Unexplained Snacks of America

[alacarte]

Hey all you Aussies on the board (and non-Aussies who have visited Oz):

can you tell us about food products and preparations in Australia that the rest of us might find a bit unusual?

(oh, don't make me go over to the Australia board to find these things out. too lazy.)

[Adam Balic]

Unusual? We've nothing unusual, it's you septic tanks that have revolting snacks (note: Joke talk).

Can only speak for Victoria (State of):

Dim Sim = Anglo-bastardised version of Asian dumplings.

Chico Roll = similar to above, but sort of a fried veg curry spring roll.

Pizza with egg.

Meat pie with mushy peas.

Tim Tams = King of chocolate biscuits.

Pickled sheep lips.

Polly Waffle = marshmallow wafer chocolate bar

Violet Crumble = honey comb chocolate bar.

eh, must be more.

[tanabutler]

Oh, I wish you'd white-out the actual descriptions and let us give our uneducated guesses and first impressions.

[Adam Balic]

Oh, I wish you'd white-out the actual descriptions and let us give our uneducated guesses and first impressions.

Nope, wouldn't work: Remember American's have not sense of humour. This is a proven and indisputible fact.

[misgabi]

alacarte,

Following on from Adam -

- lamingtons

- potato scallops

- balmain bugs

- anzac biscuits

- pawpaw

- pie floater

[jhlurie]

Dim Sim = Anglo-bastardised version of Asian dumplings.

As a point of comparison, Dim Sum is also available in many parts of the U.S., but it's authenticity varies more. It's actually not ALL bad here.

As far as the sensitivity (over-sensitivity?) of Americans... it's probably true. Then again, we aren't the French.

[Adam Balic]

Dim Sim = Anglo-bastardised version of Asian dumplings.

As a point of comparison, Dim Sum is also available in many parts of the U.S., but it's authenticity varies more. It's actually not ALL bad here.

As far as the sensitivity (over-sensitivity?) of Americans... it's probably true. Then again, we aren't the French.

Well, it's not so much being over sensitve, it's that lack of an ability to appreciate satire.

Dim Sim are not Dim Sum, they are 'more evolved'. Even the most racist Victorian will eat them as it doesn't occur to them that they are foreign. Commonly known as a 'Dimmy'. Many of them are made of mutton for instance. Original fushion cuisine.

Dim Sim history

Edited March 25, 2004 by Adam Balic (log)

[Bux]

Original fushion cuisine.

My guess is that the Italians and Spaniards were eating tomatoes and peppers before the Aussies were eating dim sum. Maybe before they were eating dim sum in Hong Kong for all I know. For all I know Marco Polo brought dim sum back to Italy where they evolved into ravioli. Hell, I never believed he brought spaghetti back from China. Why would he, they had no tomato sauce.

[Adam Balic]

Original fushion cuisine.

My guess is that the Italians and Spaniards were eating tomatoes and peppers before the Aussies were eating dim sum. Maybe before they were eating dim sum in Hong Kong for all I know. For all I know Marco Polo brought dim sum back to Italy where they evolved into ravioli. Hell, I never believed he brought spaghetti back from China. Why would he, they had no tomato sauce.

This is nearly satire, well done *Silver Star*.

[Bux]

I'm developing my sense of humor by watching British comedy on PBS. It's a slow process because I usually fall asleep quickly.

[Adam Balic]

I'm developing my sense of humor by watching British comedy on PBS. It's a slow process because I usually fall asleep quickly.

I can translate into American for you.

First: The teeth are real, this isn't part of the joke.

Second: British people can and will humiliate themselves. This is considered to be extremely funny. Being funny in Britian is the wry acceptance that you realise that you are a bigger idiot then other people suspect.

Third: Many very good British comics are not always Jewish, so race is not a clue to funny. Although, people from the West Country are naturally amusing.

Edited March 25, 2004 by Adam Balic (log)

[misgabi]

Thought this was funny: take-away

In that the Bendigo Takeaway lists both the dim sim and the chicko roll as a "delight" but that they also offer a battered dim sim

Also happy to deep fry a tim tam for you!!

[Adam Balic]

Thought this was funny: take-away

In that the Bendigo Takeaway lists both the dim sim and the chicko roll as a "delight" but that they also offer a battered dim sim

Also happy to deep fry a tim tam for you!!

I 'grew up' in the region near Bendigo. It was maybe an hours drive from home.

A scallop in Victoria (state of, Bendigo is a major rural city in it) is a scallop. In NSW (?) it is a potato cake (slice of potato battered and deep fried) as per the North of England.

A battered dim sim can be a magical thing. Imagine a fried ball of batter the size of a tennis ball with some processed meat and cabbage at its core. Lived off these at University.

[jhlurie]

You have to remember Adam that the Puritans were kicked out of England for having NO SENSE OF HUMOR!

Okay, I missed the subtle spelling difference between Dim Sum and Dim Sim. I thought perhaps you'd had a beer too many.

[Adam Balic]

You have to remember Adam that the Puritans were kicked out of England for having NO SENSE OF HUMOR!

Okay, I missed the subtle spelling difference between Dim Sum and Dim Sim. I thought perhaps you'd had a beer too many.

