- Oh.
It does kinda look like brains.
- Come on.
- [Jeff] Oh my God. (laughs)
- Honestly, it's like you blended up Starbursts
with salad green.
- No, no, no, no.
(trumpet plays)
- Hi, I'm Tom. I'm from the UK.
- What's up, guys? I'm Jeff.
I'm from the US.
- And today, we are gonna be swapping gross foods
for 24 hours. - And by that,
we mean some of the most notoriously nasty things
that both of us can think of from our own countries.
- Yeah, controversial food items that we think
will gross the other one out.
Okay, Jeff.
For breakfast, you are gonna have Bovril on toast,
but on top of that,
you are also gonna have a hot Bovril drink.
For lunch, you are gonna have
ham and peas pudding sandwiches,
and cheese and Branston pickles sandwiches.
And finally, for dinner,
you are gonna have haggis and potatoes,
followed by rice pudding and raspberry jam.
- [Jeff] All right, Tom.
For breakfast, you're gonna be having spam and eggs
with a side of grits,
and you've gotta have a sweet tea to drink.
For lunch, I want you to have a corn dog,
but it must be topped with classic American Cheez Wiz,
and you're gonna have a jello salad on the side.
For dinner, meatloaf and candied yams.
For dessert, I want you to sweeten off your day
with a root beer float.
(mischievous music plays)
I'm not making myself coffee. I'm not making myself tea.
I'm making myself beefy drink.
Uh, it says open this end.
See, I'm learning to read instructions on how to do things.
Instant beef flavor drink. Salt, potato starch, sugar.
Oh my God, my favorite. Malted oxygen, ugh.
Oh, it comes with cups?
I feel like you could play beer pong with this.
Open the pack at the base.
Take cups from wrapper, keep upright.
Obtain a cup and pull down.
Use hot waiter, not boiling, and stir for the perfect drink.
Well, that's quite easy. So there we go.
Oh, the powder's already in there.
So this is gonna be my breakfast.
Let's add some water, and get to drinking, I guess.
All right, water is hot. Powder is ready to go.
Oh. Oh, God. (laughs)
That looks interesting.
- [Tom] Okay, so first up today,
we have this Iced Southern Sweet Tea.
I think I mix it with water, and it dissolves.
Um, the instructions are all completely covered over,
so I guess I'm just gonna guess.
(mischievous music)
(Tom groans)
Okay, so this is what we're working with.
A bit of jelly on the side there.
It held the shape of the tin. A sharp edge.
Ugh.
Okay, Spam is spamming. Grits are gritting, you know?
- [Jeff] All right, Bovril. Oh God.
I was...
Oh my God. (laughs)
It just came pouring out. Ugh.
Oh God, is this gonna be too much?
I thought it was gonna be a harder paste.
I didn't expect it to be so ready to come out so quickly.
Like, is this what I'm supposed to do?
All right, so I got my meat drink, and my breakfast.
It doesn't...
I don't know what it smells like,
but it kinda hurts my nostrils when I sniff it. (laughs)
Oh, it's so salty. Oh my God.
Ugh.
And I have to wash it down with more of that?
I'm sorry. Oh my God.
Oh my God, I'm so sorry. You have got to be kidding me, ugh.
- Okay, first of all, I'm gonna try the Spam.
I mean, yeah. It's not my favorite.
It's a lot less bad than I thought it was gonna be,
'cause I mean, you know, I eat ham.
I eat, like, burgers. I eat all that kinda stuff.
So, you know, it's not great, but it doesn't taste bad.
Can you tell I'm avoiding the grits? (laughs)
It's just sorta like bacon and eggs.
- Oh God.
(mischievous music plays)
It's not horrible. It kinda tastes like soup broth.
Just a lot of flavor, a lot of salt.
I kinda wanna try it again, just in case though.
Like, maybe I just put too much on.
All right, I'm gonna try this. Nah, sorry man.
That's disgusting. Absolutely not.
- Oh my God. The grits, wow.
The consistency of it is different than I thought.
It's a lot more...
Solid than I would've thought.
Like, I didn't think it was gonna stick
to my fork like that, you know?
It doesn't really smell much. It sorta smells like...
I don't know. Paper?
What? I...
They're weird. They're not, like, unpleasant.
But they just feel like
they should have other stuff in them.
Do you know what I mean?
I feel like they'd be good if they have, like,
cheese or onion, or...
They feel like the basis of something. They feel like...
It's like having porridge and adding nothing to it.
I think this would be better if we added something to it.
