American Foods That Foreigners Find Unpalatable/ Foreign Foods that Americans Find Unpalatable

I don't mind Marmite and Vegemite particularly. I would join in and have some on toast if it were available, in a household with other people were eating it as the norm. I have more trouble politely eating marzipan, which I don't care for at all.

The winner for the most disgusting foreign food I've ever tried would be French tripe sausage - nastiest thing I've ever put in my mouth! Then again, haven't had Phillipino balut, and hope never to do so.

In Vienna, one gets something similar to a corn dog -- a sausage encased in a breadish roll.

Grits are like polenta

Everyone I know loves peanut butter. It will never become as popular as nutella, that's for sure, but you can find it in pretty much every store in Europe nowadays. I adore it too but I never buy it because it's a real calorie bomb and it's so tasty I can eat the whole jar in one sitting.

Vegemite = salty axle grease

I think vegemite is about the umami.

I've had a few foreign friends say they couldn't stand pumpkin pie. Then again, I can't eat it unless it's slathered in whipped cream, so I guess I see their point.

Apparently Europeans think corn on the cob is weird. They think corn is just to feed farm animals

'american cheese' is considered vile

I'd be embarrassed to ever let a foreigner even SEE Cheez-whiz or Velveeta, let alone taste them, r8.

MARMITE sounds like something you use to get rid of TERMITES.

I can't stand the taste of bottled water in Europe. Evian with the minerals. SO VILE. At home I drink Poland Spring Gallon jug of spring water or heaven forbid-TAP WATER.

If I was forced to eat SPOTTED DICK moments later I would be sitting on the toilet doing a lot of BUBBLE AND SQUEAK!

American bread is too sweet. There should be no sugar in bread.

I find american pastries/cakes overly sweet. Dr. Pepper is impossible to understand for us foreigners, tastes like cough syrup. Liquorice and skittles must be an acquired taste.

I’ve heard the same thing about root beer - people outside of America think it tastes like medicine or disinfectant.

I like root beer flavored candy - and popsicles- but never drink the stuff.

I am American and I agree that all the items listed as revolting American food, is revolting.

From what I've gathered, bleu cheese is not appreciated in many parts of the world. I imagine they like it fine in France?

Not a fan of: blanched asparagus (Spargel). Black currants. Spaetzle. Super pungent swiss cheeses, like Emmentaler. Blood sausages. Garlicky Wurst for breakfast. Head cheese. Leberwurst. Cooked kidney. Boiled lunches (turnips, cabbages, rutabagas boiled all morning to a point of complete inedibility). Egg and cheese breads (Italian Easter Bread) - All of these are European favorites.

American-style bread, especially commercial white bread, is the worst - a travesty. Any kind of cheese to which by law must be appended the words "cheese food". Don't like the taste, texture or ultra-sweetness of most American cakes, and the commercial frostings, even worse. Tuna casserole and green bean casserole.

[quote]Liquorice and skittles must be an acquired taste.

Licorice (as we spell it) is not particularly American.

I'm asian american I hate: any "salad" drizzled in mayo, nacho cheese sauce, chain pizza, chocolate ice cream, fruit juice, grits, coleslaw, meatloaf, biscuits/sausage gravy, casseroles

i love root beer and degest dr.pepper

Grits are a weird choice for this list. They aren't even consumed by most Americans, and chances are the foreigner ate grits that weren't prepared well (90% of those found in restaurants ARE bland and gross), or those shitty instant grits. Grits are not intended to be full meal either, as a part of a traditional southern breakfast.

R12 best!

White or black pudding. (The fat and blood ones - not the kraft ones)

Visited an American friend and after a barbecue he roasted marshmallows and put it between two biscuits and even added chocolate sauce. Don't remember the name but he said it was an American tradition. I almost died of a sugar overdose. So disgusting.

^ S'mores! Such blasphemy, r25.

Well r25 , I don't like that you call cookies "biscuits". So there!

THESE are biscuits

S'mores are really kind of a specific food, i.e. an open flame of a camp out or barbeque is when they are made. Not many Americans consume them on the daily. But as a camping food, they are quite tasty and fun to make.

I used to microwave them all the time, mostly in college for dinner.

I once tried to learn to like Dr Pepper. Couldn't do it.

The general revulsion of grits though is mainly a general prejudice against the south and the unappealing name. It's just a cornmeal dish.

I grew up on biscuits and gravy, Dr. Pepper. Grits are great if cooked correctly, I loved corn dogs as a kid but it's not something I eat as an adult. Corn on the cob is wonderful. The other stuff on the list I could live without.

Thank God I'm not the only one who finds s'mores disgusting.

R7 - have you ever been to Europe ?

[quote] Super pungent swiss cheeses, like Emmentaler.

IMO, Emmental cheese is not super pungent. It's pretty mild, actually. I like it.

Emmentaler is probably one of the least pungent cheeses out there. I couldn’t figure out why it made R18’s list.

American deserts - sugar bomb in which sweetness numbs all your taste buds. European deserts are sweet as well but there is nice flavour beyond the sweetness.

[quote]Grits are like polenta

How would it sound if I told a rude customer to “kiss my polenta”? Just don’t sound right.

R25 can go straight to HELL!!!!

[quote]I'm asian american I hate: any "salad" drizzled in mayo, nacho cheese sauce, chain pizza, chocolate ice cream, fruit juice, grits, coleslaw, meatloaf, biscuits/sausage gravy, casseroles

What the fuck kind of salad is that!? And how much did you pay for it? Was it like a Cheesecake Factory salad?

He probably means potato salad, tuna salad, or egg salad.

I am American and I agree with a lot of the things in the article at OP’s link, even if a lot of them are uniquitous. I’ve never had a corn dog; everything about the look and name seems wrong. Mustard being too vinegary—yes. Disgusting. Dr. Pepper tastes like an unpalatable chemical, some sort of cleaning product. I do like corn and corn on the cob but also know it’s not a healthful food. I love peanut butter by itself but not in chocolates, etc. And I also agree that Cadbury is much better chocolate than Hershey (although I avoid both for humanitarian reasons now that I know better). And then there’s just the fact that most US foods are frankenfoods, between the herbicides, the pesticides and the GMOs. Most GMO crops are saturated in neurotoxic herbicides and it’s just a dire situation that many other countries have rejected and refused to subject their people to. So there is that.

Foreign foods that freak me out are organ meats, including stomach linings, and sausages of all sorts, anything cooked with blood. Rotten, smelly cheeses. I went to Hawaii this winter and had poi there. I would eat it if I were starving and it sustained my life, but it was the texture of Elmer’s glue and tasted like chalk. That was probably the weirdest thing I have eaten. Canadian poutine seems like something that should have been invented for an Alabama county fair: fry up them taters and pile on the animal fat til pappy keels on over dead! I’ve seen chicken claws on some Chinese buffets and those terrify me. And then the exotic, difficult-to-obtain and destructive foods like shark fin soup just plain piss me off. I’d rather eat any bland prepackaged American poison food than know my food came from the torture and slow, ago izing death of any animal.

[quote] Grits are like polenta

Grits and polenta are basically the same things. The biggest difference is that polenta still has the germ left in and are made from yellow corn and grits have the germ removed and are made from white corn. You can find grits in the south (mainly from the millers themselves) that leave the germ in, but most commercially sold grits have the germ removed.

I cooked cheese grits for some New Jersey Italian friends once and they all said they enjoyed the grits far more than the polenta they grew up on.

Emmental (Emmenthal) is quite mild in the realm of swiss cheese - or any cheese for that matter. It is delicious IMO, but also very mild. In the spectrum of being a smelly or pungent cheese, it rates about a 2 out of 10. Also, it is hardly an "American" food.

I grew up eating quick grits and I never really liked them. I ate lots of bacon with them, and my sister broke up American cheese into little pieces and covered her grits in them. My mom and dad, I think, mostly just put a pat of butter on them. (My dad is from NC, and my mom is from DC and I don’t think she ever understood why anyone ate grits but she made them because my dad liked them.)

I had grits in Charleston, South Carolina years ago on a business trip, and it was an ENTIRELY different (and better tasting) food than what I grew up eating. I was confused because it tasted like something a Liberian friend of mine would make, and when I finally said that someone told me that Low Country South Carolina food is heavily influenced by West African food. The grits were spicy and warm and savory and just so good.

Cheetos

I like my fruits sweet, cold and fresh. Americans have a tendency to cook fruits (apple pies, pineapple pizza etc). Also, I like my meat salty. No sweet pork!

