Learn English while learning about daily life in Australia, with Rob McCormack
Podcast Number 163 – Australia’s Tim Tam Biscuits
(This podcast is 10 minutes and 25 seconds long.)
Hi,
As a multicultural nation, with migrants from all over the world, we like to think that just about every style of food and cooking fits well here. Of course, there are some foods which we could think of as typically Australian, including the meat pie, lamingtons, Milo, vegemite, Australian beer and Australian wine, all of which I have covered in previous podcasts. In this podcast, I would like to tell you about Tim Tam biscuits, which were created in Australia by the Arnott’s biscuit company. They have a reputation as arguably Australia’s favourite biscuit.
A packet of 11 Arnott’s Original Tim Tams
In simple terms, Tim Tams are chocolate biscuits, although they are a little more sophisticated than that. They were first created in 1964 by a great Australian biscuit company – Arnott’s. They consist of two thin chocolate flavoured biscuits, placed either side of a sweet, soft chocolate mixture, then the whole combination is covered with a thin coating of chocolate all over. Sounds pretty good, eh? According to the Arnott’s website (https://www.arnotts.com/brands/tim-tam), Tim Tams are ‘a mouth-watering combination of smooth chocolate coating, crunchy biscuit and a luscious velvety centre’. Well, I guess you would expect the maker of such biscuits to describe them in glowing terms like these. Actually, I would say it describes pretty well exactly how Tim Tams taste. They are certainly delicious, although if you don’t like things that are very sweet, they just may be too powerfully sweet for you. Personally, I love the taste. The real issue, for me, is how do you stop at just one. Your taste buds are calling out for just one more Tim Tam. They come in packets of 11, and each biscuit contains around 100 calories, so you have to be mindful of your waistline. Even so, every now and then, indulging yourself in a Tim Tam or two, or three, is an experience not to be missed.
An open packet of Arnott’s Original Tim Tams
Arnott’s has a long history in Australia and can be traced back to a Scottish migrant to Australia, William Arnott, who opened a bakery in New South Wales, after arriving in Australia in 1848. The rest is history, as the saying goes, and the Arnott’s company grew from strength to strength over the following decades and it still exists today. It currently has factories in Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney and exports to many overseas countries.
In 1958, Ian Norris was the Director of Food Technology at Arnott’s and he was touring the world looking for ideas for new products which Arnott’s could make. While in Britain, he saw a particular type of chocolate biscuit called the Penguin Biscuit, which is still made today. He tried it and thought that he could make a better one. In 1964, Arnott’s launched their Tim Tam biscuits. The biscuit was named by Ross Arnott, who had been in America in 1958 where he saw a horse called Tim Tam win the Kentucky Derby, a famous horse race in America. He thought that name could be a great name for a new biscuit and brought the idea back to Australia. It turns out he was right!
Since 1964, the Tim Tam has grown in popularity in Australia, so much so that Arnott’s now produce a range of different varieties of Tim Tam, to support the ‘original’ Tim Tam (which is still available today), and to generate more profits from their very successful original product. They include Tim Tam Deluxe, Tim Tam Choc Mint, Tim Tam Café Latte, Tim Tam Deluxe Decadent Triple Choc, Tim Tam White, Tim Tam Deluxe Salted Caramel Brownie, Tim Tam Double Coat – just to name a few. The list goes on. I went to the supermarket to buy a packet of original Tim Tams and I was amazed by how many varieties there are. There was a whole section of the shelf dedicated just to Tim Tams. There is even a Tim Tam Gluten Free!
So, eating Tim Tams is a real treat with your favourite hot drink, but there is also a special way to have fun when eating a Tim Tam. It is called doing a Tim Tam Slam. It involves using the Tim Tam like a straw to suck some of your favourite warm drink, such as tea, coffee or hot chocolate, into the Tim Tam. As soon as you feel the first taste of the liquid coming through the Tim Tam, you must put (or ‘slam’) the whole Tim Tam into your mouth. It becomes an explosion of taste in your mouth. It can be messy, so have a paper towel nearby. The deliciousness of the liquid-filled Tim Tam in your mouth is unbelievable.
To do the Tim Tam Slam:
- Have a cup of your favourite drink ready to go – tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or milk. Make sure it is not too hot, as when the soaked Tim Tam is put into your mouth, you can burn yourself if the liquid is too hot.
- Bite a small piece of Tim Tam (about 1 cm wide) out of one corner. Now turn the Tim Tam around and bite the same sized piece out of the opposite corner of the other end of the Tim Tam.
- Now use the Tim Tam like it is a straw. Dip it into the drink and suck through the Tim Tam until you can just feel the first liquid coming into your mouth.
- Quickly put the whole Tim Tam into your mouth (hence the word ‘slam’) because you must do it quickly before it breaks apart in your hand.
- Now enjoy the explosion of taste in your mouth. You just did a Tim Tam Slam.
If you have a question or comment to make, please leave it in the comments box at the bottom of this page. Or, you can send me an email at rob@slowenglish.info. I would love to hear from you. Tell me where you live, a little bit about yourself and what you think of my Slow English podcast. I will write back to you, in English of course. If you would like to take a short quiz to see if you have understood this podcast, you will also find it on my website. Goodbye until next time.
Rob
Podcast 163 Quiz - Did you understand the podcast?
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Vocabulary
amazed = when you are surprised by something (in a positive way)
arguably = when there are good reasons for something
biscuits = in Australia, small round sweets made from flour and other ingredients (such as chocolate)
combination = like a mixture, when two or more things are combined together
consist = made up of
created = made for the first time
decades = one decade is 10 years
dedicated = about only one thing
delicious = when something tastes really nice
deliciousness = how much something tastes really good.
explosion = (here) when something bursts out
exports = to sell and then send products overseas
generate = make, produce
glowing terms = when you describe something as being very, very good
gluten free = has no gluten in it (gluten is a protein found in grain such as wheat)
in simple terms = to describe something in a simple way (leaving out all the detail)
indulging = to allow yourself to enjoy something really nice
involves = is part of a process
launched = started, sold for the first time
liquid-filled = when something is filled with a liquid
luscious = when something tastes really, really nice
messy = when things are not well organised
migrants = people who go to live in another country, never to return
mindful = be aware of
mixture = when two or more things are mixed together, resulting in something better
mouth-watering = when something tastes really, really good
multicultural = where there are people from many countries and cultures.
original = the first
products = things sold in shops and businesses
profits = when you sell something and earn more than it costs to make
range = a large number of
reputation = when you, a person or place are known for something
slam = when something is very quickly put down on the ground, or thrown into a space
soaked = when is totally wet all the way through with a liquid
sophisticated = when something is of high quality, with many good features
taste buds = the things on your tongue which allow you to taste
traced = to follow the trail to see where it comes from
typically = when something is seen many times
varieties = types
velvety = (here) when something tastes very smooth
waistline = the measurement around your waist – shows if you are too fat