# What condiments do other cultures and nations use that may seem odd to north Americans **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774 "2011-12-19T21:43:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/281 "2012-01-16T04:18:33Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Here goes: I’m middle class and we grew up with [Oooooh ooooooh Vitalite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9CH1n9tNV0)! 😉 Really? I didn’t realise it was that old. 😛 I don’t know if there’s that much resistance to peanut butter and jam, just that a lot of people have never tried it as kids, and it’s not the kind of thing you’d go out of your way to try as an adult. It’s on sale widely enough that eating PB&J can’t be that uncommon; we don’t have enough American ex-pats to justify four different varieties of peanut butter at my local Tesco Express. I know it can be used in marinades, but it’s in the same aisle as jam. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/282 "2012-01-16T05:59:11Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Really? I didn’t realise it was that old. 😛 I’ll hit you with my Zimmer frame if you don’t stop that, cheeky pup. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/283 "2012-01-16T06:09:46Z")
[Candlenuts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candle_nuts) are an important addition or condiment to Indonesian style curry. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/284 "2012-01-16T06:10:20Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Here goes: I’m middle class and we grew up with [Oooooh ooooooh Vitalite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9CH1n9tNV0)! 😉 Same here, although we went through a Golden Churn phase (remember that? It even came in a mock plastic butter-churn shaped container). TO be honest, these days I dislike the taste of butter and actively avoid it. I think the only time I have bought butter in the past few years has been if I am cooking a turkey. So, basically, I’ve been a marge kid since at least the mid 80s. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/285 "2012-01-16T09:25:39Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Golden Churn phase (remember that? It even came in a mock plastic butter-churn shaped container). That rings a bell. Did Dawn French do the advertising in an oo-arr voice? Anyway I went the other way - butter all the way. I may stoop to Lurpak spreadable, but otherwise butter. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/286 "2012-01-16T10:24:48Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > That rings a bell. Did Dawn French do the advertising in an oo-arr voice? > > Anyway I went the other way - butter all the way. I may stoop to Lurpak spreadable, but otherwise butter. Apparently Willie Rushton, but a definite oo-ar going on: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/fnajeeF1tMY/hqdefault.jpg "UKTV 80s Ad Golden Churn willie rushton") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnajeeF1tMY) Everything is actually on YouTube these days, isn’t it? I was genuinely gobsmacked to see that there. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/287 "2012-01-16T12:21:25Z")
What’s an oo-arr voice? ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/288 "2012-01-16T12:45:12Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > What’s an oo-arr voice? It refers specifically to the rural accent found in the West Country of England. The best example I can think of is The Wurzels (who actually got to #1 in the UK in the 70s with this: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb63PdPweDc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb63PdPweDc)). It’s usually used as a generic farmer’s accent, so it will have been used in that ad to make people think that the product was particularly British, authentic, rural, etc. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/289 "2012-01-16T14:44:36Z")
So… Would it then be upsetting to send a jar of [Goober Grape](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goober_(brand)) to an unsuspecting and otherwise innocent Brit or other Euro-type person? FTR: I would rather just have seperately packaged PB&J myself. Heavy on the PB, heavy on the J and not afraid of butter. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/290 "2012-01-16T15:34:07Z")
> [@nd\_n8](#): > > So… > > Would it then be upsetting to send a jar of [Goober Grape](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goober_(brand)) to an unsuspecting and otherwise innocent Brit or other Euro-type person? > > FTR: I would rather just have seperately packaged PB&J myself. Heavy on the PB, heavy on the J and not afraid of butter. Well, as a Brit, without hitting the internets I have no idea what a “Goober” may refer to, so I would be blissfully ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/291 "2012-01-16T15:40:36Z")
A goober is a peanut. Often it refers to boiled peanuts that are sold on the roadside in Georgia. Georgians are famous for putting goobers in Coca-Cola. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/292 "2012-01-16T19:30:43Z")
> [@nd\_n8](#): > > Would it then be upsetting to send a jar of [Goober Grape](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goober_(brand)) to an unsuspecting and otherwise innocent Brit or other Euro-type person? If it were me I’d clap my hands with joy, shouting “oh looby loo!” Last year I paid about $10 for such a jar in a specialty store in England. But then I lived in Texas when I was a kid. I suspect most Brits would scratch their heads in bemusement, take the lid off, sniff it, pull a face and put the lid back on. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/293 "2012-01-17T02:51:36Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Here in Troll Country, when you order a hot dog, you may be asked if you want shrimp salad on it. > > No, I’m not joking. > No, I don’t eat that. > Even my husband who eats lutefisk and gravlaks and SMILES about it doesn’t eat shrimp salad on his hot dogs. > BUT SOMEBODY DOES. Icelanders don’t do anything that strange to hot dogs; one “with everything” includes a semi-sweet brown mustard, ketchup, “remoulade”\*, and fried dried onions. \*This incarnation is something akin to mayonnaise, yellow mustard and relish mixed together, and is only good on hot dogs, IMO. > [@Acsenray](#): > > Do you mean making a grilled cheese sandwich by frying it in butter? That’s the only way I know his to make one. > > Or are you talking about spreading cold butter on the outside of an already made sandwich? Because that sounds messy. Growing up, my parents would make grilled cheese by buttering the insides of the bread, assembling the sandwich, buttering the outside of the bread, then frying it in the pan until the cheese melted. This kept it from sticking to the pan and helped it get to gooey consistency. As a kid, we’d occasionally visit Iceland and I got many a sandwich (open-faced or otherwise) that was spread with butter, then the rest of the sandwich was added. [Stuff like this](http://www.journeyetc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/smorrebrod.jpg) was common, as was a [hangikjot and flatkokur sandwich.](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjarnigk/4916043794/) I preferred the open-faced stuff, as flat rye bread was not really an established part of my culinary palate at the time. This is also the culture where [pickled red cabbage is a very common dinner table condiment/side dish](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjarnigk/4916047850/in/photostream/). ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/294 "2012-01-17T05:54:42Z")
> [@Cumbrian](#): > > It refers specifically to the rural accent found in the West Country of England. The best example I can think of is The Wurzels (who actually got to #1 in the UK in the 70s with this: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb63PdPweDc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb63PdPweDc)). > > It’s usually used as a generic farmer’s accent, so it will have been used in that ad to make people think that the product was particularly British, authentic, rural, etc. Well ok - off topic, but you just reminded me of this show that I used to watch as a kid… [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GOup-hZQE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8GOup-hZQE) ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774/295 "2012-01-17T21:39:04Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Same here, although we went through a Golden Churn phase (remember that? It even came in a mock plastic butter-churn shaped container). Urgh, yes, my dad went through a little phase of buying that when I was a kid. We stopped him as soon as we could. Stomach churn, it was called in our house. It was rough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-condiments-do-other-cultures-and-nations-use-that-may-seem-odd-to-north-americans/606774.md?page=14)