"American" food

xbted

Here in Germany, everything is a processed meat product. I haven't had a good steak in over a year And no, they don't have pie here, but they do have about every type of cake you could possibly imagine.

But if you really want to talk about American food, you don't get more American than Buffalo Wings. I have to make my own sauce, but at least you can get Tabasco here (for a price)

nikilis

Ummmmm yes the rest of the world has the same food you all have in the USA. It's not like US is the only place on earth that you can buy food.


I wonder over in the US......do you have water?

lol

It's like saying the world revolves around the USA or nothing exists outside it.

Isn't there a myth about Americans aren't told in schools about other countries etc?

Not to hijack the thread (much) but when I studied in Albany NY, I had a friend from Scotland and many American students were amazed how well she spoke English....I think they thought all Scottish people spoke Gaelic as their first language? Or just hadn't thought about it at all. They also had never heard of Wales and didn't know Scotland was attached to England. I also saw world maps where the US was in the middle meaning there was a big slice down Russia with half on each side of the US. Not bashing the US - I love it, but I did think that was funny.

nothing wrong with the map, Australia have themselfs in the middle of their maps.

hot dogs and apple pie to countries showing their own self absorption through their positioning on maps in 4 pages.

congratulations.

MsEmmy

I'm in the UK and when I was younger we used to love it when my Aunt from the US brought 'American candy' over as we had nothing like it over here - all the different flavours of bubble gum for a start! Now we can pretty much get most American candy over here.

Things I think are particularly American? Sweet potato! It's more popular here now but the first time I had that was in the US int he early 90s where it seemed pretty commonplace. It wasn't something you buy easily here for years. I think having watched a few shows about American food I now think of it as the food from the south - African/ Caribbean inspired, and mexican style. And also barbecue style food - sweetcorn, burgers etc even though we do have all that stuff here. We do have hotdogs, but not really as street food unless as people have said, it's after a football match or pub closing time

One thng that really seems to divide people is Canadian poutine! I love it but I have friends who retch at the idea of it.

Sqeekyjojo

I think the trouble comes where the only exposure to a different nation's food comes via what can be imported. So, in the UK, we see blue boxes of mac and cheese when any idiot can cook pasta and make a cheese sauce, cake mixes when you only need eggs, sugar, flour and sometimes fat, boxes of cereal with little sugary lumps of food colouring and about as much nutritional value as the packet in comes in when you discount the milk.

Everywhere has variations on sausages, burgers, meatballs and meatloaf. Everywhere has apples and pastry. A bit of meat bunged in some bread is nothing special. Even pizza isn't confined to one country, you'll get versions all over the place. Everybody knows how to fry chicken. We've been using spices for thousands of years, too; curry is one of the first ever published recipes. (But the only sausages worth eating are German or Lebanese - the rest are awful).



If somebody wants their food to be judged fairly, then perhaps they shouldn't hold up packaged, heavily adulterated and refined crap as being representative of their cuisine.

debrag12

I'm in the UK and when I was younger we used to love it when my Aunt from the US brought 'American candy' over as we had nothing like it over here - all the different flavours of bubble gum for a start! Now we can pretty much get most American candy over here.

Things I think are particularly American? Sweet potato! It's more popular here now but the first time I had that was in the US int he early 90s where it seemed pretty commonplace. It wasn't something you buy easily here for years. I think having watched a few shows about American food I now think of it as the food from the south - African/ Caribbean inspired, and mexican style. And also barbecue style food - sweetcorn, burgers etc even though we do have all that stuff here. We do have hotdogs, but not really as street food unless as people have said, it's after a football match or pub closing time

One thng that really seems to divide people is Canadian poutine! I love it but I have friends who retch at the idea of it.

I don't even know what poutine is.

EDIT: I looked it up, similar to chips and gravy over here (uk). I love chips and gravy, it's a northern thing.

MsEmmy

I'm in the UK and when I was younger we used to love it when my Aunt from the US brought 'American candy' over as we had nothing like it over here - all the different flavours of bubble gum for a start! Now we can pretty much get most American candy over here.

Things I think are particularly American? Sweet potato! It's more popular here now but the first time I had that was in the US int he early 90s where it seemed pretty commonplace. It wasn't something you buy easily here for years. I think having watched a few shows about American food I now think of it as the food from the south - African/ Caribbean inspired, and mexican style. And also barbecue style food - sweetcorn, burgers etc even though we do have all that stuff here. We do have hotdogs, but not really as street food unless as people have said, it's after a football match or pub closing time

One thng that really seems to divide people is Canadian poutine! I love it but I have friends who retch at the idea of it.

