Cultural eating habits - tell us about yours
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I guess we come from the same or near countries
I am Lebanese
Yes new_nathalie. We are from the same general area I live in Jordan 0 -
My contribution is less about food and more about silverware. I'm in the US. Many of us do this weird cutlery dance thing when cutting food with a knife.
We'll hold the knife in our dominant hand, the fork in the other, with the back of the fork facing up. We'll cut what we're eating, put down the knife, switch the fork to the other side, turn the fork so the back of it is facing the plate, stab the food and shovel it in. People in other countries apparently don't switch hands or turn the fork around.
If you're in the company of an American while they eat, look out for the silverware dance. I wasn't even aware that I did it until someone else pointed it out.
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I was born and raised in the American Deep South, where all vegetables are boiled until there is no fight left in them, and we make sure to toss some fatmeat or bacon in there while they're cooking, because, hey, what good is a plate of green beans if it's not a thousand calories, amirite? Meat is summarily battered and fried. Traditionally, breakfast is a big meal: sausage, biscuits, eggs, ham, etc., because the culture was primarily agrarian, and there was a long day of manual labor on the farm ahead of you. Lunch tends to be fairly light by comparison, and "supper," the evening meal (I understand from my New Englander husband that my use of "dinner" and "supper" amuses him) consists of a meat and two or three vegetables, plus a bread (cornbread, biscuits, or what we call "light bread," which is store-bought packaged sliced bread, frequently Wonder).
Sunday "dinner" is actually a late lunch (traditionally eaten post-church with the extended family, at the home of the matriarch), and it can be HUGE. At my grandmother's house, it looked like a rehearsal for Thanksgiving.
We don't all eat the way I've described, but enough of us do that my homestate is fat, fat, fat. We have a lot of strokes and diabetes.
(Now, I want fried chicken. *sigh*)0 -
Where in the world are you Amused Monkey?
I'm British.
Breakfast is usually toast and jam or marmalade, or cereal and a couple of cups of tea. On rare occasions like holiday weekends, or if I'm in a hotel for some reason, I'll have a full English (sausages, bacon, fried egg, fried bread, plus whatever other bits and pieces are available as well as the toast and cereal - oh, and a couple of cups of tea).
Morning coffee - or tea. Around 11? With biscuits maybe. (Biscuits in the UK being like cookies, but thinner).
Lunch is usually sometime between 12 and 2pm, and if I'm out and about it might be a sandwich - like you, one or two things - cheese and chutney, ham and mustard, egg mayo, tuna and sweetcorn). I might have a packet of crips (in the UK they're very thinly sliced fried potato chips often flavoured e.g. cheese and onion, salt and vinegar etc). If I'm at home I might make a sandwich, or make scrambled egg or beans or cheese on toast, or oatcakes and cheese and chutney, or an omelette. Maybe with a piece of fruit for pudding, or a bun or a yoghurt. And a couple of cups of tea.
Tea traditionally means sandwiches, cakes, scones, and a couple of cups of tea, taken later in the afternoon, about 3ish. If you're out at a function or conference or something there'll be a tea break when you get a cup of tea and maybe a biscuit. Otherwise it means the evening meal, anytime between 5 and 8ish. Anything goes! Lots of one-pot meals, last night I had chicken with smoked paprika and peppers and a bit of cream, with mash made of sweet and white potatoes. Or pasta, or fish or - absolutely anything you fancy. And maybe a cup of tea if it's not too late.
Dinner is the evening meal, maybe a little more formal, maybe later - 7.30 - 8ish, certainly if had in a restaurant or out with friends, likely to be 3 courses, starter, main and dessert. And more likely with wine. Followed by coffee. (or a cup of tea if you prefer.)
And in between, lots of cups of tea.
No - I'm not kidding - some of us really do drink that much tea! :drinker:0 -
I am in Australia but my daughter is currently in America for 6 months.
She did notice that about bread in America, that it is much sweeter than here.
I'm not sure what else is different - I did go on an overseas tour of UK last year, cooked breakfast was included every day, and there were people from USA who thought cooked tomatoes were really strange. Not sure if this was just those individuals or cooked tomatoes are not done there at all.
In New Zealand, I ordered a salad sandwich and, as well as other things, asked for beetroot in it. They thought this was so weird.
Maybe it is just a normal thing in Australia?
