My other job is being a Top Gear presenter

[Labcoatguy]

As I recall, James mentioned in the second wine program that American Spam was slightly sweeter than the British Spam. I also know that the Marmite we get in Canada is a bit thicker and not as smooth as the original English stuff, but I suspect that's due to it being produced here rather than actually being imported and sold.

:lol: James would notice something like that.

 

[jeremysg]

As I recall, James mentioned in the second wine program that American Spam was slightly sweeter than the British Spam. I also know that the Marmite we get in Canada is a bit thicker and not as smooth as the original English stuff, but I suspect that's due to it being produced here rather than actually being imported and sold.

i'm not sure if i've ever had spam itself... tho just about everyone has eaten the parts that make up spam, which is primarily pork-shoulder. also known as a "pork butt". my part of the southern us, we just call it bbq.

as for the sweet taste... i find this interesting, as coke over in europe (and especially the mess thats in the uk) is also not as sweet as the original, american version. (and its not to do with the sugar type, i'd beable to taste that difference).

infact, went to world of coke last year in atlanta, and was hugely dissapointed they didnt offer the variations of coke itself. only the other products they have around the world. as i wanted people with me to know what it was like drinking coke from europe. i still remember in germany, they served it with a slice of orange even.... err.. ok, starting to get a tad off topic now

 

[skylock]

i'm not sure if i've ever had spam itself... tho just about everyone has eaten the parts that make up spam, which is primarily pork-shoulder. also known as a "pork butt". my part of the southern us, we just call it bbq.

as for the sweet taste... i find this interesting, as coke over in europe (and especially the mess thats in the uk) is also not as sweet as the original, american version. (and its not to do with the sugar type, i'd beable to taste that difference).

infact, went to world of coke last year in atlanta, and was hugely dissapointed they didnt offer the variations of coke itself. only the other products they have around the world. as i wanted people with me to know what it was like drinking coke from europe. i still remember in germany, they served it with a slice of orange even.... err.. ok, starting to get a tad off topic now

The Coke place in Atlanta used to have two tasting rooms. One was Coke around the world and the other was flavors around the world. (Beverly anyone?) My family was there this summer and said it is only one room now.

I had a can of UK Spam sent to me and James was exactly right.

Maybe us American's just have a sweeter tooth than the rest of the world.

Always keep a couple of cans of Spam in the closet. We had a freak ice storm a few years ago and I had power lines across my house/yard. Without that handy Spam and a few cans of veggies, we would have had nothing to eat for 4 days because everything else we had needed to be cooked.

 

[Dr_Grip]

*laughs* Hammond, behave!

 

[Wyvern]

Actually, spam (or at least the British version) is quite good battered and fried. Me old ma would use the same recipe for Yorkshire pud, dip the spam in that and fry it in a some oil. A side of fries, a drizzle of ketchup and you're good to go.

It use to be one of my favorite comfort foods.

Spam fritters! I could live on Spam fritters.

I probably wouldn't live very long though. The supermarket ones aren't as good as the ones you make yourself, but they make a fantastic sandwich between two slices of plastic white bread with a splat of brown sauce. Almost as good as fishfinger sandwiches with salad cream

Oh yes. Class... I haz it.

Another odd transatlantic thing. The optical brighteners in some US washing powders are red based while ours are blue based. My friend brought some washing powder back from her holiday (no, I never figured that one out either) and when she compared the shirts she washed in it to those she washed before her holiday they appeared very slightly pink. Having eliminated the possibility of attack by undercover assault sock or red ninja pants, she did some searching on t'Interwebs and found it was a just a preference for different lightening agents.

 

[Cobol74]

Y'know, not counting the various spinoff versions (low sodium etc), Spam may actually be the same worldwide. I say this because I think some multinational foods like Coke or some McDonalds stuff changes from country to country.

Run! It's the Vikings!

[YOUTUBE]anwy2MPT5RE[/YOUTUBE]

 

[flydiscovery]

Another odd transatlantic thing. The optical brighteners in some US washing powders are red based while ours are blue based. My friend brought some washing powder back from her holiday (no, I never figured that one out either) and when she compared the shirts she washed in it to those she washed before her holiday they appeared very slightly pink. Having eliminated the possibility of attack by undercover assault sock or red ninja pants, she did some searching on t'Interwebs and found it was a just a preference for different lightening agents.

No they aren't. She almost certainly bought detergent without brighteners. Regular US Tide is red in color but the kind with added brighteners ("Tide with color safe bleach") is blue as are all other detergents I've used.

 

[camelfarmer]

I think it's a bit absurd that once anyone becomes a presenter on top gear the BBC will keep making shows with them forever, on any subject.

I do like all 3 of them though, so it could be worse. It could be VBH or anyone off fifth gear.

 

[Wyvern]

No they aren't. She almost certainly bought detergent without brighteners. Regular US Tide is red in color but the kind with added brighteners ("Tide with color safe bleach") is blue as are all other detergents I've used.

It was a good few years ago now, so maybe the preference has changed or maybe it wasn't a mainstream brand, or maybe not a normal US brand (do you have places that sell stuff with strange foreign labels for discount prices like we do?) but it definitely had brighteners - we set a chemist on the problem to figure it out and that was his conclusion. The particles in the powder didn't appear red, but the 'shade' of white that resulted was very different from what we'd come to expect. I'm suddenly wishing she'd kept the packet!

 

[flydiscovery]

It could also have been an off brand. Optical whitening is, well as you know it's mathematical! "Red" whitening doesn't make any sense at all. Our sun and sky are the same wavelength as yours. Whatever she bought must have been really, really screwy. Our old ladies have blue hair too.

I used to work in a science museum, and when you turned on the blacklight you could really tell who used brightening detergents and who didn't. I used to freak people out accurately telling them they used Tide. It has more brighteners in it than any other detergent (and also environmentally unfriendly phosphates). Tide clothes phosphorese blindingly.

 

[Wyvern]

Of course, you're right about the wavelengths of light Perhaps we should have set a physicist on it

Come to think of it, it was so long ago, it might have been back in the days when, at least over here, they put colouring stuff in the washing powder (yes, really), rather than the brightening stuff they do now. Or it could have just been a manky batch. It struck me as odd at the time. Then again, we have old ladies with pink hair, and they're pretty odd too

You know the thing I hate most with modern washing powders? The way you have to be careful about what you wear under your clothes if you're going for a night out. Pick the wrong bra and it'll be glowing for all to see :lol:

 

[flydiscovery]

You know, the one thing I really got out of college was that physics, chemistry, math, biology, and worst of all every flavor of engineering are all the same thing. It's like wearing different colored glasses. You get the same damn world, sometimes it just looks funny.

I hear ya about glowing underwear. But know what I love about modern detergents? I just threw an outfit covered in red clay dirt into my washer with no pretreating and a minimal soak and it all came out clean. That is mighty impressive.

Well then, we are so suitably off topic that I'm not sure how we got here.

 

[Amie8]

Soap powder thread!

I love this forum..

 

[jeremysg]

i think there is something of a general acceptance of the "warm"/red side of the spectrum being the traditional choice here in the states. i remember using this dvd to calibrate the color/etc on my tv. and it even said to said the tempurature to "warm". which made me instantly disregard everything the dvd told me to do.

i've always personally found such to be horridly awful. preferring the "cool"/blue side of the spectrum. which i beleive to give a more pure white (to the eyes of most my friends and i).



....i think that all made sense.

 

[pink piranhas]

Wow, never thought I would learn so much about spam and optical brightners in a thread on Final Gear