12 American Foods That Shock Australians

Seven years in America and I'm still finding foods that completely blow my Australian mind. Today I'm breaking down the American foods that make every Aussie I know question their sanity and trust me some of these will shock you a bit too. All right I'm just gonna say it some American foods to me are absolutely mental. Sure we might have the odd jar of Vegemite back home and chicken soul probably sitting in the pantry but some of these food items are really out there. Let's start with a big one American cheese. Now back home in Australia when we say cheese we're talking about proper aged cheddar maybe some tasty cheese or coon if you're allowed to say that still but here these are bright yellow squares that taste like plastic and melt like well plastic. I've watched Americans put this stuff on everything and it's like watching someone put cardboard on their food. The processed texture and that weird artificial flavor it's just not what we grew up calling cheese. Some things never change. I've even seen science experiments done on this like it shows it's burning just like a synthetic product. This is ridiculous and literally I'm burning this and it's not melting this is plastic. Then there's sweet iced tea and especially down here in the south. Now Aussies love a good cup of tea but we're talking about a proper cuppa hot maybe a splash of milk a sugar if you're feeling real fancy but southern sweet tea it's like drinking liquid lollies. The first time someone handed me a glass at a barbie here I thought they'd accidentally given me undiluted cordial. It's so sweet it could strip paint off an old daddo in about two minutes. How about a glass of iced tea it's the house wine of the south. Perfect. Corn dogs we've got something similar back home called Pluto pups or Dagwood dogs but here's the thing ours are done in plain batter. The corn batter here in the U.S. I just can't get my head around it. Now my kids love getting these at county fairs and I will happily eat the sausage on its own once I've peeled off all of that sweet coating. In a way it's kind of like eating a hot dog wrapped in cornbread. Chicken and waffles now this one really throws us for a loop. Sweet and savory together isn't uncommon back home but fried chicken on top of waffles with maple syrup. In Australia waffles are a sweet treat you have with your ice cream. Putting crispy chicken on top feels like someone's having a laugh. It's like putting a meat pie on top of a lamington. Technically possible but why would you? Root beer floats now we've got spider drinks back home but root beer tastes like medicine to many Aussies. It's got that weird medicinal flavor that just doesn't sit right with many of us. It is an acquired taste and my first sip I thought someone was trying to poison me. I have since grown accustomed to it and honestly of all the things on this list it's probably my favorite thing that I would have. American bread now this one is a real shocker. The bread here is so soft and sweet it's almost like eating cake. Back home bread has substance, proper crust, dense texture and it definitely doesn't taste like a dessert. The first time I made a sandwich here I thought I'd accidentally grab brioche instead. How do you make a proper sandwich with cake? You need to search out sourdough to get something like what we have in Australia but just wait a sec because it does get worse. Aerosol cheese or cheese in a can that you spray directly into your mouth. Mate I've seen Americans do this at parties and it's like watching someone eat whipped cream except it's supposed to be cheese. The concept of shelf-stable cheese that comes out of a pressurized can it just breaks my Australian brain. Cheese should come from a cow not a chemistry lab and if you like this stuff let me know is there a trick to eating it am I really missing out on something on canned cheese. Biscuits and gravy now when Americans say biscuits they mean fluffy scone like things not our biscuits which are called cookies here but covering them in a thick pale gravy. Back home gravy is brown it goes with this sundae roast definitely doesn't go on breakfast pastries. The first time I saw this at a diner I actually thought that the cook had been sick. People tell me they love it. No I just can't stomach this one. Ranch dressing. Americans put this stuff on everything. Pizza, salads, hot chips, vegetables you name it someone's drowning it in ranch. Now we've got salad dressing back home but nothing quite like ranch and definitely not in the quantities that you see here. It's like watching someone put mayonnaise on their wheat bix. My kids have now grown to be ranch fans. Chicken nuggets and ranch, carrots and ranch, fries and ranch, chicken wings and ranch. I love ranch. I guess it's pretty versatile I'll give it that much. Pumpkin everything when autumn is here it's like the entire country goes pumpkin mad. Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread which I actually don't mind. Back home pumpkin is for roast dinners or for soup. The idea of putting pumpkin spice in coffee is really foreign to us. That's like if we started putting beetroot on our pavlovas. Peanut butter. The American peanut butter for me is just way too sweet and thick. Our peanut butter back home is more savory. It's less sugary and definitely not as thick as cement. Plus your jelly is what we call jam which adds a complete other layer of confusion. PB&J's are just not a thing to us. I guess it's kind of the equivalent of a Vegemite sandwich in the US. And finally grits. Ground corn boiled into a creamy porridge. The first time someone served me grits I actually thought they'd forgotten to finish cooking something. It's bland it's mushy and honestly it looks like something you would feed a baby. There are plenty of different ways to cook it. The shrimp and grits sweet and creamy with cinnamon and honey or cheesy grits with bacon on top. Dress it up as much as you like. I'm still not buying it. What's what's this over here? You never heard of grits? Sure I heard of grits. I just actually never seen a grit before. Okay honey you can try it. You first. What is a grit anyways? It's made out of corn. Them Harmony grits. Harmony. Now don't get me wrong I'm not having a go at American food culture because every country including Australia has its own quirks. But the food here just doesn't translate to a lot of Aussies. I guess in the end it's really all about what you grow up with and get used to isn't it? Which American food shocks you the most? Or have you tried convincing an American to eat Vegemite? Drop your wildest food culture clash stories below. I love reading every single comment and I'll catch you next time. Hooroo mateys!