I don't even know what poutine is.

EDIT: I looked it up, similar to chips and gravy over here (uk). I love chips and gravy, it's a northern thing.

It has cheese curds in as well. I think that's the bit that turns people's stomachs!

debrag12

sounds nice to me

jenniferwren

Didn't realize this thread was a american food bashing thread, are the Brits in any position to criticize, really now!

Yes. We are.

As an American and a foodie currently in London I must disagree.

have you been anywhere other than London though? Our regional foods are amazing, much like France and it's regions, although the garlic ones hate us and take the piss out of our food they used to come over here to learn how to cook!

debrag12

Didn't realize this thread was a american food bashing thread, are the Brits in any position to criticize, really now!

Yes. We are.

As an American and a foodie currently in London I must disagree.

have you been anywhere other than London though? Our regional foods are amazing, much like France and it's regions, although the garlic ones hate us and take the piss out of our food they used to come over here to learn how to cook!

They hate everyone don't they, from what people who have been have said to me.

Buddhasmiracle

Didn't realize this thread was a american food bashing thread, are the Brits in any position to criticize, really now!

Yes actually. We have the widest variety of food available anywhere thanks in part to our former Empire, so don't judge British food only by the traditional boiled beef and carrots, steak and kidney pudding, fish and chips, etc. Most Brits are quite cosmopolitan in their food tastes nowadays. We also tend to travel outside our own country more and therefore are exposed to different tastes and flavours.

But it's wrong to bash american food just because the US fast food industry has taken over the world in a not so healthy way. America actually has a great cuisine thanks to local ingredients and the influences of over 200 years of immigration, continuing today with influences from Mexico and South America.

I think this is an accurate assessment.

I would also add African influences particularly on "southern" cooking, American Indian (corn meal based foods, the use of pumpkin/squash) and the "islands" influence -- Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, etc., Middle and Far Eastern.

jenniferwren

Didn't realize this thread was a american food bashing thread, are the Brits in any position to criticize, really now!

Yes. We are.

The Brits can criticize, but they sure do LOVE fast food. The few times I've walked into a McD's here, the places were PACKED! Like...no place to sit.
I love the English and their food, but they do tend to stereo type Americans and food. No not ALL Americans eat burgers, pizza and hot dogs. MOST of our food (the home cooked variety) comes from the DECADES of immigrants who have brought their recipes with them.
What truly cracks me up are the people who stereo type either country and haven't visited for themselves or if they have, they've been to a tourist trap and not seen the "real" life of either place.

True, trouble is the way the media portrays other countries!! It's difficult not to generalise x

Saw a documentary the other night and they were interviewing some Hungarians in Hungary and they said that they thought without immigration British women would start to grow beards as we would need to inbreed as the population is so low? wtf???

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

America is a whole lot bigger than the United States. And it's a whole lot bigger than North America.

We have Mexican food. Then we have Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex, Flori-Mex, Cuban, Cajun, Southern-Soul food (which derives primarily from Ethiopian cuisine), the foods from the Mid-Atlantic, the New England foods, Carolina barbecue and low country boils, Memphis barbecue with sweet, tangy sauces, Kansas City barbecue with thick, sweet sauces, Texas barbecue with rubs and primarily using beef. We have unique pizzas from NY, Chicago, and California that don't even remotely resemble each other.

And then there's beef. Big, thick, juicy steaks cut on the bone or boneless, cooked on the hottest grills imaginable, and served simply with salt, pepper, maybe a little garlic, a side of green veggies and a baked sweet potato or baked white potato. Believe it or not, that steak comes from Italy, but Americans all over - from Texas to New York - have improved it and made it their own. And we have bison.

If there's one food that is uniquely American, though, it is corn. Roast corn, corn chowder, popcorn, cornbread, masa, corn cakes, corn tortillas, etc. Oh, and avocados. We have avocados. They're from the Caribbean and Central America and have been adopted in cuisines all over the world. In fact, the Americas grow a good bit of the world's produce.

I'm one of those "Americans" who has lived and been all over the world, (was born an expat, and spent a decent amount of my 30s as one). I appreciate what we have available in the United States more than anything. We get greater varieties of everything in the US than anywhere else in the world. Most people really have no idea how spectacular food is here.

It isn't all crappy fast food and boxes of pasta. Mac and cheese is Italian, by the way.

Vailara

I have no more idea what a s'more is than a sophomore. Sounds like a genetic mutation or a body shape.

Roast a marshmallow in an open flame, and put the toasted marshmallow between 2 pieces of graham cracker with a piece of chocolate.

