Unexplained Snacks of America

[iain]

From The Morning News.

[Stone]

Dude. You guys eat marmite. Or vegimite. Or some kind of shite.

[Lyle]

"What are you doing, shots of sandwich spread now?"

Um, yeah, aren't you?

[Bicycle Lee]

CHICHARRONES ARE BOMB!!! these being fried pork skins...if you haven't trie them, then you have no room to complain.

and I wouldn't say that grits and collards are snacks...

but bitter greens are the shiznit: cheap, delicious, AND good for you...

grits are good too, you just gotta prepare them right...shit, it's only polenta!

Mr. Pibb is NOT cheap Dr. Pepper, it is another brand of Dr. Pepper...

and clark bars are just old skool butterfingers...don't hate...

[Raynickben]

That's pretty funny.

But I never knew Domino's had a cream cheese pizza. For real? That's nasty.

[TrishCT]

I'm American and have no idea what Mr. Pibb is. Where is it sold, what is it?

[VeryApe77]

I found this article rather confusing. There are indeed plenty of outlandish snacks in America, but I don't think that buffalo wings, bear claws and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups fit into that category.

I grew up in England and have known what collard greens, grits and pork rinds are since I was a kid. I can only assume that the target audience for this piece is people who live under a rock?

PS. No more anti-Marmite comments please. It's highly tiresome.

[Raynickben]

I'm American and have no idea what Mr. Pibb is. Where is it sold, what is it?

Mr. Pibb was developed by the Coca Cola company to compete with Dr. Pepper.

The History of Mr. Pibb

It's really one of the better sodas in my opinion.

[Mayhaw Man]

I'm American and have no idea what Mr. Pibb is. Where is it sold, what is it?

Mr. Pibb was the Coca Cola Company's answer to Dr. Pepper. I remember when it was first marketed (I lived in the test market). Dr Pepper held a serious amount of volume in some pockets of what Coke considered to be prime territory and this was their response to the market. I did not taste like Dr. Pepper, although it was similar. Less body and not quite as sweet (at that point I believe that all Dr Pepper was still being made with Cane Sugar-now only the stuff from the plant in Waco is the only D.P made with c.s.).

[Raynickben]

I'm American and have no idea what Mr. Pibb is.  Where is it sold, what is it?

Mr. Pibb was the Coca Cola Company's answer to Dr. Pepper. I remember when it was first marketed (I lived in the test market). Dr Pepper held a serious amount of volume in some pockets of what Coke considered to be prime territory and this was their response to the market. I did not taste like Dr. Pepper, although it was similar. Less body and not quite as sweet (at that point I believe that all Dr Pepper was still being made with Cane Sugar-now only the stuff from the plant in Waco is the only D.P made with c.s.).

Jinx, buy me a coke (I mean Mr. Pibb).

[Mayhaw Man]

Down here they're all cokes until you say what flavor you want!

As in:

"Hey man, ya wanna coke?"

"Yeah, gimme a Mr. Pibb."

[Dignan]

I suspect the original article's reference to The Shawshank Redemption actually should be to The Green Mile, the first being set in Maine/New England and the latter som'ers in the Deep South where we'd be more likely to see grits as a plot element (and corn bread, too). Of course, both are Steven King prison movies....

[chow guy]

It's always a trip to see how things here are percieved from the other side of the world, especially from a place that enjoys Vegamite as a condiment.

The comment about cutting white out of bacon reminded me of why I don't like British style bacon. If it's not crisp (not unlike pork rinds) I'm not interested. Which has now sent me off obsessing on the wisdom of eating pork rinds in the induction stage of the Atkins Diet. They are "sortta" like puffed up bacon: all salty, crunchy, greasy and flavorful.

[foodie52]

Well, this wasn't exactly an article about food, was it? More like musings about life while sitting on the can. Sort of like, stand up comedy while sitting down at the keyboard. I wish I could get paid to write fluff like that.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Journalistic fluff aside, I agree about the junk food rift. For the record I was born and raised in the US and my partner in Australia. If we had to choose between mass marketed candy bars, we'd both choose Australian ones, and it makes sense to me why she doesn't "get" Reese's and Butterfinger and other US junk foods: most of the flavor emphasis is on the salt, sugar and fat, rather than actual peanut butter. Isn't to say that Australian junk foods are free of salt, sugar and fat, but many of them do taste more purely like their primary ingredients.

