MelissaA
Brenton
Shilpa Karhik
FAIRY BREAD - A Cultural DELICACY???
September 19th 2007 10:14
OK, so here's the story..... something that I, like may other Aussies have grown up with is the simple idea of taking buttered bread and sprinkling it with either multi-coloured Hundreds & Thousands, or multi-coloured Sprinkles.
So we move to the UK, are in temporary accommodation and Miss 5-almost-6 is about to have a birthday. Hmmm, we need something simple and easy for her classmates to share with her on this auspicious occasion that requires no cooking due to lack of cooking equipment, and won't cost a fortune, especially with the conversion rate.
AH-HA! She cries, 'fairy bread will cover the situation nicely!"
But being a new school and culture will they allow treats to be brought in. So the teacher is approached with the simple request of bringing in fairy bread. "Fairy bread???", "Never heard of it!"
I, thinking as with so many other things, imagine that the brits must just have another name for it, just like how OMO is called Persil, Kleenex toilet paper is Andrex and set-top boxes are called digi-boxes, and begin to explain.......
"I know what 100's & 1000's are......but as to the rest...? But it sounds yummy, so go right ahead!"
So I prepare for the miraculous miracle of making fairy bread, thinking to myself the teacher will either be disappointed in the results having imagined something much more creative, or will simply turn around with "Oh THAT - We call that xxxx here!"
Finally 3 grocery shops later I find 100's & 1000's and "sugar strands" (sprinkles for us Aussies) and the rest takes it's natural course with a nice, freshly cleansed kitchen becoming a field of minute, sugary land mines, but then voila, the finished result, all laid out on a nice foil dish (something I would surely have forgotten if I hadn't accidentally seen one).
So off we trot to school, fairybread in hand, and to my amazement the teacher is impressed and has never seen anything like it. "But it's such a simple idea....!" I stammer, thinking she's having me on, or as my husband thinks, pitying to poor, demented Australian girl, but no, she genuinely hasn't ever come across it before. "It must be a cultural dish" she says.
"Well, it might be..." I reply, "..but no-one's ever pointed that out to me before...."
So the humble fairy bread, a 'cultural' Australian delicacy? Who would have thought it!
Does this mean that if any multicultural days are held at school where you bring in your national dish, I can get away with a loaf of pre-sliced bread and some prettiliy coloured balls of sugar???
So we move to the UK, are in temporary accommodation and Miss 5-almost-6 is about to have a birthday. Hmmm, we need something simple and easy for her classmates to share with her on this auspicious occasion that requires no cooking due to lack of cooking equipment, and won't cost a fortune, especially with the conversion rate.
AH-HA! She cries, 'fairy bread will cover the situation nicely!"
But being a new school and culture will they allow treats to be brought in. So the teacher is approached with the simple request of bringing in fairy bread. "Fairy bread???", "Never heard of it!"
I, thinking as with so many other things, imagine that the brits must just have another name for it, just like how OMO is called Persil, Kleenex toilet paper is Andrex and set-top boxes are called digi-boxes, and begin to explain.......
"I know what 100's & 1000's are......but as to the rest...? But it sounds yummy, so go right ahead!"
So I prepare for the miraculous miracle of making fairy bread, thinking to myself the teacher will either be disappointed in the results having imagined something much more creative, or will simply turn around with "Oh THAT - We call that xxxx here!"
Finally 3 grocery shops later I find 100's & 1000's and "sugar strands" (sprinkles for us Aussies) and the rest takes it's natural course with a nice, freshly cleansed kitchen becoming a field of minute, sugary land mines, but then voila, the finished result, all laid out on a nice foil dish (something I would surely have forgotten if I hadn't accidentally seen one).
So off we trot to school, fairybread in hand, and to my amazement the teacher is impressed and has never seen anything like it. "But it's such a simple idea....!" I stammer, thinking she's having me on, or as my husband thinks, pitying to poor, demented Australian girl, but no, she genuinely hasn't ever come across it before. "It must be a cultural dish" she says.
"Well, it might be..." I reply, "..but no-one's ever pointed that out to me before...."
So the humble fairy bread, a 'cultural' Australian delicacy? Who would have thought it!
Does this mean that if any multicultural days are held at school where you bring in your national dish, I can get away with a loaf of pre-sliced bread and some prettiliy coloured balls of sugar???
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Comment by Anonymous
Thanks,
Lori
Comment by MelissaA
Fun Facts
All you do is butter the bread, not too thinly as the butter makes the sprinkles stick, and then sprinkle away.
So whereabouts do you hail from Lori - not Australia obviously.
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
They're easy to please the poms
Can you imagine the conversations these kids had with their mums when they got home?
"Fairy bread? And they make it how?"
Off the topic, how have the kids found the move?
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by MelissaA
Fun Facts
I've been having the same thoughts actually - "the Australian girl had her birthday today, and her mum knows how to make FAIRY bread! Can you make me some fairy bread too! Please, please please! Ohh, but her mum can make it!"
LOL I could be a big hit with the kids, just not with the parents.