I had a Scottish friend who loved Bovril - she had me buy her some jars when I was in Ireland for a few months for work. (I didn't care for it - hardly remember it though, this was 20 years ago - very salty?)

I can't understand why people would voluntarily drink boullion (sp?) unless they were ill or something?

Blood sausages, whether Irish, British, German or from wherever. No thank you. Gross.

R48, plain bouillon is often a diet food.

Smores are disgusting like peanut butter, sausages with fennel in them, doritos/potato chips and white slime wonderbread. Also, I tried "American" cheese once. It's basically a processed cheese slice in brick form. Gross.

Basically, they hate processed foods, which is understandable. Europeans enjoy real food, not crap like corn dogs.

American "chocolate' should be illegal. It has the consistency of wax and tastes like old parmesan cheese mixed with cocoa powder.

The snack foods are utterly revolting (Doritos, Cheetos, those onion ring things, etc), like biting into an unnaturally-coloured salt lick.

I'm not sure how you aren't embarrassed by calling that waxy fake stuff American cheese. Is it a point of deranged pride? "This plastic, likely carcinogenic stuff is the epitome of everything we value in our country." I really don't get it.

Hershey’s tastes like vomit.

I agree with the mustard and the cheese. I'm not sure if that goo qualify to be denominated " cheese" in other countries. But really disagree with peanut butter, is delicious, specially with jelly!

R47, your friend may have been trying to recreate this:

Um regards peanut butter part of the reason is because every name brand adds a shit ton of sugar to the mix. If you can find sugar free peanut butter, or sunflower or even almond butter it's SO much better.

And even dogs and cats like peanut butter. So too mice and rats. So those who dislike peanut butter particularly Europeans well they're beneath mice and rats. :)

As a kiwi I agree with that Americans have the worst food ever. As mentioned above I hate: Dr Pepper, your chocolate, canned cheese, pumpkin pie,

I do love Kraft peanut butter but at least over here it’s now called Boga Peanut Butter.

I’m pretty sure Americans would turn their noses up at Marmite despite being a kiwi favourite.

I find it super weird how you only call a burger a burger when it contains beef other wise it’s a sandwich.

What we call cheese would offend most Europeans.

They'd also recoil from ketchup (but then again so do many Americans)

I figure lutefisk has to make its obligatory appearance on this thread.

R9, neither of those things is American Cheese.

I know that, r61. Our processed "American Cheese" just brought those other abominations to mind.

Italians dislike Italian-American cuisine.

[quote]Americans have a tendency to cook fruits (apple pies, pineapple pizza etc).

There's no such tendency; those are specific dishes (of which apple pie and its variants are found in many countries, and pineapple pizza is a disgusting aberration that most Americans don't eat). Americans normally eat fruit fresh, by itself or mixed in fruit salad. Or fresh berries on foods like yogurt, etc.

Maybe we inherited the lousy food gene from our founding fathers, the Brits. Steak and kidney pie anyone?

At least the original Americans contributed tomatoes, potatoes, chili peppers, and cacao to the European cuisines. They seem fairly popular, still.

We literally just did this, and it ended in tears. But I gather the tears have dried so OP has decided to stir the pot again.

[quote] I find it super weird how you only call a burger a burger when it contains beef other wise it’s a sandwich.

Plenty of places tout 'veggieburgers' etc.

There are American cheeses that are not American Processed Cheese Food -- Colby, Monterey Jack, Buffalo Mozzarella, Hoop, Baby Swiss -- do the Europeans rate these low as well?

That's not cheese. It's congealed hideousness!

“Burger” refers to the bun more than anything else. “Sandwich” refers to two slice of bread with filling in between. There are turkey burgers, veggie burgers, anything with a hamburger bun and a patty of ground meat or veggie patty is a burger.

I think the reason Americans have so many baked fruit dishes, like pies, is because food has to be cooked in order to be canned. In the old days, farm wives cooked fruit and vegetables at harvest time and canned them to be used in the winter. In the winter, they had cans of cooked fruit and had to do something with it, so they made pies and strudel and apple Betty or other cooked fruit dishes. They also made applesauce and a lot of apple dishes. Apples are plentiful in the Northeast United States in season, and they last a long time.

Farm wives were used to using what was available locally and people had fruit trees on their farms or even in the suburbs in their back yards. All my neighbors had fruit trees growing up. Then they had a lot of fruit that had to be dealt with, so they either gave it to friends or canned it.

Canned fruit was the only opportunity people had to get vitamin C in the winter. So a lot of recipes were created around it, and they became family traditions that are still used today.

For those of you who hate pumpkin pie, try a homemade one sometime. Commercial pies are under-spiced and taste too bland.

I’ve never seen any type of “burger” called a sandwich; cheeseburger, turkey burger, veggie burger...wtf are you seeing these called “sandwiches?” Technically they are, but no one calls them that. On the other hand, in the UK I saw a fried chicken sandwich called a “chicken burger,” which seemed weird. I’d expect that to be a patty formed from ground chicken, similar to a turkey burger, but no, it was a chicken breast sandwich like Chik Fil A sells.

I’m American and I’ve never eaten pineapple on a pizza in my life. Never seen anyone I know order or eat it. Yes, I know “Hawaiian pizza” exists, but it’s not as popular nor nearly as ubiquitous as some of you assume. Most pizza places in my area don’t even offer it, or pineapple as a topping.

"The biggest difference is that polenta still has the germ left in and are made from yellow corn and grits have the germ removed and are made from white corn. You can find grits in the south (mainly from the millers themselves) that leave the germ in, but most commercially sold grits have the germ removed."

Actually that's not entirely correct imho. Polenta can be white, and grits can be yellow. It just depends on the color of corn used: white grits and yellow polenta are simply far more popular for whatever reason. But they are widely available and sometimes served the other way around. Commercially produced instant grits have the germ removed. If you're really into preparing the dish correctly, don't buy the commercially produced stuff but order from a reputable mill online.

" it tasted like something a Liberian friend of mine "

Yes. Cornmeal porridge is popular in many different forms worldwide. Only in America are people taught that grits are some singular horror. Call it "polenta" and they're slurping it down like there's no tomorrow, happy to pay $30 a plate and up for a dish that costs pennies to make.

[quote]For those of you who hate pumpkin pie, try a homemade one sometime.

No, r70, those of us who hate pumpkin pie are not suddenly going to like it once we try [italic]your[/italic] pumpkin pie. We really do hate pumpkin pie. All pumpkin pie. I had never even had a non-homemade one until I was in my 40s. And I didn't hate it any more than I hated any homemade pumpkin pie that had been forced upon me prior to its ingestion.

Now get out of here before I add you to "What Makes a Person Exhausting?"

R74, you are safe from pumpkin pies coming to get you. Calm down.

I am drinking decaf now, r75. Peet's makes a very good decaf House Blend.

It’s not working.

r75 One needs to be emphatic with the r70s of the world, always trying to make the case for pumpkin pie.

Right now I'm eating Whole Foods Organic Strawberry Ice Cream.

It's not that good, is it, r79? I much prefer H-D.

Isn't Dr. Pepper carbonated prune juice?

It's not bad but you might be right. H.D. Strawberry Ice Cream is better.

R68 American versions of Euro cheeses have little to do with the taste of the real thing. Of course you can find fine US made cheeses but not easily and they cost a fortune. Few Americans have ever tasted mozzarella. Mass-market US versions are unrecognizable as mozzarella.

American "cheese" is the worst. What you call Cheddar bears no resemblance to proper Cheddar. It's more like a processed version of Red Leicester. American mozzarella is a semi-hard cheese whereas proper mozzarella isn't.

It's hysterical when British people comment on other counties' food choices.

Right now I'm eating Organic Vegan White Cheddar Chickpea Puffs-Not bad.

R85 When threads about British food come up they always focus on ideas of British food rather than what we actually eat. Things like Spotted Dick which isn't seen anywhere apart from old school dinner menus. American chocolate, cheese and mustard is known throughout the world to be horrendously and they're all still very much a part of the everyday American diet.

My favourite thing that people always bring up when talking about British cuisine is 'faggots'. Despite its amusing name you'd really struggle to find anyone under 50 in the UK who could even say what it is, let alone find anyone who's ever eaten it.

I eat faggots all the time, Miss r87.

I love American cheese product. It's amazing and perfect on a burger. I don't really care if a Brit thinks it's ridiculous to eat it, because I'm not a Brit. They have plenty of ghastly stuff they like, because it's part of their culinary heritage. I mean, Scotch Eggs. Really.