Between the mass produced chocolate brands, UK/Oz's Cadbury > US's Hershey's. Surely there is no doubt about this! Liking Hershey's more than Cadbury because that's what one grew up on, ok that makes sense, but on a sheer quality comparison, no way, hehe.

I also like vegemite, liked it at the first try @5 years ago. If that somehow disqualifies me from whatever, so be it.

Pat

[alacarte]

It's a cute article, but about halfway through I started screaming, STOP GUESSING AND JUST TRY THE DAMN FOOD PRODUCT. A little investigation would have gone a lot further than a little cleverness.

Edited March 23, 2004 by alacarte (log)

[foodgeek]

It's a cute article, but about halfway through I started screaming, STOP GUESSING AND JUST TRY THE DAMN FOOD PRODUCT. A little investigation would have gone a lot further than a little cleverness.

I'm so with you, but I suspect that whoever wrote the article...actually researched the items in question to make sure he at least had an idea about what he was writing...and then wrote what he did for entertainment value.

[Fresser]

PS. No more anti-Marmite comments please. It's highly tiresome.

Marmite fans who also happen to be cyclists can show their spirit with a Marmite jersey: http://www.dullmen.com/marmite.htm

Edited March 23, 2004 by Fresser (log)

[lala]

Just another example of foreign 'wit' in making fun of anything American. *yawn*

Now, show me an article where the writer actually researches the topic (you can find numerous funny things about any 'foreign' culture!), and writes abut it in an intelligent, informed manner, and I'll be interested!

[gus_tatory]

on the topic of 'Unexplained Snacks of America', who dreamt up the butter-flavoured pretzel? that is just rude.

and yet i had a few and they were, uhh, edible.

my favourite American snack food? beef jerky, but with as few ingredients as possible, and well-made.

[cakewench]

btw, Cadbury from the UK and Cadbury from Oz are two different things. I was absolutely shocked when, upon moving to Australia, I realized that my beloved Cadbury cream egg was practically inedible.

My co-workers there waxed on about different diets for cows, and different chemicals used to prohibit melting in their hot weather... etc. Didn't matter, still sucked. lots. Or, 'heaps', as they would say.

The Hershey's/Cadbury debate has happened a few times on this board. Hershey's has a higher cocoa content, and therefore I don't think they can be directly compared. I like them both, in different forms. If we want to compare all mass-market chocolate bars, though, neither of them stands up to Ritter Sport (from my current home country of Germany).

Now, back to Oz, the Strawberry version of the Cherry Ripe, that was inspired. I'm not sure if it's still around, as it was brand new when I was still there. I don't think I ate many chocolate bars, but the Cadbury cookies (oh yes, I said cookies ) were fantastic.

[lamington]

btw, Cadbury from the UK and Cadbury from Oz are two different things. I was absolutely shocked when, upon moving to Australia, I realized that my beloved Cadbury cream egg was practically inedible.

LOL. Meanwhile Aussies generally find British Cadbury to be a foul sweet icky vanillin confection

sml311: I do agree that the article was entertaining, but I think it could've been equally entertaining if he tried the products. Most are available on the internet

Well, the article wasn't for a real paper-- just some small internet mag, and ordering via the internet/shipping across the Pacific is not great for meltable items like chocolate, spillable items like Snapple, or prohibited items like meat and veg...

[Mabelline]

Whatever, dump on us, we're the flavor of the year...but we've done our own bit about Brit Food. But usually someone who takes the time to search out popular snacks finds them pretty tasty. Besides, if they knew how good collard greens, grits, and good pork rinds were, there'd be a lot less for us. Live with what you know. I haven't had a Pizza Oz style, but I don't put youall up to ridicule for indulging.

[Adam Balic]

I would guess that the piece is typical Australian self-conscience satirical humour. The author is poking fun at himself and Australia, more then he is being critical of American "snacks". The reason why the snacks aren't researched is because this would defeat the purpose of the article. Obviously some forms of humour don't translate that well.

However, peanut butter cups and Reece's Pieces (like Smarties, but evil) are the work of the Devil. If an extraterrestial had ended up in a suburban back yard shed and been exposed to these, then the Earth would have been destroyed for crimes against Galactic Life.*

* More Australian humour.

[jo-mel]

Amusing! But the author got more out of it than he probably intended. His article went across the pond and got a reaction from the culprits who eat this stuff..

What more can you ask!!