SunshineR
Member

If I may ask, what is a chocolate digestive? Not sure if I want to know because certain medications in the US are flavored with chocolate (such as Ex-Lax).

My DBF loves to have bacon slices covered with syrup for breakfast. Not that it's good for his health, imho.

Posted 1 year ago #
ozegal
Member

A digestive biscuit (cookie) is a plain, dense, wheat style biscuit - I have used them for making a cheescake base (grannies love them cos they're high in fibre). Chocolate digestive has a layer of dark chocolate on one side which makes them more palatable - IMO. Everyone in Australia likes 'dunking' biscuits in tea and coffee (personnally I hate getting crumbs in my drink or a big soggy lump falling in!).

Which brings me to tim tams. One of the things we like to do (apparently) is bite both ends off the tim tam and such coffee through it like a straw. Its worth a try - but i don't like how the biscuit goes mushy... I love tim tams but rarely eat them cos they are so rich. We have milk, dark and white chocolate tim tams, double chocolate time tams etc etc that may not have got overseas but are definitely worth a try if you get the opportunity. My MIL refuses to eat them because they are similar to a diet meal replacement biscuit she used in the early 80's and she says when you can only eat 1 tim tam for every meal for a month, they get 'old' really fast!

Cherry soda? I dunno how anyone drinks it but I've heard DR Pepper is really big in the US. It reminds me of cough medicine...

In Oz, 'fanny' is the front private - I think in US and UK its the back private?

Posted 1 year ago #
ozegal
Member

@pkilmain - Whats TESCO?

@Marcia - we live 2 hrs south west of Sydney, in a town with about 15000 residents and everything in the woolworths here has 'maple flavoured' written on it... Maybe i should try to find the real stuff to try?

@lazycow - I never heard 'fish tacos' in that kind of conversation before, but I think I know what you mean. Our family dont stray from fish and chips, tuna/mayo sandwich, or salmon patties, so the idea of fish in any kind of meal is really foreign to me. When I was in Indonesia for a business trip they gave us curry fish soup for lunch and it was nice but it felt odd to me...

Does everywhere in UK and US do 'school lunches'? I've been watching the Jamie Oliver show on TV about how he's trying to introduce healthy school lunches in Brittain and US, and honestly I'm a bit jealous. In Australia, you either order from the canteen/tuckshop, or take your lunch in a plastic box to school and its always cold (ie sandwhich, fruit, prepackaged chips/museli bars). The idea of a hot meal at school is tantalising. Do you have to pay for those?

Posted 1 year ago #

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