Also they virtually worship Pringles, and I remember how aghast we were as kids when these bizarre, scary, alien mutant potato chips in a canister were first released.

Oh and they gobbled up dominos pizza, blech. They even ate that dominos with hot dogs as crust, I mean what in the actual FUCK?

I don't get hot dogs where you put coleslaw and dressing on top. Like, is that still considered street vendor food that you are supposed to eat with your hands while standing? It looks highly unpractical to me with stuff falling all over the place.

Hate, hate, hate that trend of chocolate sweets and puddings with crunchy bits in them. I am ok with chocolate chips though (like, in ice cream).

And, as others, I don't get peanut butter spread (see above regarding those with crunchy bits in them). I'm a Nutella (hazelnut spread) all the way.

Barbecue sauce and all of its various flavors. To me it tastes rancid with the mix of sour and overly sweet.

I have to say that I love everything in the OP's article except grits, which I never tried. I do prefer Cadbury to Hersheys though Hersheys is still good.

I also don't see the point of processed cheese. Regular cheese isn't that expensive and everyone, including children, love it just as much.

R93, American cheese adds interesting mouth feel and a light cheese flavoring without adding the (IMO too strong flavor of something like cheddar or blue cheese. So for instance on a burger, or a ham sandwich, I often like to have a slice of AC.

I don't mind American cheese in omelettes.

Americans don't think her she's is necessarily so terrific, but it's more of a cheap and nostalgic item.

I grew up in the south and was raised eating grits, many different kinds.

I think the misconception is that grits are supposed the be good by themselves. To me that's like eating plain oatmeal with nothing in it. I've always eaten grits as a base to load with other things. Very generous butter, generous salt, pepper, cheese, gravy, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, egg yolk, onion, hot sauce, or whatever. Eating grits on a breakfast plate without mixing them with the other ingredients around them is like eating a plain pancake by itself.

The only place I like American cheese is on cheeseburgers. It just goes so well w/ketchup and pickles.

An omelette made with just minced onion and melted American cheese in the middle is perfect

[quote]I mean, Scotch Eggs. Really.

They're going to make me First Lady!

Another day another thread featuring american vs. european dataloungers competing on who is more trashy. Keep going girls!

R101 it's entertaining and you know it...

Most British beers are musty and sour tasting, btw.

R102 By beers you mean bitter, I think?

Bitter can be nasty and sour but the majority un Brits drink lager (which you call beer).

The pale-golden coloured beers we get in Europe and the UK are similar to your US beers like Budweiser or Coors.

A lot of pubs in the UK don't even serve old-fashioned bitter anymore unless it's a gimmick. That said, there has been a resurgence in Craft Ales and Bitters.

I'm American, but I love Marmite and Vegemite, and use them in cooking, besides spreading them on buttered toast. The biggest problem I have with toast is that the bread I buy at the supermarket is way too sweet. I love pumpkin pie and peanut butter. I don't eat grits. Corn on the cob is good when you can buy it from a farm stand in the middle of the summer. My ex-BF is black, and I think it's interesting that, among Americans, most black people eat sweet potato pie, not pumpkin pie. I normally don't like American cheese, although there are a few exceptions (like Maytag blue). But American cheese is wonderful if you're making macaroni and cheese. I'm no longer as adventurous trying foods as I used to be, but I still think I'd like to try kidneys prepared by an experience British cook.

Years ago, I was at a bar with a friend, and he introduced me to an English guy who was visiting the US for a bit. Somehow the subject of peanut butter came up, and he made some pretty disparaging remarks. I tried not to react, but his remarks finally pushed me over the edge. So I told him all about George Washington Carver, who did so much to promote peanut farming and consumption. Peanuts and peanut butter are a cheap source of protein, which the South desperately needed. On Youtube, I sometimes watch those brief videos of European people trying American foods, so I know peanut butter seems to provoke strong reactions.

I'm not from the South but I love cheese grits with shrimp.

Is there a difference between Vegemite and Marmite? Because I find Vegemite absolutely disgusting,

Europeans have been stuffing themselves with overly processed foods for quite some time and now they are getting fat, with the UK leading the way.

Apparently the much-lauded Mediterranean diet is no longer eaten in Greece - and they are becoming fat.

[quote] I'm American, but I love Marmite and Vegemite, and use them in cooking, besides spreading them on buttered toast.

R104, I'm interested to know how you use Marmite and Vegemite in your cooking. Could you give a couple of examples? TIA.

[quote]I don't get hot dogs where you put coleslaw and dressing on top.

Usually it's sauerkraut on hot dogs, not cole slaw.

[quote]Isn't Dr. Pepper carbonated prune juice?

I doubt that there's any juice of any kind in Dr Pepper (note that there's no period after "Dr," just like the British!). And if there is --it's an infinitesimal amount.

I use MARMITE to get rid of TERMITES.

Aerosol Cheese.

Nastiest. Food. Ever

And this is coming from someone that had Balut (not as bad as you think and Spaghetti with banana 🍌 ketchup and hotdogs.

My roommate at college was Filipino and he cooked a lot.

I can't decide which item in R113 is the most disgusting.

R106 Vegemite is Australian and Marmite is British and Kiwi. Although called the same, the NZ and UK versions are slightly different. The Kiwi version is the best. Use sparingly on toast or crackers. Can also be used on a grilled sandwich with cheese, or as a scroll.

[quote] I find Vegemite absolutely disgusting,

How could anyone not want rosy cheeks ?

So are Vegemite and Marmite the same thing, just different brands?

Marmite is slightly more complex (more umami) and not as salty, it also has the texture of thickest molasses. Vegemite is saltier, texture is slightly grittier and waxy/ more solid than Marmite. Both are disgusting unless you use it for seasoning as I do sometimes when out of soy sauce cooking Asian dishes.

American cheese has gotten a bad rap, it has earned its place in American cuisine and serves a niche.

Yeah, any other cheese than American cheese in grilled cheese is gross and inauthentic.

[quote]Can also be used on a grilled sandwich with cheese, or as a scroll.

What does "as a scroll" mean?

Do Australians eat Marmite and do Europeans eat Vegemite? Or would they never?

"American cheese" does have its place, but then again it's not the only cheese made in America. You'd think from these posts that American supermarkets didn't sell good American cheddars, blues, etc. Even Cabot can be. And this whole loathing of peanut butter is just mindless anti-Americanism. It's not as if Europeans didn't revere mashed-up, sweetened nuts of their own (marzipan, marron glacé, etc.).

Actually my favorite cheese made from cow's milk is American aged, sharp raw milk cheddar.

^^^Forgot to add it's very versatile. You can use it in mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich, in burgers, salads, on pizza, or eat it plain. You can't say the same thing about brie cheese or stinky blue cheeses.

R81 no, that's a common wives' tale.

I’m American & I don’t eat yellow mustard, corn dogs, breakfast sausages, grits, grilled cheese, liquid cheese, aerosolized cheese, chain pizza, Mexican food, sushi, deep fried anything, Dr Pepper, root beer, Mountain Dew, Fanta, escargot, caviar, salmon, clams, tomatoes, cooked fruit, fruit pies, fruit in any pastry and beer, among other things.

Not just desserts in the US are too sweet. Everything is too sweet. There’s corn syrup in everything, everything. Bread, soup, sauces,. Candy has no taste other than corn syrup, whether it’s chocolate candy or fruit flavored candy. They taste the same.

There seems to be a sneering contempt for American food on the one side, and another equal attitude toward British stuff. Folks who say they can't stand American cheese and bread are obviously having low and stuff. There's plenty of higher quality options in the supermarket, and at better restaurants; I swear folks are basing that on cheap chain restaurant food and the breakfast toast available at a Hampton Inn or some such. I stayed at a rather posh hotel in London, where at the breakfast buffet they served what I considered medium rare scrambled eggs and bacon. I infer that British folks like it that way.

As an amusing aside, my ex for some reason was absolutely horrified once when the mustard at a restaurant in Germany was served in little tubes like toothpaste. In Belgium and the Netherlands, they had meat, cheese and bread set out at breakfast, but we're rather baffled when I asked where I might find mustard? Apparently, one is supposed to use butter in sandwiches. No thanks.

Root beer, I've hosted several exchange students and they are all repulsed by root beer.

There is nothing more comforting with breakfast than a bowl of cheese grits, made with real butter, cheddar and green onions. I don't understand all the grits hate? I really can't stand Nutella. To me it's way too sweet and I infinitely prefer peanut butter to it. The only food the British do well is cheese...my favorite cheddar come from England.... Seaside Cheddar. Everyone should try it.

