I am supposed to be prepping for an interview tomorrow. The interview is taking place over a video conferencing platform at home - which means I have to get news readered up, and make the top half of me look professional - you know, hair, make up, dress. Down the bottom I'll probably be in Birkenstocks and shorts. Ah well. But I have to do some prep. Instead, I'll get this out the way and then get on with the prep. I ran what I've got in my head over with a friend - he things I'm on the right track. We'll see how we go. It's early days. Keeps the brain busy.
Questions, as always, come from Bev at Sunday Stealing.
I make no apologies for being a foodie. In Australia we have a great food culture - where fresh is best, interesting is wonderful and choice is plentiful - so if I'm a bit disparaging, please understand, we have plenty of options, multicultural influences and we're not beholden to the corn lobby. The less sugar in stuff the better.
01. CHEESE or CHOCOLATE?
Umm, cheese, just - as I'm not really a chocolate person. But I'm not supposed to eat cheese - it makes my blood pressure go up.
02. BLUEBERRIES or STRAWBERRIES?
Strawberries.
03. COFFEE or TEA?
Both. I don't drink caffeine any more, so my standard coffee is a decaf latte with almond milk. But I also drink tea. Also remember, coming from Melbourne, we have one of the most active coffee cultures in the world. Your barista gets Christmas presents. I front up to my coffee shop with my keep cup and it gets filled without a word. It's fun.
04. CORN MUFFIN or ENGLISH MUFFIN?
English Muffin
05. PANCAKES or FRENCH TOAST?
If the French Toast is from Cafe Delish in Caulfield where they use challah bread (Jewish egg bread) then it's French Toast. If not, it's pancakes, but with lemon juice and sugar.
06. YOGHURT or CREAM CHEESE?
Both are good. Cream cheese for bagels, yoghurt for most other things. Greek yoghurt, even better. Greek yoghurt from the local yuppy food shop, even better. Must be full fat. The only way to have it.
07. RICE or PASTA?
Probably rice, as I have to eat the gluten free pasta - they are getting better, but it's still not the same.
08. CAKE or PIE?
Probably cake, unless it's my Mum's blackberry pie, which is phenomenal - and the blackberries are grown contraband on the property - blackberries are seen as a noxious weed where I'm from.
09. GROUND BEEF or GROUND TURKEY?
Oh, you mean mince. Probably beef. I don't use it much. Chicken mince is good for san choi bao and chicken meatballs, but that is about it. Beef mince is better for everything else. Beef and pork mince are the only way to make home made sausage rolls - and Australia staple.
10. HOT DOGS or HAMBURGERS?
Hamburgers. The gourmet kind. Though I have a soft spot for IKEA hotdogs. Saying that, the best hotdogs ever are found at the Keith Roadhouse halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne - where the bun is toasted and then filled with butter, tomato sauce (ketchup) and the sausage. They're awesome.
11. JELLY or MARMALADE?
We call jelly jam. If I can get apricot jam, then it's jam. But I'm very fond of marmalade too - Rose's Lime Marmalade is the bomb.
12. AMERICAN CHEESE or SWISS CHEESE?
Ew, neither. Both have their place, but if I think I want cheese I think of a decent soft blue or a good aged cheddar, or heaven forbid I can find it here, ginger stilton - Waitrose in England has it. It's awesome. There are so many cheeses out there, why would you stick to either Swiss or American?
13. DIET SODA or NO SODA?
No soda. I live on soda water / fizzy mineral water. Diet soda is filled with chemicals that put holes in your brain. (Also given up on caffeine - avoiding diet soda takes this out of the equation.)
14. LEMONADE or ICED TEA?
Lemonade. But again, where does it come from, what's in it, who made it. Iced tea is not bad, but it all comes out of plastic bottles around here. I brew my own kombucha - does that count?
15. CHERRIES or GRAPES?
I like both. Only get cherries at Christmas around here.
16. CHOCOLATE QUIK or STRAWBERRY QUIK?
Chocolate Quik. But American's don't have Milo. Milo is a malted chocolate drink around here which is the bomb.
There are three types of teaspoon in Australia. The level teaspoon, the heaped teaspoon and the milo teaspoon. This is a universal standard.
17. WAFFLES or PANCAKES?
Waffles, not that you get them very often. Waffle irons are hard to find.
