It's tasty tasty, very very tasty.

A couple of miles outside of Brisbane is a shop that sells traditional British food and is one that my Aussie English boss has frequented on several occasions. Last week she made a series of attempts to further educate our Aussie counterparts in British cuisine by bringing in samples for them to eat. She decided that for three days she would bring in different examples and encourage other members of staff to try.

Monday ‑ Porkpie. This thing was huge. It was actually only half a porkpie but it was still the size of a dinner plate. It also had a hardboiled egg in the middle ‑ Very authentic. Having tried some of the pie, I can confirm that it was extremely good and I was convinced that after the fruitcake with cheese debacle, this would help restore the British reputation for food. Now, it is here that I must highlight a huge cultural difference between Aussie's and the Brits when it comes to pies. Pies in Oz are always served hot. Uh ohhhhh.

Once given a slice, one colleague headed straight to the microwave to nuke it for a minute or two. She had to be physically restrained from doing so. When we explained that Porkpies had to be served cold, there was a look of horror and confusion. The others shared her disbelief, and eating the pie had just been taken to a brand new level. We doubted whether the pie would actually be edible served warm especially with the jelly in there, let alone the hard boiled egg. The general consensus on the pie was mixed with the 'no heating' part being a real bone of contention. We had not started well.

Tuesday ‑ Haggis. Now, after Monday's reaction, I thought it was possibly a tad early to be introducing the famous Scottish dish. We tried to be politely vague about some of the contents of the haggis and told them it was basically a meat based dish. Embarrassingly, it had taken me travelling to the other side of the world for my first ever taste and I really enjoyed it. One native Scotsman said it was one of the best he'd had in a long time. We knew the product was good.

Getting people into the staff room in the first place was a challenge, so Boss took the decision 'if the people won't come to the haggis, the haggis will come to the people'. I saw her chase at least two people around the office trying to convince them to try. It was a taste test taken to the extremes! The general feeling was actually rather more positive to the Haggis than the porkpie...until we mentioned the sheeps general contribution in putting this dish together. Sudden bouts of queasiness were suddenly rife through the department.

Unfortunately we didn't get to Wednesday's taster as boss was forced to reveal what was on the menu. I've never seen so many jaws hit the floor.

It would appear that some people don't react well to the possibility of trying Faggot followed by Spotted Dick.