R128 The good stuff in US supermarkets is incredibly expensive, especially good cheese. I'm shocked at the prices at the ShopRite here in NJ were I'm staying. Cheap industrial-made waxy textured cheese is cheap, that's true. And $5 for a head of cauliflower? $4 for a celery? $4 for a loaf of bread without sweeteners and other crap? Good food is affordable in Europe.

R128 you expect to eat American style in contiinental Europe? No, you won't find mustard on a breakfast table. You probably put catsup on eggs too.

It seems reasonable to expect mustard if meat, cheese and bread are set out together. They are the makings of a sandwich. Why would anyone want that for breakfast, anyway?

Because they come from the Old Country and they aren't very creative. Or fun.

R132 We should be slopping beans on them, you're correct.

There's one thing that Americans do very well and is admired beyond its shores....American breakfast.

Actually, the idea of ketchup and eggs together makes me gag as a texture combination. Don't even like ketchup anywhere near the plate with eggs. If there is potatoes at breakfast, I do like hot sauce on them. It's a cultural thing that cold meat and cheese at breakfast seems very, very strange, so having a sandwich with mustard is the only logical thing to do with them?

If you would like an American habit to thoroughly horrify you, I have been known to pour honey or syrup on my sausages and bacon.

For R121.

Dr. Pepper is disgusting.

It's a flavored, carbonated soft drink. Let's read what some of your favorites are, r139.

Coke, lemon and orange sodas. Dr Pepper tastes like liquid Trident.

There is not a flavor of Trident gum which tastes anything like Dr Pepper.

Uh, yeah, there is, R 142

No. Not even remotely. Nor is cinnamon in the flavor base of that beverage.

Although, interestingly, cinnamon does appear in the flavor profile of Coke, which you claim to like, r141.

I just had a dr. pepper shake at Whataburger, fucking delicious.

Are you a Dr. Pepper shareholder, R144?

r138 So it's sort of like a cinnamon roll, but without the cinnamon?

R147 don't be snide.

I don't get what the Germans find so appalling about corn on the cob. It's relatively inoffensive.

I guess since it's a New World crop, they just never got into it.

Corn on the cob is delicious. But the american corn I tried was way too sweet.

I'd have to be inebriated to be game enough to try jellied eels aka [italic]ål i gele, aspic d'anguille, Aal in Aspik, and węgorz w galarecie[/italic].

R127, Mexican Coke is available in the USA at places like Home Depot and Costco. Mexican Coke is made with real sugar, like old fashioned Coke, and it’s sold here for Mexican construction workers and anyone else who likes it the old fashioned way. Fanta is another drink Mexicans like, that’s hit the mainstream. Construction workers like sodas.

Fanta has been around and in the mainstream for several decades. It's not a Mexican thing.

R151 Sweetcorn is too sweet? Fascinating

R153 Subtly racist, and mexican coke is made with corn syrup.

Australians used to eat a lot of pumpkins. As a savoury thing. A classic Aussie baked dinner will always have baked pumpkin - which will be roasted alongside the potatoes. Boiled pumpkin gets mashed - and served alongside - or instead of! - mashed potatoes. Pumpkin soup is a cafe lunchtime or home on a weekend staple. Yet no one else much used them like we did. People in other countries seemed to regard them as food for farm animals or something. We didn’t have those big, American Halloween-style pumpkins - but used butternut, JAP and Queensland Blue. Even the Kiwis didn’t seem to use them as much as we did/do - but they instead have a long standing love affair with Kumera/sweet potato and tend to use that more...

Would rarely see pumpkin used here in sweets/desserts much. See occasionally people adapt American-style pumpkin pie here - but pretty rarely. I had an American friend here who raved about the pumpkin pie of her childhood - and made it for us for a ‘treat’ at a dinner she hosted. It consisted of a pre-bought pie shell, filled with some imported pumpkin pie filling in a tin - and I think she added a couple of eggs? It overly sweet and kinda horrible. Think you’d have to be raised with it to feel nostalgic.

As an Aussie kid - I was raised on vegemite and prefer it to the alternatives. The other yeast-based sandwich soreads - Marmite and Promite - taste weirdly, molasses-ey sweet to me. I love the plain, honest saltiness of vegemite. But it’s a thin scraping on buttery toast - you don’t lash it on like peanut butter! (having said that - I do tend to use more of it nowadays! They’ve cut the salt content quite a bit from when I was young - so I feel like I need more of it to have the desired effect).

R155 you're (somewhat) correct :

[quote]while most of the Coca-Cola labeled "Mexican" in the United States is made with cane sugar, this is not true of all Coca-Cola sold in Mexico.

For US consumers, Mexican Coke is made with sugar.

Also, what's racist about saying Mexicans like Fanta and Coke? It's not like they hate it.

I find it odd that people find American desserts too sweet. I watched the whole Two Fat Ladies series and sugar and treacle featured heavily.

Although it's true that many, many American desserts are much too sweet, comments here about the sweetness of American desserts are just a subtle form of anti-Americanism. Pay them no mind.

Is Mexican Coke a different brand or did you just mean Coca Cola that was manufactured in Mexico and they use real sugar instead of artificial sugars? How do they advertise it at Cosco? Coke from Mexico or do you have to read the label on the can?

The same happened with Dr Pepper a couple of years ago. They started to use artificial sugars and the taste just wasn't the same.

R155 thinks the very idea that Mexican construction workers could possibly want sugary drinks to keep their energy up on the job is impossible and racist.

He probably lives back east somewhere where there are no Mexican construction workers.

The Costco version of Mexican Coke is bottled especially for Costco and has a different formula that has too much sugar. I guess I’ll have to buy it from the refrigerated case at Home Depot or at Target.

Go in any Home Depot and look at the cold sodas in the refrigerated case. That’s what construction workers like.

[quote] I don't get what the Germans find so appalling about corn on the cob. It's relatively inoffensive.

American here. I had a friend who was Swiss-Italian. He told me that it's the manner of eating corn on the cob (biting it off the cob like an animal) that's objectionable. Eating an apple without slicing it up first would be seen in the same way. (Maybe.)

Just read the article.

R160, it’s Coke bottled in Mexico for export into the United States that is a different formula than the usual Coke you get at the store. They don’t use corn syrup, they use cane sugar.

The Coke you buy inside Mexico has corn syrup as well as most Coke sold in the U.S. It’s the export Coke made in Mexico for the American market that has cane sugar. It’s marketed as “Mexican” because that’s how you can tell it’s made with cane sugar. It’s sold in glass bottles. A lot of people prefer it.

Agnes Gooch loved her Dr. Pepper, and Auntie Mame said she was one of THE De Gooches!

R162 they toast corn on the cob on the street in Greece. The Greeks are not royalty but they are not as seedy as Southern Italians.

How can anyone not like corn on the cob?

[quote] Fanta has been around and in the mainstream for several decades.

Longer then most realize. When WW2 cut off Coca Cola syrup to the German subsidiary the Reich invented Fanta as a substitute. Eva Braun loved the stuff. When the war was over Coca Cola regained their bottling plants and the new product.

I don't know why foreigners say American bread is sweet. I don't taste any sweetness at all with it.

No country settled/colonized by the Brits should be looking down their noses at American food. I mean, what has Australia or New Zealand contributed to world cuisine? Other than vegemite....

As for the British, their greatest contribution was Roast Beef and Gravy...which is pretty universal.

British candy is revoltingly sweet and Asian candy/sweets are pretty vile, IMO. Asians really don't do dessert well except for the Vietnamese who learned how to make decent pastry from the French.

American processed food IS disgusting...don't eat it. This includes most desserts you buy ready made at the grocery store bakery. If you have a real bakery/patissiere your neighborhood, then good for you!

When immigrants came to Ellis Island and were admitted to the States, many were insulted that they were fed such American dishes as corn on the cob, since traditionally in Europe that was fed to livestock. Apparently that hasn't changed much over the years.

If you think American desserts are sweet, have you ever tried eating Indian food? I have a sweet tooth, but a bit of gulab jamon, rasmalai and some of those other desserts go a long way since they are so sweet.

Spam and raisins

R156, there are two versions of canned pumpkin. One is the ready made pumpkin pie filling like your friend used. It’s already spiced and ready to use. All of our mothers used that one, so if you want the nostalgic effect, that’s the one you’d use.