18. WHITE BREAD or WHOLE-GRAIN/WHEAT BREAD?
Wholegrain bread - but again, it's best when you get it form some small bakery. If I can get it, sourdough is even better. You can even find good gluten free bread from time to time.
19. PEAS or CARROTS?
Carrots. Just don't overcook them. Best raw.
20. PUDDING or FRUIT-FLAVORED GELATIN?
I think this is American crap we don't get (thank goodness). If you need something in a put then I'd go decent rice putting or chocolate mousse. Fruit flavoured gelatin? Do you mean jelly? You only get that in hospital or in trifle.
21. COLD CEREAL or HOT CEREAL?
Cold cereal.
22. KETCHUP or MUSTARD?
Ketchup, or as we call it, tomato sauce. I'm a bogan (redneck). Tomato sauce is a necessary evil.
23. MUSTARD or MAYONNAISE?
Mayonnaise - but mustard is wonderful, and it comes in so many ways. I love Dijon mustard, French mustard and for fresh ham sandwiches, hot English mustard. The yellow American stuff is only for IKEA hot dogs. (actually, at IKEA here, they have French mustard for their hot dogs.)
24. MAYONNAISE or KETCHUP?
Ketchup - or tomato sauce as we call it. Though mayo has it's place. Both on chips is a decadent option.
25. BLACK OLIVES or GREEN OLIVES?
Both are good. Kalamata olives, fresh from the deli are the best. I couldn't really tell the difference if my eyes were closed.
26. ONION or GARLIC?
Both have their place.
27. PLAIN BARBECUE or BARBECUE WITH SAUCE?
More American stuff. We have our own barbeque culture around here. It's well defined. We don't do the ribs thing unless you're in a specialty American restaurant place. Barbeques to your average Australian is steak, sausages and or chicken on the grill, with salads.
The best barbeques are held at Bunnings on weekend mornings.
This is what an Australian barbeque looks like. Note, the bread should be very fresh and very white, and there should be some crispy bits on the onion. And lashings of tomato sauce. (ketchup).
28. SCRAMBLED EGGS or FRIED EGGS?
Scrambled eggs, but I prefer my eggs medium poached - not too runny, not too hard.
29. EGGS or EGG REPLACEMENTS?
Egg replacements? What the hell are egg replacements? Yuck.
The best eggs come from chooks (Chickens / hens - we call 'em chooks) that run around people's back yards. Free range eggs from the supermarket will get bought at a push.
30. MEAT or VEGETABLES?
Meat - but veggies are needed with the meat.
31. CHINESE TAKE-OUT or PIZZA?
Ah, both have their place. For me, take out comes from the local Vietnamese - or Mexican
32. SUSHI or DELI SANDWICH?
Good sushi. Really fresh sushi is great. But a good deli sandwich is a good thing too - it depends on the mood.
33. WHITE CLAM CHOWDER or RED CLAM CHOWDER?
American thing - no idea. Didn't know there were red and white clams.
If you asked me to choose between a Thai Green Curry and a Thai Red Curry I could give you an answer (Green curry all the way).
34. KEY LIME PIE or LEMON MERINGUE PIE?
Lemon meringue pie. From what I can see, key lime pie is just lime cheesecake. Again the former is an American thing.
A more Australian question would be pavlova or trifle. Pavlova wins easily. I'm not into trifle.
35. PIE & ICE CREAM or CAKE & ICE CREAM?
More American things. You don't need ice cream with cake - you do with pie, so pie and ice cream - and clotted cream.
36. WHIPPED CREAM or CAKE FROSTING?
We don't have a canned whip cream culture here. To make whipped cream, you get a carton of cream, a bit of sugar and get the beaters onto it. But I'm a sucker for cake icing - especially cream cheese icing on carrot cake.
37. HONEY or MAPLE SYRUP?
Good maple syrup is one of life's joy, but then again so is real honey.
Today's song:
Questions, as always, come from Bev at Sunday Stealing.
I make no apologies for being a foodie. In Australia we have a great food culture - where fresh is best, interesting is wonderful and choice is plentiful - so if I'm a bit disparaging, please understand, we have plenty of options, multicultural influences and we're not beholden to the corn lobby. The less sugar in stuff the better.
01. CHEESE or CHOCOLATE?
Umm, cheese, just - as I'm not really a chocolate person. But I'm not supposed to eat cheese - it makes my blood pressure go up.