Are you joking, have you seen what they use to wear? Now that is funny.

Not beer, Talisker.

[misgabi]

Adam,

You're right. The potato scallop is the battered slice of potato. If you want a battered scallop (seafood) you just ask for a scallop.

I havn't seen a battered dim sim offered around here (just the unbattered ones look disgusting enough ) But deep fried Kabana is huge.

[robyn]

From The Morning News.

Grits are a big time trendy thing these days. The New York Times says so. Glad to know after all these years that I'm trendy.

As for collards - they're field greens - something that poor people in the south could grow in the winter (they're a winter crop). I don't think anyone would ever pick collards over foie gras - but they are a reasonably healthy tasty dish if cooked properly.

By the way - until recently - most Americans didn't know what these things were (and most still don't). So I can appreciate some head scratching in Australia. Robyn

[kangarool]

It’s not fair! Finally, a topic I have a modicum of authority on, and the article in question isn’t accessible this (southern hemisphere) morning.

So, I can’t read it, but the gist is clear enough (and why let the absence of facts get in the way of smug pontification?) Maybe the server’s overloaded with all the egulleteers’ hits on this critical issue.

Anyway. With all humility, my credentials:

• Born and raised in Kansas (pretty much a Tora-Bora-calibre breeding ground of Culinary Terrorism)

• Next 15 years eating and snacking my way around Manhattan

• Next 10 here in Melbourne

I had this long-winded, self-important diatribe in the works, wherein I’d crap on about how American snacks and mass-marketed U.S. foods are typically not merely perceived by the rest of the world, but indeed are — in an absolute, non-relativistic sense —

weird.

But then I imagined the onslaught and vitriol that would no doubt ensue, so instead I’ll just get straight to it and say that Potato Cakes and Dim Sims are orders of magnitude better than Pork Rinds or "Pop Tarts". Not just "better," but better to the same degree that Coopers Sparkling is superior to Coors Light.

And that that degree is incalculable.

[Dignan]

It’s not fair! Finally, a topic I have a modicum of authority on, and the article in question isn’t accessible this (southern hemisphere) morning.

So, I can’t read it, but the gist is clear enough (and why let the absence of facts get in the way of smug pontification?)  Maybe the server’s overloaded with all the egulleteers’ hits on this critical issue.

Anyway. With all humility, my credentials:

• Born and raised in Kansas (pretty much a Tora-Bora-calibre breeding ground of Culinary Terrorism)

• Next 15 years eating and snacking my way around Manhattan

• Next 10 here in Melbourne

I had this long-winded, self-important diatribe in the works, wherein I’d crap on about how American snacks and mass-marketed U.S. foods are typically not merely perceived by the rest of the world, but indeed are — in an absolute, non-relativistic sense —

weird.

But then I imagined the onslaught and vitriol that would no doubt ensue, so instead I’ll just get straight to it and say that Potato Cakes and Dim Sims are orders of magnitude better than Pork Rinds or "Pop Tarts". Not just "better," but better to the same degree that Coopers Sparkling is superior to Coors Light. 

And that that degree is incalculable.

I think you would have satisfied the points many folks are making because you have had the items about which you are posting. The gentleman causing these responses isn't talking about what they taste like, he's posting on the internet that these items are mysterious, even though the same internet would have solved all the mysteries he raised to begin with.... Do buffalos have wings? That's infantile comedy, something for 3 year olds. Hey, what's the deal with the airlines...? And hey, used car dealers, what's the deal with them...?

So please, Post It!

[robyn]

Actually part of the problem with the article is that things like grits and collards aren't "snacks" - or street food. They're just side dishes. I've never seen a grits or collards street vendor - or a booth at a local fair that serves them. By the way - hushpuppies are pretty much in the same category. Robyn

[jhlurie]

That's true. A "snack" is an apple. Or Ring Dings. Or Funyuns. I've never had grits as a snack, or hush puppies, or Tums, or collard greens, or Mr. Pibbs, or Snapple (I wonder if the author was confused with Scrapple, which is ANOTHER southern food). Then again if the "irony" of the piece was supposed to be that none of these are actually snacks... then I guess that makes it... not very clever.

And a "nosh" is something else entirely.

Edited March 26, 2004 by jhlurie (log)

[tanabutler]

The snack aspect is perhaps the wrong choice of words, but it doesn't lessen the effect of the humor. I didn't get hung up on that word at all.

And maybe "snack" is so ultra-American that he uses it tongue-in-cheek. Maybe not.

Aussies?

[jhlurie]

And maybe "snack" is so ultra-American that he uses it tongue-in-cheek. Maybe not.

I doubt it. At least based on the etymology of the word it's not a new concept.

Snack.

[robyn]

...(I wonder if the author was confused with Scrapple, which is ANOTHER southern food)...

I've lived in Philadelphia - and I've lived in the south - and I can assure you that no southern person would be caught dead eating Scrapple - it's one of the few dishes that Philadelphia can claim as its own . Robyn

[jhlurie]

Yeah, sorry. You are right.

For some reason it got mixed up in my mind, because I used to have it served all of the time to me in a diner I used to frequent in Virginia.