There’s nothing more interesting to me than eating with people that come from another cultural background. When you sit down and eat with people, you get to learn things about their culture that you would never be able to learn from a book or a movie. A very special cultural phenomenon that I had the privilege of experiencing this past semester in New Zealand was the “Tim Tam Slam.”
In New
Zealand and Australia, there is a cookie (“biscuit” as they say in New Zealand)
known as the “Tim Tam.” A Tim Tam is
composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light
chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. Needless to say, it’s absolutely delicious
and dangerously unhealthy.
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Tim Tams
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In New
Zealand, they engage in what they call “the Tim Tam Slam.” In order to perform a Tim Tam Slam, one must
first choose a hot beverage (typically hot chocolate), bite off opposite
corners of the Tim Tam, use the Tim Tam as a straw, and when the Tim Tam begins
to melt, quickly shove the whole thing into your mouth. It is like a chocolate explosion across your
palate! I salivate just thinking about it.
After I did my first Tim Tam Slam, I had to ask myself “what
other group of people in the world, besides Kiwis and Australians, would do a
Tim Tam Slam?” Although the Tim Tam Slam
may just sound like a ridiculous way to eat a cookie, I believe it says
something very special about New Zealand’s culture. The culture of New Zealand is quirky. It has a distinct sense of humor and a
craving for fun, and I believe that those attributes can be seen in the Tim Tam
Slam.
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Don't miss your chance to make your own food memories!
Search for study abroad opportunities like Mark's program in New Zealand at: http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search