The other version people use more often these days is just plain canned pumpkin with nothing added. That one doesn’t have salt or sugar or anything else, so you have to do a lot more with it to make it fit for a pie. If you’ve never cooked a pumpkin pie before, a lot of people can’t be bothered with that. A lot of Americans don’t know how to cook from scratch now, and they’re unfamiliar with the proper ratios of spices and can’t judge on their own. Their grandmothers could cook with a pinch of this and that, but they can’t.

In the U.S., people that make pumpkin pies at home are often making them for large holiday gatherings like Christmas and Thanksgiving, while simultaneously trying to fit a large turkey in the oven and entertain guests, so pie is often made with a lot of shortcuts. That’s why the ready-made pie shell. Desert pies are often an afterthought, with the main course having the most effort put into it.

About adding the eggs, cake recipes made by Betty Crocker and other American manufacturers became popular way back in the 1920s and 30’s. They were originally made with powdered eggs included, but they did a study and found out housewives felt like they needed to add the eggs themselves to make it “homemade.” To this day, in the U.S., even the simplest cornbread mixes require fresh eggs added by the cook. So I’m sure whatever convenience recipe your friend had, probably from the pumpkin can label, required eggs to be added by the cook.

Her recipe was a nostalgia recipe. A lot of Americans have traditional family foods for the holidays depending on their ethnic background and family traditions. Mexican Americans, tamales instead of turkey for example. Southerners, pecan pie.

We rarely have grits for breakfast. A few times a year I make BBQ shrimp with a smokey sauce, sauteed chard (or spinach), succotash and cheesy grits. I sprinkle lots of chopped scallions all over everything. Can not imagine making this dinner w/o grits. I've used different cheeses, but Kraft singles work fine. I don't like baked desserts at all, just ice cream.

[quote] No country settled/colonized by the Brits should be looking down their noses at American food. I mean, what has Australia or New Zealand contributed to world cuisine? Other than vegemite....

India was also colonized by the Brits. You personally might not like Indian food, but I would say it's popular and involves a lot of different spices.

Butternut is more common in the States than "halloween pumpkin" as a vegetable.

I travel a lot and people are always interested in the American diner concept. I'm from Philadelphia and took the whole thing for granted.

Halloween pumpkins are actually bred for their looks and aren’t really fit for pies. Pie pumpkins are small and not everybody sells them.

I wonder if the reason Europeans don’t like corn on the cob is because they think of the cob as waste and therefore think only a pig would eat it, because pigs and other farm animals probably eat the cob too, or part of it.

It’s easy enough to take a fresh ear of corn and slice the kernels off straight into the pot. Fresh corn is much better than frozen or canned.

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

R170 Japan has been known for taking European baked goods especially French patisserie to another level, been that way for years now.

Britain didn't really have any impact on India food....India had a food culture of their own. Britain had control over India for 200 years but they didn't really dominate the culture like they did in say Australia and New Zealand where they just wiped out those indigenous cultures (by wiping out much of the physical populations....) and supplanted their own blander one.

R11 Poland Spring bottled water?

Those springs ran dry 50 years ago.

Poland Spring is nothing but a marketing scam and they're being sued for it..

[quote] Although it's true that many, many American desserts are much too sweet, comments here about the sweetness of American desserts are just a subtle form of anti-Americanism

I'm American and I've said in this thread that American desserts and cookies and candy are too sweet. Because they are.

Nestle is fucking evil.

Nobody should eat anything with sugar in it anyway.

That said - years ago in my 20s, I went to Europe, and one thing I noticed in Germany - the desserts were absolutely gorgeous, works of art. But nearly everything tasted like it had whiskey in it. Blech!

r184 It's a French company.

Oh and the amount of sausage offered in a day absolutely dumbfounded me - for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, more and more sausage. And I asked for milk and got room temperature shelf-stable milk. (I was sorry I asked)

And the first day in Italy, I ordered ravioli, and ended up sick to my stomach all night.

I don't argue that Europe has better cuisine - well, some parts of Europe. But it's hardly perfect - certainly not the UK and Germany, from my recollection.

I'm American and I hate pumpkin pie. And squash. And zucchini bread. Maple syrup. While we're at it, poutine. And all those loaded baked potatoes.

As a Kiwi, I just recently discovered the classic British biscuit, the Hobnob. More specifically the chocolate hobnob. And wow they’re fucking delicious. I can see why they’re a British institution.

[quote]In the U.S., people that make pumpkin pies at home are often making them for large holiday gatherings like Christmas and Thanksgiving, while simultaneously trying to fit a large turkey in the oven and entertain guests, so pie is often made with a lot of shortcuts. That’s why the ready-made pie shell. Dessert pies are often an afterthought, with the main course having the most effort put into it.

Make your pies the night before. I don't think I've ever seen anyone do what you're describing, baking a pie at the same time you're roasting a turkey.

I was underwhelmed by my first taste of American chocolate when a friend bought back a pack of hershey’s Chocolate kisses back in the eighties - they were like brown-coloured candle wax, with a lot of sugar. Truly disgusting! Like us and vegenite - think that chocolate kiss shit has to be something you grow up with to be able to appreciate...

I think all the global corporations have pretty much fucked up the mass-market confectionary all over the western world. There’s the odd regional variation that was particularly popular and survives in various markets - but otherwise it’s all much the same shit you find at 7-11s and other convenience stores and service stations all over the world - coke and Pepsi and mars bars and pringles and kettle chips - that kind of thing.

Here in Oz, a few much loved childhood treats have survived - but they’re not the same. Everything is smaller and made with cheaper, inferior ingredients and they’ve ramped up the sugar - and salt! - contents. It’s just two or three big multinationals running the whole game - and every cent saved on the production of a candy bar racks up millions in profits.

Once in a blue moon I try and old favorite when I’m feeling nostalgic - and in every case - they suck now. When I first started traveling internationally back in the early eighties - everywhere you went you saw lots of new and different products everywhere you went - now it’s just a few things as most everything is the same the world over now. So boring!

Oh - and the elaborate Japanese sweet stuff LOOKS amazing - truly little works of art! But so often they don’t taste of anything much. Just vaguely sweet and Unsatisfying. Some amazing french patisseries there now tho - and not only do they do the french stuff perfectly - but there’s often little Japanese variations that are great! Had some green-coloured croissants that were out of this world good - think it was matcha powder and the hint of some Japanese citrus fruit - and tasted amazing! Really worked!

I love sweet green daifuku flavored with mugwort and matcha, and filled with sweet red bean paste, and, with the exception of a couple of Japanese friends, it grosses out every single person I know.

R191 to be fair, Hershey's chocolate used to be much better than it is today, and that includes their kisses. The quality of what used to be pretty good chocolate in the 1960s and 1970s had tanked by the 1980s onward, and by comparison, is now barely recognizable as chocolate.

Hershey's coasts mainly on name recognition these days, and are apparently horrible to work for:

The article below details Hershey's exploitation of international student workers in its factory.

Anybody who doesn't like Pumpkin pie should be taken into the town square and beaten until dead, after being force fed pumpkin pie.

Dijon most assuredly it's not, but I don't want to hear another word against American mustard from British people as long as they're eating their beloved Colman's mustard, which is full of WHEAT FLOUR.

R196 Colman's at least tastes of mustard, though. American mustard is just yellow.

American mustard looks like baby shit.

American chocolate is a huge diappointment. It’s weirdly greasy and non-chocolatey, like a brown bar of animal fat.

I'm not sure American chocolate actually contains any cocoa.

The biggest problem with this thread is that a lot of you are still acting like all Americans are unsophisticated hicks stuck in the 50’s.

[quote]Few Americans have ever tasted mozzarella

Not true. Good mozzarella is found in most grocery stores thes days. The have specialty cheeses from around the world. Artisanal breads are very popular and I don’t know anyone who eats Wonderbread. Maybe people on food stamps in Flyoverville.

Shrimp and grits are now found in upscale restaurants as an appetizer. Delicious. Lots of small independent chocolatiers to be found too. My favorite is a dark chocolate truffle with chili pepper laced into it.

I find Europeans fondness for organ meats appalling.

[quote]The quality of what used to be pretty good chocolate in the 1960s and 1970s had tanked by the 1980s onward, and by comparison, is now barely recognizable as chocolate.

HFCS.

I always found it weird when I was there that Germans refused to drink tap water, like the tap water wasn't safe.

It was bottled water only, usually carbonated, which has a bitter aftertaste I can't stand.

[quote] Few Americans have ever tasted mozzarella

I'll admit I haven't. Actual cheese being is just too gross to consider consuming with its curdled milk base dusted by fungus and bacteria, mouse dropping and god knows what else.

I like most American foods but can't handle the cheese or chocolate. Cellophane and brown paraffin wax respectively.

