In Australia, a frozen food item marketed at Aldi has unintentionally revived a long-running dispute over its name.
After eating the new $4.99 potato snack called “Mini Potato Cakes / Scallops / Fritters,” one Aldi customer shared their happiness.
“Don’t purchase this.” The customer excitedly shared a picture of the 500g pack and wrote, “These are so delicious that I don’t want anyone to buy them as they are all mine.”
Other customers, however, quickly pointed out that the product’s “diplomatic” triple-barrel name piqued their interest more than the $4.99 item itself.
As an Australian patriot, I must state that they are, in fact, potato scallops, not cakes or fritters. One man stated, “To unite cakers and scallopers against this common enemy, we need to get this information to the government.”
People from different Australian states have been debating the proper term for a battered and deep-fried potato that is usually sold at a fish and chip store for a long time.
They are often called “potato scallops” in New South Wales and Queensland, but this isn’t the case in the southern states.
While South Australians and even New Zealanders refer to them as potato fritters, Victorians prefer to call them potato cakes.
As a result, it seems that the Aldi product has made the decision to firmly ride the fence on this issue, satisfying all consumers by including all three name possibilities on the label.
One Aldi Australia customer expressed their admiration for the $4.99 Bespoke Foods Mini Potato Cakes / Scallops / Fritters in an online forum post, but other customers were merely amused by the snack’s triple-barrel moniker. “I love how diplomatic the packaging is!” one person remarked, chuckling.”My initial idea,” another person concurred. “Including every state.”
I’m sure they exist, although I’m not sure what crazies name them fritters. One said, “As a New South Victorian, tater cakes for days.”
“I love that they had to put all the different names on the bag to appease every state,” said another.
This was essentially ‘the Aussie version of Canadian packaging in English and French,’ according to one.
“Good to see they have the correct name, plus the other ones for the rest of you weirdos,” was one amusing comment.
“We know some Australians call them potato cakes, scallops, or fritters but whatever you call them, they’re flying out the freezer aisle fast,” an Aldi Australia representative told Daily Mail in response to a question over the peculiarly titled product.They are undoubtedly a crowd-pleaser, as everyone seems to agree.
The Aldi battered potato snack looked to cover all the bases, yet some ardent Australians were still able to object to the wording on the packaging.
One response from a South Australian said, “I like how they covered all states but listed them in order of ascending correctness.”
Another, however, vehemently objected, saying, “You mean descending, obviously put the most correct first.”
“They put “cakes” first, because it is the correct one,” said another Victorian.
Another South Australian said, “I’m p**ed off they aren’t in alphabetical order.” “Typical Eastern states pushing South Africa’s fritters to last position when they should be at least in the middle.”
“Fritter is the most accurate (and I say this as a New South Welshman) because it’s literally something dunked in batter and fried,” was one response to the contentious fried potato debate from a man who attempted to rationalise the various names and ultimately came to what they felt was most “accurate,” even if it was a betrayal to the preferred moniker used by his statesmen. South Australia will prevail.
“A scallop is a shape, so it really should be called a scallop of potato, not a potato scallop to be easiest to understand, and clearly some people confuse it with sea scallops (also named after the shape!),” they went on.
“A cake is a mixture of flour and liquid that is cooked to form a solid, which this isn’t,” they continued. I believe it’s likely that stores in Victoria once produced hash brown-like items, which would be more appropriate to refer to as cakes.
Another person angrily remarked, “Scallop is a CUT, the way you CUT the potato.” Cake is made by mashing and combining ingredients; it is not a cut. I’m set off.
However, the Victorians in the debate asserted that a minor feature about the Aldi product had pushed the scales in favour of their chosen moniker, “Potato Cake.”
“The stock carton is simply labelled mini potato cakes, so…” noted a resident of Victoria.
The “diplomatic” labelling of the tiny potato frozen food purchase was well-liked by many Aldi consumers, but some still objected to the names’ placement on the container.
“The price label says potato cakes and I feel vindicated,” said another local.
Whatever you choose to call them, most Aldi customers would agree that they “taste great.”
Another said, “They are so good.”
Someone even said they had eaten “the entire bag.”
After trying them, a number of Aldi customers highly advised cooking them in the air fryer, with one claiming they “taste exactly like deep-fried from a fish and chip shop.”
What do you call the traditional fried potato snack, and why is your name the only appropriate one?
“I lightly cover them in oil and salt and put them in the air fryer” was another suggestion.
There are more controversial food names in Australia outside the state-versus-state dispute over the proper name for the battered and fried potato snack.
Depending on where you live in Australia, the popular pub dish of chicken schnitzel served with tomato sauce and melted cheese is also known by several names, such as chicken parma, parmi, or parmigiana.
As a result, one Aldi customer wondered if the low-cost grocery store company also had a frozen version of the well-known chicken dish, and more significantly, what it was called, in a clever response to this most recent Reddit conversation.
“I wonder if Aldi also does frozen chicken parma/parmi/parmigiana,” they retorted.