To be honest, the most bizarre thing here is the tea.
Instant tea is, like, a really weird idea to me.
It doesn't even taste like tea.
This is just, like, sugar water.
It literally tastes like I've put sugar into water.
Sorry, Jeff.
If you wanna gross me out,
you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that.
- Okey, dokey. It's lunchtime.
I decided to make them half sandwiches each,
because I don't really know what I'm about to have,
and it felt more British to be finger sandwich-y,
you know what I mean?
First up, I have a ham and peas pudding.
I had no idea what I was getting into when I opened this.
Like, I don't know what texture explains that.
It's almost like ear wax,
and then there was a weird hole through the middle.
I don't know.
I really thought it was gonna be liquid,
and it's clearly not.
It's some sort of paste,
and then the second one is a cheese and Branston pickle.
I kinda thought the Branston pickle was gonna be, like,
a proper gherkin.
Like, an American pickle.
But it's chunks of stuff. It's, like, chunky.
Perfect in a cheese sandwich. Oh, well look at that.
- So one of the thing that is required of me to eat at lunch
is jello salad, and upon looking it up,
it is one of the most insane recipes
I have ever laid eyes on.
It sounds like a joke.
It sounds like things that should not be mixed together.
It's lime jello, evaporated milk, mayonnaise,
cottage cheese, and walnuts,
and it makes apparently this, like, mousse-y, opaque,
jelly-like dish that goes with savory foods.
Now, I like to be open minded, you know?
I'm gonna try it, but I just can't envision a world
in which this is gonna taste good.
I'm not gonna say what it looks like, but I mean, come on.
It's gonna go in the fridge to set. (laughs)
Can't wait.
- [Jeff] First up is the ham and peas pudding.
(mischievous music plays)
It almost tastes like peanut butter.
Is it supposed to taste like peanut butter?
I have no idea what it is, but it's not bad.
It's barely...
I'm not getting very much flavor out of that.
This says it contains three servings.
Was I supposed to use a third of this?
Re-hydrated yellow split peas, water, turmeric, paprika.
Oh, that's it? So it's like a hummus.
That's totally fine.
- I'm gonna be honest with you.
I am nervous and excited about this in equal measure.
For example, these corn dogs. Very exciting.
I don't find anything about this particularly gross.
I like hot dogs. I like bread.
Having to dip them in this is a huge problem.
Squeeze cheese. Mature cheddar, real cheddar flavor.
Pasteurized, processed cheese sauce. Microwavable.
Something about it just creeps me out, man.
I'm like...
Look at that.
Like, you don't know where the bottle ends,
and the cheese stuff begins.
We'll put that to one side for a second,
because there's something we need to discuss.
I don't understand whether it's a dessert or a side.
I'm getting conflicting reports about that.
It's...
It's jelly, but it's mayonnaise. It just...
Let's get that on the plate.
(Tom whimpers)
There's no way...
I'm sorry, that I'm gonna sit here,
and eat this entire thing.
I just can't do it, so just...
(Tom sighs)
Here goes nothing. Here we go.
(mischievous music plays)
It's like...
Ugh.
It's like...
(laughs)
I don't know what it's like. It's like...
Honestly, it's like you blended up Starbursts (laughs)
with salad green.
Ugh, the crunch of the walnut really,
really adds a dimension there.
It's just...
I, I don't believe.
I refuse to believe that in this day and age,
people are eating this.
Look at that. (jello thuds)
(Tom laughs)
- Uh-uh (negative). Oh my God, I'm so sorry.
I have to spit it out. Oh my God, no.
No, no, no, no.
Oh my God, I can't do it. Oh God.
I know you guys are gonna say how dramatic I am,
and that it's not that bad, but that really just...
Ugh.
I really went into that with an open mind,
'cause I thought it was not gonna be pickle,
and it looked kinda like jam.
I really tried to like that.
Peas pudding, sure. Branston pickle, absolutely not.
- Okay, so I mean, the corn dogs are gonna be
a walk in the park at this point.
The thing that I'm not excited about is this cheese,
but let's just do it.
Okay.
(mischievous music plays)
The corn dog is fine. The cheese is just, just...
I'm sorry. Case closed on that.
- [Jeff] All righty, it is dinner time,
which means haggis time.
I've yet to open it up. I don't know what to expect.
Lamb offal and beef fat mixed with oats and spices.
That sounds delicious actually,
except I don't know what offal is.
But beef fat mixed with oats and spices, I'm down.
I mean, if you didn't know what it was,
it doesn't look that bad, but mind over matter.