Delicious!!! :drinker:

What is a graham cracker like? I keep seeing them in recipes. I imagined a cream cracker to start with, then maybe a digestive - I don't know!

Vailara

Ummmmm yes the rest of the world has the same food you all have in the USA. It's not like US is the only place on earth that you can buy food.


I wonder over in the US......do you have water?

lol

It's like saying the world revolves around the USA or nothing exists outside it.

Isn't there a myth about Americans aren't told in schools about other countries etc?

Not to hijack the thread (much) but when I studied in Albany NY, I had a friend from Scotland and many American students were amazed how well she spoke English....I think they thought all Scottish people spoke Gaelic as their first language? Or just hadn't thought about it at all. They also had never heard of Wales and didn't know Scotland was attached to England. I also saw world maps where the US was in the middle meaning there was a big slice down Russia with half on each side of the US. Not bashing the US - I love it, but I did think that was funny.

To be fair, I went to school in Scotland and I don't think we were taught anything much about the US. I don't have much of a clue as to the geography, culture, etc. - just bits and pieces I've seen on the internet and in books and films! We weren't even taught much about England!

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

I have no more idea what a s'more is than a sophomore. Sounds like a genetic mutation or a body shape.

Roast a marshmallow in an open flame, and put the toasted marshmallow between 2 pieces of graham cracker with a piece of chocolate.

Delicious!!! :drinker:

What is a graham cracker like? I keep seeing them in recipes. I imagined a cream cracker to start with, then maybe a digestive - I don't know!

A graham cracker is closer to a digestive, but it is flakier and crisper. they're usually dusted on the outside with a bit of cinnamon and sugar when it is treated as a cookie, or nothing at all when we use them as a digestive. They're slightly darker in color than a biscuit and are baked in flat sheets about 6 cm x 8 cm.

BeachIron

America is a whole lot bigger than the United States. And it's a whole lot bigger than North America.

We have Mexican food. Then we have Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex, Flori-Mex, Cuban, Cajun, Southern-Soul food (which derives primarily from Ethiopian cuisine), the foods from the Mid-Atlantic, the New England foods, Carolina barbecue and low country boils, Memphis barbecue with sweet, tangy sauces, Kansas City barbecue with thick, sweet sauces, Texas barbecue with rubs and primarily using beef. We have unique pizzas from NY, Chicago, and California that don't even remotely resemble each other.

And then there's beef. Big, thick, juicy steaks cut on the bone or boneless, cooked on the hottest grills imaginable, and served simply with salt, pepper, maybe a little garlic, a side of green veggies and a baked sweet potato or baked white potato. Believe it or not, that steak comes from Italy, but Americans all over - from Texas to New York - have improved it and made it their own. And we have bison.

If there's one food that is uniquely American, though, it is corn. Roast corn, corn chowder, popcorn, cornbread, masa, corn cakes, corn tortillas, etc. Oh, and avocados. We have avocados. They're from the Caribbean and Central America and have been adopted in cuisines all over the world. In fact, the Americas grow a good bit of the world's produce.

I'm one of those "Americans" who has lived and been all over the world, (was born an expat, and spent a decent amount of my 30s as one). I appreciate what we have available in the United States more than anything. We get greater varieties of everything in the US than anywhere else in the world. Most people really have no idea how spectacular food is here.

It isn't all crappy fast food and boxes of pasta. Mac and cheese is Italian, by the way.

^ This. I'll add Maryland crab cakes, and Louisiana red beans and rice, crawfish etouffee, and gumbo. Go diving in the Florida keys and tickle a Florida lobster out of its hiding place. Visit Main and have a lobster right off the boat. And don't even get me started on the availability of game meat here in the U.S.

HotrodsGirl0107

I am American but more spacifically I grew up in the rural south. My idea of American cuisine is completely different than the stereotypes on this thread. What people meed to realize os that America is a melting pot of different cultures and region to region to region the types of foods and recipes that are staples are not all the same. My brother and I didn't even see fast food until we moved to a big city and I have never thought of fast food as American food. American to me would be homemade peach cobbler (grandma's recipe), made with peaches from the trees growing in the feild. Processed foods may seem like the norm here, but I feel that has more to do with the media. My family also farms and hunts for food so for my family America is completely different from what I read here.

debrag12

See a biscuit in the UK is different to a biscuit in America.

Livingdeadgirl44

We definitely have pies and hot dogs and other 'American' food. We also don't have a 'full English breakfast' every morning either. Well at least I don't know anyone that does. It's just a generalisation x

I really wish I could, now its a fry up for tea as a rare treat

AnnaMarieDinVa

ANY DESSERT is better with British custard, IMHO. (And I'm an American.)