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Aussies Outraged After Man Charged 40 Cents For Chicken Salt On Chips

Aussies Outraged After Man Charged 40 Cents For Chicken Salt On Chips

Many are calling the move 'un-Australian'.

Jessica Lynch

Jessica Lynch

If there's one culinary addition that Australians truly love, it's chicken salt, and if there's one thing we hate, it's paying extra to have the delicious staple sprinkled across our fish and chips.

But one Australian was shocked when the restaurant he had ordered he delicious meal from whacked on a surcharge.

Posting to /r/Australia, the baffled Redditor ranted that after purchasing fish and chips from his local shop, he was charged an extra 40 cents for chicken salt.

PA

The user wrote: "Forget getting charged for sauce with your pie, I just got charged 40c to get chicken salt on my fish and chips. What is this country coming to?"

Immediately, furious Australians joined him in his anger, with one user commenting: "A cafe in Forster NSW got ripped to shreds on social media a few years ago IIRC for charging 20c for chicken salt. Made main stream media. 40c is definitely criminal. Definitely name and shame."

Another added: "Honestly that's f**ked. Who the f**k does that. I would walk out of that shop never to be seen again."

A third even demanded war against such an act, saying: "That's a f**king travesty! Get the War Wombats! Ready the Battle Roos! Prepare the pillage Platypuses!"

The vicious reactions to being charged for chicken salt truly cement how serious Aussies are about their favourite condiment.

Much like Canadians topping their fries with poutine, Belgians with their mayo and the Germans fondness for dipping chippies in curry ketchup, Australians prefer to load up their fried potatoes with the fluorescent yellow salty seasoning - but what the hell is chicken salt actually made of?

According to Mashable, the salt is made from 'a very addictive umami flavour that has hints of garlic or onion, sometimes even with a bit of paprika.'

Interestingly, its initial purpose when it was reportedly created in the 1970s by Mitani, a spices company in Adelaide, wasn't to add a delicious flavour explosion to our chips - it was for rotisserie chicken.

Speaking to Mashable, Mitani's marketing manager, Lewis Mitani, said: "We were basically asked to make a salt for their chickens."

"It was meant to be for rotisserie chickens, to give them good flavour and colour once they were cooked. It was the chicken shop owners who started seasoning their chips with chicken salt ... and through that the average punter became accustomed to having chicken salt on their chips."

For whatever reason, the use of chicken salt is rarely seen outside Australia, with one recipe from US magazine Lucky Peach commenting on just how much Aussies talk about the seasoning.

The article said: "Aussies travel in packs in the United States, so if you meet one, you meet twenty. And when Aussies get together, the conversation inevitably turns to chicken salt, how it's not available in the States, and how it should be."

Frankly, we think they're missing out.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Food, News, Australia