It does kinda look like brains.
Okay, so it is now wrapped in foil.
Place it in an oven proof dish
with about two centimeter of water, and heat at 180.
Okay, well water has been added, as you can see,
and she's going in.
- After quite a lot of preparation and cooking actually.
Ugh.
Okay, so I have got the candied yams ready to go there.
I have a frozen meatloaf that I am now going
to put on this dish and cook, and this just goes on here.
Cook it for an hour.
- [Jeff] How does one remove the skin?
Oh, goodness gracious. Oh, so do you just eat the inside?
It actually doesn't smell that bad.
So you just eat the inside? I...
Okay. This is different than I expected it to be.
So I cut into it, and it's actually not as unappealing
as I had expected.
I kind of thought it was gonna be oozy,
and kind of bloody, and I thought that was gonna be, like...
Almost like a piece of steak, but, like, a brain/intestine.
So I thought it was one thing that you cut into,
and then you had slices off.
I had no idea it was, like, grainy like this.
But it actually doesn't smell bad.
The spices actually make it smell quite good.
You know, that's actually not bad.
That is really not bad at all.
The spices are actually very, very flavorful.
- First things first, I'm gonna try the candied yams.
I mean, do I like it? It's like...
It's so unusual. It's not bad.
'Cause not only are sweet potatoes sweet by nature,
but then they're covered in sugar,
and then topped with marshmallows.
This might as well be...
It's more like a sort of pumpkin pie than a side.
Okay, let's try the meatloaf.
The meatloaf is great. Meatloaf, 10/10.
It's just like a burger.
I would be one of the American kids
that got excited about meatloaf night on a Wednesday.
It just tastes like a massive meatball. It's delicious.
So this dish? Yes, but also no.
- Tom has given me some rice pudding,
which I don't know what this is at all.
I can't see how this can go wrong at all,
and yet, it probably will.
So empty into a microwave container,
and put on full power for one minute.
Easy. Um, it's like a custard.
Oh, it does actually look
exactly like I expected it to look like.
So I just heated it up. It's still steaming, as you can see.
It's really chunky, and on top of that,
I have to put jam on it, which I'm stoked about.
I think this is gonna be fantastic, to be honest.
Jam and rice pudding.
(mischievous music plays)
Mm, now we're talking.
Oh, finally something delicious to have today.
This is great. Oh, it's real hot.
I'm into it. I was nervous about the texture of this.
I don't know how great it would be without the jam,
or without additional flavoring.
It's just a bit bland. Yeah, that's great.
I'm into it. I'm sold.
- And now finally for dessert, I'm having a root beer float.
So this is relatively simple. I think you just...
Now how much ice cream should I put in?
A scoop? Two?
I kinda went overboard. Okay, okay.
How do I make this stop happening?
It's creating it. This primordial ooze.
Okay, here goes nothing.
Oh. No, it tastes like mouthwash again.
It's a very specific flavor.
It's you've gone to the dentist.
You've had your scale and polish, you know?
You can rinse. Sometimes it's a pastel green.
Sometimes it's a pastel pink.
No matter what color it is,
it literally always tastes exactly like this.
(trumpet music)
How are you feeling?
- Tom, I don't like you very much.
(Tom laughs)
- I'm sorry. - Tom, yesterday was brutal.
Yesterday was really, really brutal.
A powdered meat drink,
pickled thing that I still don't know what it is.
It even says it's good with cheese, and let me tell you.
I hated it. I gagged.
- Okay, I'm just two words. Jello salad.
Like, not only was it
the most insane combination of ingredients,
but the fact that I had to stand there and make it
just felt even crueler.
- I know that people eat it.
I have never had it myself. (laughs)
- The jello thing? Absolutely insane to look at.
But it was definitely something different, you know?
I've got to give credit where it's due.
- I feel like my menu was the war is coming.
People are being rationed.
We need things in jars that could last for a lifetime
in an underground bunker. (Tom laughs)
- Outside the confines of this challenge,
I might've never tried some of these things, and actually,
I think we both discovered things
that we thought would be gross,
and actually weren't that bad.
- Yeah, I think so too.
I definitely think we both had our eyes open a bit
into each other's cultures,
tried things we wouldn't, like you said.
- Yeah. Here's to trying new things.
Although next time, let's try to make them nice things,
shall we?
- I think we both suffered enough for this round,
but as always, if there's anything that we should be trying,
leave them in the comments.
- And until then, we'll see you next time.
- Adios. - Bye.
(happy big band music plays)