Cross-cultural candy quandry

You got chocolate in my peanut butter!

You got peanut butter on my chocolate!

Can you imagine a world where PB & chocolate were not an item? "Heavens, no!" you say? Well, I am here to tell you that yes, there are people in otherwise civilized parts of the universe who do not know the delicious joy that is a Reese's peanut butter cup and those people are...Australians.

My husband and I currently have guests in from Down Under and we were thrown into tizzy upon learning she just recently had her first experience of combining the two ingredients, in NYC. This is a college educated woman with everything going for her...and yet. Where she comes from, the land of Nutella and Vegamite, no one has ever thought to combine the sweet, melty goodness of chocolate with the salty crunch of peanuts.

"I would never imagine combining sweet and savory!" she said to me, adding, "I was quite surprised to find I really, really liked it!"

Oh. My. God.

I explained to her how the whole salty-sweet concept is an American female's lifesaver, particularly when PMSing. Tomorrow, after they have adjusted a bit, I shall introduce her to ketchup and french fries or maybe a pumpkin latte.

Signing off,
Leslie Goldman, saving the world one peanut butter cup at a time.

Comments

The only time I ever tried a peanut butter cup I gagged and almost vomited (for real!). Peanut butter is pretty horrible actually and (luckily) not very common over here in Europe. :) Chocolate, on its own, is wonderful though! ;)

French Fries and ketchup? She's in America...show her how to dip her fries in a Wendy's frosty for goodness sake!

Ann-Charlotte: It's interesting because someone just told me there's no PB in Iceland...that people think it's gross. Luckily, you've got amazing chocolate!

Nicole: D'uh! What was I thinking! Your idea is much better. You can tell how often I eat fries.

are the fries in frosty really that good? I've never had it. and, nutella is almost sweet and salty in and of itself. but nutella and peanut butter-also something to try. amazing.

They also don't have S'Mores in Oz!! (They're aren't any graham crackers). Make them for her - she'd probably love it if she loved pb and chocolate.
Other things you'd be hard pressed to find Down Under:
- ranch dressing
- buttermilk biscuits
- root beer (I had to go to Chinatown in Sydney to find A&W after seeing a girl on the bus with it)
- pumpkin pie (but they do love pumpkin soup!)

I also love the french fry and frosty combo!

i love the two. When i was first introduced to Nutella 4 years ago I fell in love. Its good on anything and has attributed to my weight gain.

I know this may come as a shock but I don't think peanut butter is as big a deal in Europe as it is in the Us!lol
Here in Portugal you can find it for sale but hardly anyone buys it!I bought it once and as the good girl raised on american tv shows I tried it with jelly and it was AMAZING. I shall try it with chocolate next, thanks for the tip!

Nutella - my husband came back from living in Berlin for 6 months and introduced me to it. If it's in the house, he has to hide it from me because I will eat it out of the jar with a spoon until it's gone.

Peanut butter - my French mother thinks it's disgusting, which was why we rarely had it around the house growing up. It's probably why I love it so much today. My husband hates it because it's all he ate when he was a kid since his family didn't have much money.

The irony is that my daughter who's allergic to both peanuts and hazelnuts can't eat either. I wonder if it's because I indulged in both when I was pregnant with her.

And don't get me started on marzipan.