On the side note, we're having our ups and downs at the moment, especially with Miss-now-6, but her big sister seems to be coping alright, at least I hope so - you know how much these kids tell you about school etc.....!
Comment by Anonymous
Being from the US, I can honestly say I have NEVER heard of this before, and people certainly do not do this here. Sounds like a great idea for kids, though! Also, we don't have "100s & 1000s"... we simply call them sprinkles or jimmies (which I believe might be considered racial slang to the over-sensitive).
So, in answer to your question, yes it most certainly sounds fairy bread is a cultural delicacy.
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Great post, Melissa,
Michaelie
Comment by Cibbuano
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thought, I must admit, I could go for some right now!
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Comment by JoH
I have seen kids eat 20 slices of the stuff and still go back for me! (not my kids of course!) I can't stand the stuff personally. Definitely a taste for little buds!
Comment by AmyHuang
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Comment by Anonymous
I love fairy bread!!!! I didnt know it was so unkown around the place i just thought everyone knew what it was. Was always a MUST HAVE for Bday parties as a kid. That and those butterfly cupcakes and cornflakes and honey in a paper cup cake.
I must admit im 25 and i always have a container of 100s and 1000s in my cupboard and i dont have kids (except for my husband that is).
Love it!!!
Shanny
Comment by Anonymous
Sadly, I must say that Fairy Bread isn't cultural. I'm from Canada and we make that here all the time. But we canucks don't call it Fairy Bread. We usually call it Sparkle and Shine Slices. Although I must say that Fairy Bread sounds much better, especially considering it is usually being eaten by children!! Great read! The name Fairy Bread is now in Canada and thanks to you Australians it's here to stay!!! Take care, eh? (Sorry... I had to add that!!) Cheers!
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
I love fairy bread!!!!! Mind you, I know people who use condensed milk instead of butter on the bread. Me, I like plain old butter
Comment by --[[Kayla]]--
I thought the same for Ponis too, a breakfast dish made by true German families. But imagine my suprise when I learned not only was it a cultural dish, it was also an aquired taste! No one likes my yummy Ponis...
I can't even describe it. It's like...bacon/hashbrown/thin pastry junk.
Very GOOD junk.
--[[Kayla]]--
Comment by Miss Nomer
Kylie...condensed milk sound too bad....but i have great memories of boiling tins of it to make caramel sauce..
No wonder Australia has the highest per capita autisim spectrum syndrome statistics in the world..gluten, dairy and food colouring in one tasty little treat.....
Bring it on......we will be overtaken by humans who eat rice and fish and fresh fruit....
I'm going now before I go out of control on this x
Miss Nomer
Comment by Anonymous
There's one thing my 100% Dutch mother and grandparents make... called "hagelslag" (That's pronounced with an awful lot of phlegm), but they use dark chocolate sprinkles instead of colored ones.
Very very very good... one of my favorite treats growing up.
Comment by Lilla
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Comment by lucas 17 aussie
i love the stuff... almost drive's me to turn up at random little kids functions lol
great fact
Comment by Anonymous
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Comment by Kattie
Keep up the good work melissa.
Comment by Sara Dobson
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Comment by floridagirlinsydney
I just put a link to your blog onto mine-- cause I loved your fairy bread post.
Comment by Ruth Moratz
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Thanks for mentioning it. This is going to come in handy.
Comment by Anonymous
I just made fairy bread as a snack, and I was bored, you see, so I decided to look up fairy bread on the internet while eating it...
I went to the wikipedia article Really Long Link
at first and I read "Fairy bread is served at children's parties, almost exclusively in Australia and New Zealand."
I LITERALLY choked on my fairy bread.
I cannot believe this! I know now it must be true, but honestly?
Fairy bread has gotta be the best thing since sliced bread! (it's so simple, and tastes so great!)
I grew up mainly in New Zealand.
(I'm not originally from New Zealand) Sometimes I think 'damn you New Zealand... there is nothing to do here.... the cities are sooooooooo damn small.... we only have 4 million people.... we dont have twinkies or twizzlers' etc etc...
But now I can proudly say that I am SO glad that I grew up in New Zealand (for if I didn't..(which was a possibility)... then I wouldn't have known about Fairy Bread!
I think it's fair to say, that when the creator was giving out stuff, we really did beat the rest of the world! 1. with pineapple lumps and WITH FAIRY BREAD!
Comment by Anonymous
And fairy bread is NOT just for children.
Comment by Connie
Comment by hthr
i think us canadians only know it here because we have a lot of you australians here!! which is great...considering I am getting hitched to one too. I'm am sure, I will have to master the recipe for my kids!!!
Comment by Anonymous
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Comment by Loreli
I'm from the US and when I was in australia I was just as confused by this childhood staple as my aussie friends were by my peanut butter and jam sandwiches!
Comment by Larissa
I remember a few years back, some company had made a spread that already has the 100's & 1000's mixed into it. Saved me a lot of mess.
Think I'll stop in the supermarket on the way home and see if they still make it...
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Anonymous
Bening an American I had never heard of Fairy Bread before until my AussieFella told me about it, but it does remind me of our cinnamon toast.
Sounds yummy, and I will be sure to have my kids make some!