02. BLUEBERRIES or STRAWBERRIES?
Strawberries.
03. COFFEE or TEA?
Both. I don't drink caffeine any more, so my standard coffee is a decaf latte with almond milk. But I also drink tea. Also remember, coming from Melbourne, we have one of the most active coffee cultures in the world. Your barista gets Christmas presents. I front up to my coffee shop with my keep cup and it gets filled without a word. It's fun.
04. CORN MUFFIN or ENGLISH MUFFIN?
English Muffin
05. PANCAKES or FRENCH TOAST?
If the French Toast is from Cafe Delish in Caulfield where they use challah bread (Jewish egg bread) then it's French Toast. If not, it's pancakes, but with lemon juice and sugar.
06. YOGHURT or CREAM CHEESE?
Both are good. Cream cheese for bagels, yoghurt for most other things. Greek yoghurt, even better. Greek yoghurt from the local yuppy food shop, even better. Must be full fat. The only way to have it.
07. RICE or PASTA?
Probably rice, as I have to eat the gluten free pasta - they are getting better, but it's still not the same.
08. CAKE or PIE?
Probably cake, unless it's my Mum's blackberry pie, which is phenomenal - and the blackberries are grown contraband on the property - blackberries are seen as a noxious weed where I'm from.
09. GROUND BEEF or GROUND TURKEY?
Oh, you mean mince. Probably beef. I don't use it much. Chicken mince is good for san choi bao and chicken meatballs, but that is about it. Beef mince is better for everything else. Beef and pork mince are the only way to make home made sausage rolls - and Australia staple.
10. HOT DOGS or HAMBURGERS?
Hamburgers. The gourmet kind. Though I have a soft spot for IKEA hotdogs. Saying that, the best hotdogs ever are found at the Keith Roadhouse halfway between Adelaide and Melbourne - where the bun is toasted and then filled with butter, tomato sauce (ketchup) and the sausage. They're awesome.
11. JELLY or MARMALADE?
We call jelly jam. If I can get apricot jam, then it's jam. But I'm very fond of marmalade too - Rose's Lime Marmalade is the bomb.
12. AMERICAN CHEESE or SWISS CHEESE?
Ew, neither. Both have their place, but if I think I want cheese I think of a decent soft blue or a good aged cheddar, or heaven forbid I can find it here, ginger stilton - Waitrose in England has it. It's awesome. There are so many cheeses out there, why would you stick to either Swiss or American?
13. DIET SODA or NO SODA?
No soda. I live on soda water / fizzy mineral water. Diet soda is filled with chemicals that put holes in your brain. (Also given up on caffeine - avoiding diet soda takes this out of the equation.)
14. LEMONADE or ICED TEA?
Lemonade. But again, where does it come from, what's in it, who made it. Iced tea is not bad, but it all comes out of plastic bottles around here. I brew my own kombucha - does that count?
15. CHERRIES or GRAPES?
I like both. Only get cherries at Christmas around here.
16. CHOCOLATE QUIK or STRAWBERRY QUIK?
Chocolate Quik. But American's don't have Milo. Milo is a malted chocolate drink around here which is the bomb.
There are three types of teaspoon in Australia. The level teaspoon, the heaped teaspoon and the milo teaspoon. This is a universal standard.
17. WAFFLES or PANCAKES?
Waffles, not that you get them very often. Waffle irons are hard to find.
18. WHITE BREAD or WHOLE-GRAIN/WHEAT BREAD?
Wholegrain bread - but again, it's best when you get it form some small bakery. If I can get it, sourdough is even better. You can even find good gluten free bread from time to time.
19. PEAS or CARROTS?
Carrots. Just don't overcook them. Best raw.
20. PUDDING or FRUIT-FLAVORED GELATIN?
I think this is American crap we don't get (thank goodness). If you need something in a put then I'd go decent rice putting or chocolate mousse. Fruit flavoured gelatin? Do you mean jelly? You only get that in hospital or in trifle.
21. COLD CEREAL or HOT CEREAL?
Cold cereal.
22. KETCHUP or MUSTARD?
Ketchup, or as we call it, tomato sauce. I'm a bogan (redneck). Tomato sauce is a necessary evil.
