An Acquired Taste

Twisties Roll: Is there anything better than extruded corn puffs between buttered bread rolls?

2011-03-12T03:33:00.000-08:00

Twisties is a snack food product available in Australia, New Zealand (marketed under a different name), Singapore, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, among others.

It was launched in 1950 by the General Foods Corporation. The brand name is owned by The Smith's Snackfood Company. While originally an Australian owned company, Smith's was acquired in August 1998, by Frito-Lay the second largest producer of snack foods in Australia, which in turn is owned by PepsiCo.

In Malaysia, since Danone Malaysia has been acquired by Kraft Twisties is now a product of Kraft Malaysia. Twisties are one of the most popular snack foods in Australia. Smith's claims it to be the "number one extruded snack brand"[1].

Twisties are produced by feeding a mix of milled corn, rice and water into a machine known as a rotary head or random extruder. This machine cooks the mix at high temperature and pressure whilst forming the pieces. This process results in the characteristic Twisties shape with the knobbly surface and squiggly shape. After forming, the pieces are oven baked before being flavoured with a coating of seasoning and vegetable oil.

During the 1990s the texture of Twisties was altered resulting in a smoother finish, and may have coincided with the acquisition of The Smith's Snackfood Company by Frito-Lay.

Twisties were originally available only in cheese flavour, but chicken flavour was introduced and became a standard part of the product line. There have also been flavours in various countries as diverse as Toffee, Tomato and Salmon Teriyaki.

Adding this snack food to a buttered bread roll has been a staple of Australian school children for decades. It must be a buttered roll!

Others have had a preference for "burger rings" or "potatoes chips" (Crisps)

Information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisties

Elvis: Fools Gold or How to consume 94,000 calories a day!

2011-03-12T02:41:00.001-08:00

OK this is a famous comfort food of Elvis's. Trying to find the definitive recipe has proven surprisingly hard. Some suggests the addition of bananas which i cannot disprove. However, after seeing an episode of "Spicks and Specks" a local music quiz show, my wife and i decided to try it.

So as the legend goes, Its a cob of bread (sometimes two), a jar of peanut butter, a jar of strawberry jam (jelly) and a pound of bacon!

What we will be trying is three rashes of short bacon in between two slices of white toast, spread with peanut butter and strawberry jam (jelly) cut in half.

Pause while we make it!

OK here is the verdict!

I think spreading the peanut butter on both sides of the toast overpowers all other flavours...however, both Kylie and I agree it is not offensive at all, although very sweet for a savoury snack.

I think our American friends used to the peanut and jam (jelly) combination will love it, and obviously everything tastes better with bacon!

Recommendation: Try it in moderation. The taste is sweet but savoury. Just try and avoid the two cobs Elvis used to eat at exactly 10 pm each night, which contributed to the 94,000 calories per day!

Just Wow!

Fries and Icecream: The hot and cold of it

2011-03-01T00:18:00.000-08:00

Having done some research on this, both in reality and on the interweb, I have come to the conclusion that this might be the most common "weird" food combination in the world that does not include mayo or peanut butter (more on those two wonderful ingredients to come).

The dividing factor is not only the flavour, vanilla or chocolate, but icecream or shake?

Personally i prefer neither but others I know swear by strawberry shakes and sometimes McDonalds soft serve!

Bananas, cheese and bacon on toast: Add a vegetable and all 5 food groups are represented

2011-02-28T22:47:00.000-08:00

My mother and father used to make this for me when I was a kid and I'm sure i never really appreciated what a wonderful combination this really is.
These days though I like to add a drizzle of maple syrup on top.

Spectacular!

Pie Floater: Looks can be decieving

2011-02-28T21:04:00.000-08:00

Now this is another love hate food from my local area. A big bowl of thick pea soup, an inverted (must be upside down or it's not authentic) meat (usually beef) pie and a good dollop of tomato sauce (ketchup).

These are usually sold as street food although there has been lately a move to reinvent this dish as fine dining.

Fritz: The child pacifier

2011-02-28T20:52:00.000-08:00

Fritz is a type of manufactured meat product sold in Australia and New Zealand. It is usually served in a sandwich, often with tomato sauce and can also be fried in slices.

Typical commercial preparations list the major ingredient as "Meat including Pork". It is usually composed of several types of pork, basic spices, and a binder.

It is referred to as "Polony" in Western Australia, "Luncheon" in Queensland and northern areas of New Zealand, "Fritz" in South Australia and far western areas of New South Wales, "Belgium" or "Rokeby Roast" in Tasmania and southern New Zealand and "Devon" in Victoria and East New South Wales.

Fritz would be classed as "Luncheon Meat" in the UK. It is similar in appearance and taste to boloney. Originally known in some parts of Australia as "German sausage", this name fell out of favour during World War I when Australia was at war with Germany.

In Hungary, it is called "Párizsi" or rarely "Parizer", and can be bought sliced or in sticks. It is considered to be a cheap meat product.

Most children in South Australia grew up getting a slice of Fritz from the butcher when their parents went in to buy some meat.

Apple Pie and Cheese: What?

2011-02-28T20:43:00.000-08:00

I heard about this from my Mother In Law who came to Australia from the US. You make an apple pie and put cheese on top and it's yummy!

Apparently any swiss type cheese is great but it is not unheard of to use cream style cheeses or even melted bries and camemberts although to be authentic, a great cheddar is required.

I dare say cheese wiz would work on some level too!

Vegemite: Is there really anything this food cant do?

2011-02-28T20:01:00.000-08:00

Why start with this? Well as I'm an Aussie (and lets get this straight from the start....it's pronounced ozzy) I thought I'd start with a classic love hate food.

Vegemite is a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract.

It is a spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits, and filling for pastries.

It is similar to British, New Zealand, and South African Marmite, Australian (US owned) Promite, and to Swiss Cenovis.

Vegemite is made from used brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives. It is salty, slightly bitter, and umami or malty — similar to beef bouillon.

The texture is smooth and sticky. It is not as intensely flavoured as British Marmite and it is less sweet than the New Zealand version of Marmite.

Later I'll be posting some interesting combinations of this much loved and hated food.