I have recently spent a lot of time in the grand US of A, and I can tell you, I did not think there would be as much of a culture shock as I experienced. Being a kiwi, born and raised, and not having a lot of travel experience behind me, I fully believed many things would be the same in the States as they are here in NZ.
For instance, biscuits. Biscuits, in the US, are not our well-known and loved chocolate chip biscuits or gingernuts. No, they are more like a flat and round scone, that is typically ordered with gravy. A biscuit to us is a cookie to them (hence the “Cookie Monster” – just a lil thing I had never really thought through and acknowledged, yet the signs were there).
And don’t get me started on the gravy! Gravy to a kiwi is a brown dressing made from the meat juices left in the pan from cooking your Sunday roast…………in the US, gravy is more a white sauce with sausage meat through it (just called sausage by them – forget the casing we all know and love). If you want brown gravy, you will have to say specifically brown gravy. A hamburger is not a hamburger patty inside a burger bun, but what they call mince, no patty in sight. A sandwich is not fillings inside a couple of slices of regular bread, but a burger.
If you are a big, big fan of KFC’s potato & gravy………….they broke that gravy too! How is that even possible? It does not taste like the yummy goodness you are familiar with here. The famous 12 spices on the chicken coating – definitely not the same 12 used at home. Someone changed the recipe somewhere along the way. Soooooo not the same. Our absolutely divine sesame seed rolls – also gone, and replaced with a biscuit. Colonel Sanders has a lot to answer for!
Now the serving sizes, by golly!…………. What is a large here in Aotearoa, would certainly only be a small or regular serving over there. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time ordering from the childrens menus, and still ending up with more than I really needed. And everything is either unsweetened, or super sweetened, so be warned – taste test beforehand if you get a chance to.
Moral of these ponderings – do NOT think you know what you are ordering, ask lots of questions. Yes, you may end up sounding dim witted, but at least you will have a better idea of what to expect when your order arrives!