The advantage American cheese has is it melts beautifully.

I'm American and I agree that our chocolate is bad- it's like wax. the first time I ever tried chocolate in Europe, it was a revelation.

I HATE Nutella.

And yes, no one with taste buds should eat lutefisk.

R206 Indeed. But it's a different product from actual cheese.

I used to work for a company that was bought by a Swiss company. The executives used to go to Switzerland a couple times a year. The one request we always had (I was secretary at the time) was for lots of Swiss chocolate!

American chocolate really is disgusting. It doesn't have much of a chocolate taste, as some have mentioned upthread.

American desserts are quite sweet. if you go to a real Italian bakery, you'll notice that their cookies and some cakes are not sweet/overly sweet.

I read somewhere that Americans have always had easier access to sugar and never had to really ration like the Europeans did during war times. At least in more recent times. Perhaps that’s why so sugary sweet shit. I have an old cookbook that is full of early American settler recipes and nothing is overly sweet in it. I want to try the syllabub recipe in it too.

[quote]And yes, no one with taste buds should eat lutefisk.

Ironically it's really only American Mid-Westerners of Norwegian descent do. My parents had a Norwegian exchange student back in the 90's. He was quite amused that people here ate that shit. He said very few people in Norway would even think of eating it.

An overabundance of sugar is used because it becomes addictive. I have noticed recently that almost every recipe I look up has sugar in it. I liked some of the dishes from P.F.Chang's and found copy cat recipes and every single recipe had sugar in it. (which was why I probably liked it) I have a terrible addiction to sugar.

Chocolate has never been good in the US because they allow so many additives in it. in Europe there used to be laws that you couldn't call candies chocolates unless it had only certain ingredients in it. (I don't know if it is still like that) My father lived in France for 45 years and when he came to visit at Christmas he would bring the most wonderful chocolates. My sister has a place in Ireland and she brings home chocolates but they are not what they used to be. I use to love Cadbury but not anymore. In the US Hershey's makes Cadbury (yuck). I don't who's making it in the other countries now but it's bad too.

[quote] I swear folks are basing that on cheap chain restaurant food and the breakfast toast available at a Hampton Inn or some such. I stayed at a rather posh hotel in London, where at the breakfast buffet they served what I considered medium rare scrambled eggs and bacon. I infer that British folks like it that way.

I swear folks are basing their opinions on their experience.

We’ve been asked a question

We’re answering it, Little Lord Fauntleroy, just like you did.

How are mugs cradled in the EU? Are there all sorts of regulations?

It's fine if you like it, but know what are you eating.

Posters loathing "American chocolate" are talking about the quality of the cheapo chocolate bars you get at the checkout counter of supermarkets and pharmacies. There are high-quality American chocolates that have become widely available, like Vosges, Askinosie, and Tscho. (Godiva and Ghirardelli are inedible, though, and Mast Brothers is a joke.)

Why is Mast Brothers a joke, r217? (I've never had it, but I thought it was very high quality.)

Two hundred replies and no ones asked if American or European cum tastes better? I am disappoint.

[quote][R184] It's a French company.

Swiss.

R219 You've got to try Mexican!

The pumpkin pie conundrum. Felicity explains and works through it for the non-Americans amongst us (I love her ‘The perfect... column! So many of her recipes have become our standard go-to versions at home! But I haven’t felt compelled to try this yet. As I said - we eat pumpkin so much as a savoury dish here in Oz - i think that’s just the way I prefer it - even tho I know it’s naturally very sweet)

Anyway - her version does sound pretty good...

It was a big scam, R218. They gave themselves makeovers (scroll down at the link to see) and claimed to be producing the highest quality bean-to-bar chocolate. In reality, they were just remelting Valrhona and other mass-produced industrial chocolate.

Then they lied about it and eventually had to confess.

[quote] I use to love Cadbury but not anymore. In the US Hershey's makes Cadbury (yuck). I don't who's making it in the other countries now but it's bad too.

Cadbury fell victim to a hostile takeover by Kraft/Mondelez. The lying CEO promised jobs would stay in the UK so the govt. waved the takeover through. European Cadbury is now made in Poland with added palm oil etc. It tastes like shit now and is constantly discounted or mixed with other crap like Oreos, "cookie dough" and peanut butter by its clueless owner in a desperate attempt to keep sales from plummeting. Sad end to a decent mass brand.

Yup R224 - like I said - there’s only two or three big corporations that pretty much own everything as far as confectionary goes - and it’s all been cheapened and screwed over. Even the uk’s beloved Cadbury is utter shite now.

Thing is tho - kids are the biggest consumers i’m assuming - and they’re all eating the stuff now as their standard treat - and get get used to it. They never knew what it used to be like. It’s best just left to memory now I think...

So are the douchey Mast brothers still in business? Thought after they got busted as fake - they would have been laughed out of the industry? Although I guess not everyone read about their scam - and they’re kinda hot and have good marketing. - so they’ve probably survived and are doing better than ever...

There was a premium ice cream in Oz years back - Homer Hudson - which they tried to pretend was some artisanal real deal - made by some ice cream connoisseur - had a huge advertising budget - arty ads in cinemas - and was in all the supermarkets. Didn’t much hide the origins tho - it was clearly on the label it was made by one of the big dairy corporations here. I mean - what are the chances some boutique business could launch with that level of advertising and into all the supermarket chains? It was really pretty nice though - clearly better ingredients than in most mass produced ice cream here - for which you paid through the nose. Fair enough! But don’t push the artisan bullshit line... blah!

The Masts are still hanging on, R225. They've had to shut down factories and are mostly wholesale now, which apparently is what they never wanted to be, and their dreams of housewares, worldwide stores and restaurants, music festivals, their own magazine, etc. have gone up in flames.

A former employee wrote an article detailing their crash about a year ago and it was pretty crazy. One of the brothers would read books about Steve Jobs and decide that they had to drop everything to implement something he had just read about.....like suddenly shutting down the factory during the holiday rush because everything had to be painted stark white right then and there.

Thanks, r223 and r226. I had no idear.

Thing I'd to go for small scale local chocolataires. The prices are exorbitant but at Keat they're still making decent product.

My favorite chocolate is made by Guittard in San Francisco. I discovered it as baking chocolate, but I love eating it as well. A friend owned a bakery and would sell me the pastilles wholesale. I don't need to have it made into candy.

I’m British & have never visited the US. But I definitely, definitely want to because I want some funnel cake. I saw it being eaten on Bates Motel, googled what it was and.....yuuuuuuuuuummmmmm.

Here's another exposé of the Mast Brothers. Their chocolate is priced well above its quality, and their claims for its excellence weren't all true. It's just expensive and has pretty wrappers. They're the chocolatier version of the artisanal pencil-sharpener guy.

Maple syrup is nice but I cannot get over the fact you put it on bacon.

It only accidentally gets on the bacon when the bacon is on the same plate as our pancakes or waffles.

Then you might not understand the appeal of candied bacon, R252. It's primarily breakfast, but I've seen it served as appetizer, as well. The maple syrup and bacon, as R233 said is primarily from mixing on the plate. But the sweet salty combo is nice.

I love the taste/mix of sausage and maple syrup. Bacon not so much. Try this folks, wrap a nice piece of breakfast sausage in a pancake and dip in butter and real maple syrup.

R235 sounds like a recipe for a heart attack. You eat that for breakfast?

[quote]—spoiler alert - not cheese

Begging the question if I've ever seen it.

Have the Europeans on board ever tried Monterey Jack, or Longhorn, or any of the US craft cheeses?

[quote]The biggest problem with this thread is that a lot of you are still acting like all Americans are unsophisticated hicks stuck in the 50’s.

Upvote for R201. I was thinking the same. Like every other country, you can find excellent food and terrible food pretty much anywhere, but basing your opinion on what's available at the airport, gas stations and airport Hampton Inn free breakfast is very limiting. I think a lot of the non-American posters are getting their info secondhand or off shock media shows that deliberately pick some 350 pound heifer with a grocery cart full of Wonderbread, Dr. Pepper and Jimmy Dean biscuit sandwiches and give her a nutritional makeover. Those people exist but they're hardly the norm, and they're making choices, ie, they have choices. It's not like all we have here are Soviet-era GUM type grocery stores with half bare shelves and only French's mustard, Wonderbread, Kraft singles and Hershey's chocolate available.

R239 In America you have TV shows about 600 pound morbidly obese people who reflect some of the population. Obese people like that don't even exist in Holland, Belgium or Norway, never mind appear on TV. Of course we base our opinions on what we see in the American media.