23. MUSTARD or MAYONNAISE?
Mayonnaise - but mustard is wonderful, and it comes in so many ways. I love Dijon mustard, French mustard and for fresh ham sandwiches, hot English mustard. The yellow American stuff is only for IKEA hot dogs. (actually, at IKEA here, they have French mustard for their hot dogs.)
24. MAYONNAISE or KETCHUP?
Ketchup - or tomato sauce as we call it. Though mayo has it's place. Both on chips is a decadent option.
25. BLACK OLIVES or GREEN OLIVES?
Both are good. Kalamata olives, fresh from the deli are the best. I couldn't really tell the difference if my eyes were closed.
26. ONION or GARLIC?
Both have their place.
27. PLAIN BARBECUE or BARBECUE WITH SAUCE?
More American stuff. We have our own barbeque culture around here. It's well defined. We don't do the ribs thing unless you're in a specialty American restaurant place. Barbeques to your average Australian is steak, sausages and or chicken on the grill, with salads.
The best barbeques are held at Bunnings on weekend mornings.
This is what an Australian barbeque looks like. Note, the bread should be very fresh and very white, and there should be some crispy bits on the onion. And lashings of tomato sauce. (ketchup).
28. SCRAMBLED EGGS or FRIED EGGS?
Scrambled eggs, but I prefer my eggs medium poached - not too runny, not too hard.
29. EGGS or EGG REPLACEMENTS?
Egg replacements? What the hell are egg replacements? Yuck.
The best eggs come from chooks (Chickens / hens - we call 'em chooks) that run around people's back yards. Free range eggs from the supermarket will get bought at a push.
30. MEAT or VEGETABLES?
Meat - but veggies are needed with the meat.
31. CHINESE TAKE-OUT or PIZZA?
Ah, both have their place. For me, take out comes from the local Vietnamese - or Mexican
32. SUSHI or DELI SANDWICH?
Good sushi. Really fresh sushi is great. But a good deli sandwich is a good thing too - it depends on the mood.
33. WHITE CLAM CHOWDER or RED CLAM CHOWDER?
American thing - no idea. Didn't know there were red and white clams.
If you asked me to choose between a Thai Green Curry and a Thai Red Curry I could give you an answer (Green curry all the way).
34. KEY LIME PIE or LEMON MERINGUE PIE?
Lemon meringue pie. From what I can see, key lime pie is just lime cheesecake. Again the former is an American thing.
A more Australian question would be pavlova or trifle. Pavlova wins easily. I'm not into trifle.
35. PIE & ICE CREAM or CAKE & ICE CREAM?
More American things. You don't need ice cream with cake - you do with pie, so pie and ice cream - and clotted cream.
36. WHIPPED CREAM or CAKE FROSTING?
We don't have a canned whip cream culture here. To make whipped cream, you get a carton of cream, a bit of sugar and get the beaters onto it. But I'm a sucker for cake icing - especially cream cheese icing on carrot cake.
37. HONEY or MAPLE SYRUP?
Good maple syrup is one of life's joy, but then again so is real honey.
Today's song:
5 comments:
Lime Marmalade sounds delicious! Wish I could find that here.
Good luck on the interview! Personally I would dress head to toe like I would at an in person interview. Makes me feel and portray myself as more professional. In my experience casual Fridays ruin the decorum of an office. Behavior is more loose than regular business casual or business attire.
I like when the posts are like this and you can teach us some more about life in Australia. It is fun to find out how the rest of the world lives or in this case, eats!
Hi Pand,
There is a lot of America in these choices and like you some of them sound just ... weird.
Aussies and Brits are quite similar when it comes to food - but you guys need to replace your Vegemite with Marmite. It is much better.
:o)
Cheers
PM
I enjoyed the Australian take on these questions.
#5 - never heard of pancakes with lemon juice!
#12 - Swiss cheese is my favorite
#13 - I want MILO! Never heard of it. I love malt.
#27 - Your BBQ answer was interesting. No ribs? Unheard of! That said your photo looked wonderful. I obviously didn't eat enough in Australia.
#33 - White clam chowder is milk (or cream) based; red clam chowder is tomato based.
#34 - I had Pavlova in Australia and loved it.
#36 - I make whipped cream the way you do. I don't like the canned stuff.
It is always so interesting to see how different the food choices are in other countries.
I also love lots of different types of cheeses. This one is a fun one. Loved your answers! Have a nice day!
http://lorisbusylife.blogspot.com/
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