Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Coming to Oz? Bring Ketchup!!

Baby Heinz KetchupImage by Vincent Ma via Flickr
Among the many things that you must adjust to when moving abroad anywhere is the new vocabulary you need to begin using so that you can fit in at your home away from home...or at least as much as a 6'2" Black American can "fit in" in Oz. The same is true of food as you'll be introduced to new foods that are simply delectable (like my sis in-law's maple cream pie - so good it makes you want to slap your mama) as well as foods that are more of an acquired taste like Vegimite (just plain awful really). I'm okay with trying new things and experimenting. Sometimes, even in my posts, I spell words Aussie style like "colour" or "harbour" when we all know that that's not how they're meant to be spelled. But that's not a fight that I want to take up now. No, there are more important fights to take up - specifically KETCHUP fight...or as they call it over here "tomato sauce".



Now I don't know if you're like me but when I order a burger and fries ("chips" or "chippies" for the locals) I like to sit down with some salt, 42 napkins, an over-sized soda and a bottle of ketchup. Did you catch that last bit Oz? That's a BOTTLE of ketchup. I'm not sure if restaurants are just cheap or if Heinz needs to step up their marketing efforts but the ketchup rationing here really needs to stop. Now, when I order a burger with a big ole side of fries they give me a single, solitary ketchup packet. For real? And then have the nerve to charge me $0.30 for each additional packet? They may as well just add 6 bucks to the cost of my meal and call it a day. I can't even take my daughter out to eat because she costs me 35 bucks in ketchup alone. It's a travesty and it's got to stop.

So to that end, I'm calling on all my Aussies mates to join together in an American style demonstration to protest the ketchup rationing being imposed upon the peoples of Australia by businesses big and small. It's not about me. It's about our children being able to grow up on a country that respects each and every individual's right to eat fries made soggy due to an overabundance of tomato sauce. Are you with me Australia? Anyone? Anyone?

Black2Oz out.

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9 comments:

  1. Love this post. "Chips" don't come with ketchup- you have to ask for "tomaaaato sauce" and then hope they bring you more than a teaspoon worth. Bring on the kecthup revolution! (However I must say that Aussie wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce ALMOST make up for this tragic problem.)

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  2. If you'll surrender that stupid word 'ketchup' I might join you in your revolution. I agree its a travesty defined by stinginess. Educate me some more yankee boy. Where does the word 'ketchup' come from???
    GH

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  3. Holmesy - from Wikipedia. Ketchup started out as a general term for sauce, typically made of mushrooms or fish brine with herbs and spices. Some popular early main ingredients included blueberry, anchovy, oyster, lobster, walnut, kidney bean, cucumber, cranberry, lemon, celery and grape. Mushroom ketchup is still available in some countries, such as the UK, and banana ketchup is popular in the Philippines.

    Shann - glad to see I'm not the only one appalled by this practice!

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  4. Long, but informative background on ketchup here:
    http://languageoffood.blogspot.com/2009/09/ketchup.html

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  5. 42 napkins, er serviettes? Good luck! They'll charge you extra for that!

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  6. Ketchup and Aussie tomato sauce arn't the same thing.Ketchup has vinegar in it,tomato sauce doesn't.Get some free packets of real ketchup from Mcd's instead of paying for that yucky tomato sauce. :-)

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  7. AMEN!

    Sometimes, if you're REALLY lucky, you'll be charged even for the FIRST little packet! Once I went to maccas and asked for "lots of ketchup." I got one packet. I looked at her and said, "uh, can I get some more please?" She gave me ONE more.

    I'll join your revolution!

    -elsja from YDU

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  8. Wahahahaha! I laughed sooo hard! Yes, yes, yes! I'll join you! STOP the ketchup rations!

    On a side note: I think sweet chili sauce is more Australian than it is Thai. I swear, I've never seen so much damn sweet chili ever in Thailand. :)

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  9. Seriously? Tomato sauce on chips is just plain disgusting. why not go and buy a bottle of that and carry it around with you? the australian way is lemon juice. I guess a derivative of the british vinegar, but much tastier. And as a "local" i've never heard anyone call them chippies. who does that? having said that, my black american fiance will punch me if she reads my post, shes totally onboard with you.

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