Haagen Dazs was fake “foreign” ice cream made in Brooklyn. In the early years it included a map of Denmark on the product. The owners claimed, when busted, that they named it “to honor Denmark for its treatment of Jews in WWII.” Funny thing is, it would’ve worked just as well to say it was from Brooklyn 30 years later.

[quote] I’m British & have never visited the US. But I definitely, definitely want to because I want some funnel cake. I saw it being eaten on Bates Motel, googled what it was and.....yuuuuuuuuuummmmmm.

Funnel cake is found at fairs (UK: fetes) mostly, unfortunately you won't likely encounter it at restaurants and cafes. I recall one time I was horrified thinking that a fellow had completely doused his funnel cake in ketchup! All was well as the red goo who turned out to be cherry pie filling.

oh r241, those wacky Jews...

R240 = Maggie de Block, Belgium's former Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health

Haha, r244. Europeans are so full of it. There are plenty of fat Euros, maybe not as many beached whales as here, but quite a few lard-asses. And unlike in the USA, the fat ones still generally have no problems wearing speedos to the beach.

R238 Monterey Jack Cheese pretty much destroyed it's UK reputation with this brand (Bradburys).

It turns up in discount stores for about a 80p ($1) a pack pretty often these days.

Emmental & Gruyère both have more flavour, melt better and aren't expensive here in the UK. which was probably reason.

Nestle's has also taken over some British chocolate companies and turned products that were inexpensive and tasty into something vile, e.g.-ROWNTREE.

I'm not a huge sweet-tooth guy, but I am partial to Dove milk chocolate. For any chocolate experts, how does that rank on the scale? Is that considered crap too?

Why is there so much attention paid to differences in chocolate?

R250

Makes Europeans feel superior

R230 I'm surprised that Funnel Cakes haven't made it over there, especially Scotland, knowing their love of all things deep fried. Over here we usually eat them at fairs or theme parks. My favorite is a funnel cake with just powdered sugar but I also like them with powdered sugar and cherry or strawberry pie filling.

why doesnt coke go back to using sugar?

sales are down, bring the customers back to the oldschool!

R253, Mexican Coke. Sold in Target, Home Depot and other stores in a glass bottle. Made with real cane sugar.

Unfortunately, they won't, because high fructose corn syrup is still cheaper than sugar.

Instead of making a better product, they'll just advertise more aggressively.

Corn syrup is much cheaper since corn is heavily subsidized by the government. Here's some history about the introduction of HFCS. Coke and Pepsi introduced their plans to use it in 1984. I moved from California to the midwest in '88 and was really surprised by how much cheap soda was in flyover country. I wonder if west coast manufacturers were still using sugar while corn country had already transitioned.

Brits have ugly wonky toofs.

I love Jamaican food but Jamaican dumplings taste like Play-Doh.

Commercial American white bread is a pastry, not a bread. Go with Mathew's Whole Wheat or Vermont Soft Whole Wheat or a local bakery loaves or rolls. They don't use preservatives.

I don't get why people say American White bread is sweet? I just checked my loaf and it has 1 gram of sugar per serving, which is one slice. I don't taste any sweetness in American white bread, but I have had baguettes and other European white breads that have a sweetness to them.

[quote] Vermont Soft Whole Wheat

That soft version of Vermont bread is like Wonder Bread. I buy their regular loaves (multigrain when I can get it). Why do all commercial American breads eventually become as soft and vacuous and gummy as Wonder Bread? Supermarkets have whole aisles of completely unpalatable bread.

Plenty of Americans don't like American cheese either. It's not a cherished tradition in this country.

Funnel cakes are good but give you a stomach ache about a half hour later.

R263 If you eat the whole thing. I've always eaten them as part of a group.

[quote] I love Jamaican food but Jamaican dumplings taste like Play-Doh.

Not sure what you mean by "dumplings"? Closest I can recall to that would be roti, which I suppose can be rather starchy. Goat is an item many Americans would avoid.

[quote] if you go to a real Italian bakery, you'll notice that their cookies and some cakes are not sweet/overly sweet.

I've been to Italy numerous times and have family there. Their desserts are mediocre, IMO, and it's not from any lack of sweetness. They're not bad. They just don't stack up to France, Germany, Austria, or other northern European countries. Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread -- I know there's an entire thread devoted to this important subject!

Many Americans have forgotten how to eat properly. The vast majority of men should never weigh over 180 pounds. Women shouldn't weigh more than 160 pounds. Eating food that makes you crave more food sounds crazy when you think about it.

So, r267, what are the foods that don't make you crave more food? Oh, and that taste good, too.

r265, I'm talking about this. My Jamaican friend eats this a lot.

Domino's pizza. A frozen pizza jazzed up with a bit of fresh tomatoes and herbs is infinitely better than the heave-worthy crap that is Domino's.

Gruyere and Emmental taste nothing like Mont Jack.

[quote]" knead the dough well, for about five minutes."

Jesus Christ. With no baking powder to boot? Those dumplings must hard as a rock.

r267 Your last three sentences I am in agreement with. My view is that Americans haven't so much forgotten how to eat properly as they are lied to. Soft drink companies' PR people appear on debates with the message of "balance." People who eat a nutritionally complete, sensible diet do not need soft drinks for "balance." Corn syrup apologists say "everything in moderation" but they don't say what the level of moderation is. When corn syrup, 'glucose/fructose', or any other aliases for sugar are among the first five ingredients in a food product, how many food products does one consume until one concludes 'any more corn syrup would be immoderate?

Americans think 2000 calories, 276 grams of carbohydrates a day are just dandy, but try suggesting that more than 50 grams of protein be included in that 2000-calorie daily requirement for an adult male, or reduce the number of net carbohydrates to under 100 grams a day and out come the cancer and obesity statistics. More Americans eating less to reach their point of satiety and nutritional needs would benefit their health and the food supply.

Thanks for the clarification. I don't think I've ever seen these dumplings offered at any Jamaican restaurant.

R271 The Bradburys version of 'Mont Jack' ( post R246 ) that swamped the UK a few years ago tastes of nothing other than sweetened fat.

I made the comparison with Emmental & Gruyère because they are cheap, widely available in Europe and also have a low melting point, but with more flavour (they taste like cheese).

R275 That doesn't sound like Monterey Jack at all.

Monterey jack, if anything, is supposed to be slightly sharp rather than sweet or bland.

For those who decry American produced cheeses, eating cheese on its own in the States isn't as common. Taste doesn't become as important when it's in a sandwich or an omelette as many people experience it.

Our foreign friends have likely missed out on the way cheese is consumed here at social occasions, so have provided a link.

That's probably the difference R277.

Lot's of British people will finish a meal with a selection of cheese instead of dessert.

In a decent restaurant your choice would be from a board like this.

A cheese board like that would be put out as part of an appetizer spread. I think Americans would find cheese too heavy and not sweet enough for dessert.

We also have lot's of desserts that have a slightly 'tart' edge, Rhubarb crumble and Gooseberry fool instantly come to mind but there are lots of others.

In Asia they think sickening sweet American desserts, especially after heavy meals, are gross. They mostly serve fruits for desserts.

Corn syrup and HFCS are not the same thing.

As a Brit I won't have dessert anywhere in Southern Europe, Portugal, Spain, Italy or Greece. They are all too sweet..

Cheese plates are now becoming popular in the States as a "small plate" thing for trendy foodies to have with wine.

It has been explained elsewhere, but we have not been able to grow gooseberry in the United States for agricultural reasons as it somehow contaminates pine trees. Rhubarb is usually paired with strawberry here, a flavor I particularly loathe.

One of my favorite desserts is Greek.

One of the best examples of the difference between US and UK recipes is Lemon Meringue Pie.

The British version has 50 grams of sugar in the lemon filling.

The US Better Crocker version has one and a half cups (about 300 grams) in the lemon filling of same size pie.

R286 Mine, Southern American, is somewhere in the middle, around 2/3 a cup of sugar. Also Mary Berry, who is British, uses alot more sugar in hers than Delia.

Not sure how widely available Tillamook cheese is, but they make Monterey Jack cheese. Monterey Jack is very mild and easy to like.

R287 Mary Berry also uses 6 egg yolks for the lemon curd, the filling would set solid like an egg custard tart. Not sure I'd enjoy hers?

I think the American style of lemon meringue pie involves corn starch in the lemon part.

For snacking in the US, string cheese (a mozarella?) seem very popular.

I worship Mary Berry and would eat anything she makes, also I don't like a runny lemon curd, I prefer an egg custard consistency. R290 Store brands do, mine does not.

