Friday, March 23, 2012

quicko: condiment capers

A1 is one of those condiments that's not the first one you realize is off when you go overseas -- you realize it, it just takes longer because, well, most of us don't have steak every night -- but I thought I ought to give you a list of some of the major ones I noticed pretty quickly too:

--Sugar.  American sugar comes from high fructose corn syrup, while Australian sugar comes from sugar cane.  According to every Australian I've ever discussed this way, Australian sugar is way less bad for you.  I'm used to it now, though I have my doubts about which tastes better ...

--Pepper.  As in salt and pepper.  (A distinction only necessary for the Americans, as the Australians would call the other peppers "capsicums."  Very odd, I know.  Shhh.)  It's just different here.  American pepper is much better.

--Ketchup.  Radically different from Australian "tomato sauce."  Also way better.  Australians again claim it's too sweet, but what would they know with their sugar caned sugar?

3 comments:

Laetitia :-) said...

See, the good thing about our calling them capsicum and chilli is that we don't have confusion as to what plant is being discussed - you had to spell it out as "salt and pepper" pepper. But what kind of pepper are you after - finely ground or roughly cracked? black, white or red?

And as for sugar, fructose apparently goes straight to your liver where it is turned directly into fat. That's fine if you're like my husband but not so great if your metabolism has slowed a bit more like mine.

TheYvetteRene said...

Hi Kim -
You don't know me, but I'm new to Sydney and I'm now following your blog. I like how you think. This is the type of blog I envisioned mine being. Hopefully that will happen soon.

About capsicum - am I the only American who thinks that Australians overuse them? They're in EVERYTHING! I'm beginning to HATE them. And they use too much so that the flavor overwhelms everything else. Just my two cents.

KIM said...

Hi Yvette! Nice to have you along!

As for capsicum -- you're clearly eating more than just San Churro, which is my staple. If I deviated from chocolate long enough to encounter vegetables, I'm sure I'd agree. I am constantly amazed by how very omnipresent pumpkin is as well ...