Always been a bigger Delia Smith fan, she used to employ a big team of home economists to test the recipes over and over again.

Her cooking is a science.

R293 Her cooking, because it is like science, just seems too clinical to me. I prefer my cooking to have feelings and soul more than science. Mary Berry seems to put more of herself into her food.

And you're still not "seeing" it, R237, since you don't know how to use that phrase properly.

The "begging the question" queens never manage to explain the correct way to "beg the question."

Rognons and escargots

If you're heating Pop Tarts in the microwave you're doing it wrong. A toaster is better. Seriously. But Pop Tarts are pretty much just sugar bombs.

But I completely agree on Hershey's Chocolate - that shit is so horrid.

American desserts are way too fucking sweet. Pure sugar assault.

Hershey's chocolate sucks.

American processed cheese is truly vile, but we do produce some variations of European cheeses that aren't bad. (I love Vermont cheddar, per ejemplo)

To end on a positive note, Americans barbecue can be pretty great.

Cool Whip is disgusting.

I find GMO to be the largest travesty in the US.

R299, desserts are supposed to be sweet. Otherwise, what's the point? You might as well have a piece of fruit.

Do you find ice cream too sweet?

Most ice cream is gagworthy sweet. Vile stuff.

R302, well if that is how you feel, why not just eat a bowl of sugar?

Desserts are supposed to be sweet, but one also expects some flavor.

People who love chocolate love other chocolate things more than brownies.

People who love sugar, but say they love chocolate, prefer brownies, because there's much more sugar in them than chocolate. I'm sure someone will find a recipe that proves me wrong, because that's part of what we do here, but in general, brownies contain much more sugar than chocolate.

Well, smell the mincing prisspot at R137.

Hate these threads because they become pissing matches (as of course is the intent) but I'll agree that there are some foods from America that do indeed need to be "cancelled," as wokesters might say.

1) olive loaf

2) deep frying things that should not be deep fried, like sticks of butter and oreo cookies

3) Squirrel stew (aka Brunswick stew, although today that's usually made with chicken)

I had a mincing prisspot that my grandmother used to use to make Brunswick stew but then we ate all the squirrels and there were none left to mince.

[quote]I find GMO to be the largest travesty in the US.

Then you're an idiot.

I had friends over for dinner. Well actually more of a Netflix and order in type of deal but I made some Cheesecake from scratch. I mentioned that in the invite. How was I unlucky enough to invite two people over to my place that both aren't dessert eaters. Uh, so damn annoying. So I'm now planning to do a nice pot roast dinner affair one weekday evening but feel limited without a dessert. Just feels like my courses are incomplete.

All three of us are Americans. One doesn't like candy or sweet things. The other doesn't like cakes, may do some (as in very few) pies, no other desserts. He will stuff his face with Dove chocolates when home but my Cheesecake isn't good enough. This is how those three people in PA ended up dead one snowy morning. I pretended not to be let down while holding my Cheesecake and a bottle of wine. I slowly backed the cake back into the kitchen but left the wine.

Safe to say, I fucked up with my selection of my quarantine friends group. I need to get my vaccinations so I can entertain on a grand scale. Threads like these made me understand my friends and their high- brow European sugar standards. I'd rather hang with fat whores that don't turn their noses up to a three course meal complete with a real dessert.

Oh and it's perfectly fine to not like Pumpkin Pie. Most places are shit at making it.

Now, black Americans are smart enough not to fuck with Pumpkin Pie, we go for Sweet Potato Pie (no cans!!!!) which is usually less sweet and may be more popular with foreigners. Again, do NOT buy it from a store or restaurant unless it's a black soul food joint.

Warning, Patti LaBelle's Sweet Potato Pie will give you cardiac arrest from the sugar, avoid, avoid, avoid! If I so much as see a can when someone calls themselves making Sweet Potato...anything, I leave. Not today Satan! I can instantly tell when someone used caned sweet potatoes in a recipe.

Patti's pie did give us this hilarious review which caused the pie to be sold out and independently increased it's sales.

Brokeded cheeseburgers.

FANK YOU FOR FIXEDING MY CHEESEBURGER.

R409 Exactly what GMO are you talking about? There are only ten GMOs in the world and you are unlikely to eat them. So fuck off you filthy Euroslime.

Since when is Buffalo Mozzarella an American cheese R68???

I have a friend who is a recent immigrant from Bosnia and Diet Dr Pepper is his favorite drink! So not all foreigners hate it.

Americans don't like ripe uncut Euro cock.

"In Asia they think sickening sweet American desserts, especially after heavy meals, are gross. "

Most popular Japanese desserts.

BTW, if you have a Chinese bakery in your city, try one of their cakes; you'll love them. Not too sweet and very light.

[quote] pineapple pizza is a disgusting aberration that most Americans don't eat

This a very narrow point of view. I discovered pineapple on pizza when I moved to California 35 years ago. I found it delightful (the contrasting flavor, the sweetness, the sort of crunchiness)

I like Cadbury but I hate any European chocolate - talk about hard and waxy.

I'll take Hershey's over European chocolate any day.

Bump

Fanta was Nazi soda.

R7 The corn grown in Europe is mostly grown as animal food. It tastes fine though; we also ate it raw sometimes as kids. Some farmers used to have a little piggy bank on a stick at the corner so people could put a little fee in when they took some.

Rootbeer is flavored with sassafrass. In other countries sassafrass was used to mask the taste of medicine. Which is why foreigners associate rootbeer with medicine.

Imagine drinking eucalyptus soda.

So called "American" cheese can't be legally sold in America as cheese. It must be called "cheese food."

I used to watch those Youtube videos of Irish people eating or drinking various foreign or faddish foods.

I was amazed how many of them hated peanut butter and bemoaned how many American foods were flavored with it.

Agreed that peanut butter is a hard sell in much of Europe. The taste comes off as peculiar on its own, and the "butter" consistency)texture is off-putting. It's not so much that it tastes bad, it's just a strange taste experience few want to repeat.

Pumpkin pie is in the same category I would say, a peculiar blend of clabbery/gelatinous, with a soggy crust, and a strange combination of spices hiding the base taste of predigested vegetable, or is it a fruit? The is it sweet ir is it savory dilemma that it has for me seems similar to Continental European reactions. (Pecan pie -which varies widely in preparation and proportions and quality- is a companion oddity, but better received.

I never had S'mores until I was an adult which may account for loathing them. It's odd, and marshmallow is a revolting texture and has an odd egginess to it. When I've seen Europeans try them, they react as if they are the butt of an elaborate joke

Casseroles, hot dishes, whatever you call them are strange tastes for Europeans, and a strange idea. They may have an elaborate vocabulary to distinguish different types of stews with multiple ingredients, but casseroles are a different beast. My father described them as looking like food that had been eaten before which left a lasting visual and dislike. The idea of dinner starting with "Take a can of Campbell's Cream of X soup and combine with..." doesn't travel well. Europeans will build a many ingredient dish around one or two or three main flavors, but the casserole robs all of the taste of the key ingredients and replaces it with a melange of boiled down beyond recognition foods flavored with some spices or those goddamned fried onion bits or Kellogg's corn flakes as a bit if crunchy topping. It is like something the dog threw up.

American cheese has a place in hamburgers, Philadelphia cheese steaks, but otherwise who eats it (except in those damn casseroles)? American grocery stores are filled with imported cheeses and there are quality and artisanal American-mafe cheeses as well. It's not as though decent cheese in a wide variety is unknown in the U.S. (Blue cheeses mentioned above have an audience in most every country I've known.)

Pies I agree as well are much more an American dessert taste. Desserts in Europe are less sweet (or use a sweet element like toffee as a counterpoint to other tastes) and much smaller, with cleaner, simpler or more focused taste. They are usually more an afterthought than a goal as in the U.S.

Pies and casseroles are a good example, I think, in how American tastes differ from European tastes. These American favorites have an approach (like American hot sauce and chili competitions) of the more ingredients the better. Allspice? Fuck yeah! We've got a bottle of it so throw some in, no, more I think - of course it will improve upon cinnamon and nutmeg and powdered ginger and black pepper and sugar and a hint of salt and, oh, cloves, how could it not? Americans want always to add one (or 9) ingredient more; they are always one-upping the Colonel's classic secret blend of spices by going that extra step. Europeans one the other hand get nervous when there's too much fucking around with a few key ingredients and recognized flavor combinations. Americans will immediately set to "improving" upon any recipe and Europeans will stick close to the essence and detail of one