Cooked tomatoes, cooked tomatoes with cheese, and baked beans are most definitely considered odd things for breakfast, by American standards. I've never seen them on breakfast menus here in my 30+ years. Baked beans are a savory served as a side at barbecues or served with slices of hot dogs mixed in (Franks 'n beans) and given to kids. Unless you've done any traveling overseas, beans or cooked tomatoes (and most raw veggies) are unheard of at breakfast.
We're big fans of dry cereal with milk, oatmeal (like a porridge), or omelets (with or with things like cheese, onion, spinach,mushrooms, tomatoes), and if we're dining out, eggs often include things like bacon, toast, breakfast sausage (much smaller than bangers), and sometimes some form of potato for breakfast.0 -
My contribution is less about food and more about silverware. I'm in the US. Many of us do this weird cutlery dance thing when cutting food with a knife.
We'll hold the knife in our dominant hand, the fork in the other, with the back of the fork facing up. We'll cut what we're eating, put down the knife, switch the fork to the other side, turn the fork so the back of it is facing the plate, stab the food and shovel it in. People in other countries apparently don't switch hands or turn the fork around.
If you're in the company of an American while they eat, look out for the silverware dance. I wasn't even aware that I did it until someone else pointed it out.
In fact, in the UK that's considered bad manners! Children as they grow and learn to use cutlery are constantly told to hold their knife and fork properly! At home on our own, we eat might with the fork in the dominant hand, if it's something you don't use a knife for, but you'd still hold both if they're there. But if you go out for a meal you would keep your knife in your hand, (ed: the exception being if you're in an Italian restaurant eating pasta) and you wouldn't turn the fork the other way up! You wouldn't use it like a spoon if you're being polite. You press the food onto the back of the fork - which makes peas and sweetcorn fun to eat! You hope there's sauce or gravy or mash to help mop them up.0 -
My contribution is less about food and more about silverware. I'm in the US. Many of us do this weird cutlery dance thing when cutting food with a knife.
We'll hold the knife in our dominant hand, the fork in the other, with the back of the fork facing up. We'll cut what we're eating, put down the knife, switch the fork to the other side, turn the fork so the back of it is facing the plate, stab the food and shovel it in. People in other countries apparently don't switch hands or turn the fork around.
If you're in the company of an American while they eat, look out for the silverware dance. I wasn't even aware that I did it until someone else pointed it out.
In fact, in the UK that's considered bad manners! Children as they grow and learn to use cutlery are constantly told to hold their knife and fork properly! At home on our own, we eat might with the fork in the dominant hand, if it's something you don't use a knife for, but you'd still hold both if they're there. But if you go out for a meal you would keep your knife in your hand, (ed: the exception being if you're in an Italian restaurant eating pasta) and you wouldn't turn the fork the other way up! You wouldn't use it like a spoon if you're being polite. You press the food onto the back of the fork - which makes peas and sweetcorn fun to eat! You hope there's sauce or gravy or mash to help mop them up.
Heh. I lived in southern England for a year and quickly learned to eat "properly." We consider it "weird" to eat with the butt-end of the fork up. And the pressing the food to the back of the fork is equally weird. But when I travel abroad, I do the back of the fork thing so as not to stick out.
And brace yourself! We make tea by heating the kettle, putting the bag in the cold mug, letting the steam escape (I've never seen any other Americans cover the cup) and pouring the water into the cold cup. The tea steeps out into the bottom 1/4 of the cup, so we have to stir it.
At home, I have a "proper" tea pot and taught my husband how to make a decent cup of tea. I pour water into the cup and tea pot (to warm them), pour out the water, make the tea in the pot, cover the pot, and pour the tea over the milk in the cup. It's a bit more work, but my DH agrees that it makes a better cuppa tea.
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I think we adopt a variety of foods and habits from everyone, here in Atlantic Canada. Dinner, however, is our larger meal. Consisting of, usually, some veggies, meats, I know potatoes are used often. Maybe pasta, breads. All of which is around 4-6pm. It kind of varies. Lunches (12:00 ish) are a smaller affair and in my view, more of a stop to keep you energized through out the day or at least until dinner. My family was never into meats, eggs and such for breakfast though. That's generally reserved for toast, cereals, fruits, milk and the like. Quite rarely, more of a treat, something like pancakes, waffles, eggs/bacon would make it onto the menu.
@Camera_BagintheUK
That's interesting. I wonder if it's still heavily considered so? We never had to deal with said rules or any real rules when it came to dining. I've heard of families that are strict on elbows on the table, hats being worn, various 'manners' when it comes to placement/usage of silverware and such, but... we just kind of ate. Our family literally just treats a meal, such as dinner, as a time to sit down and talk, who cares what you're eating with or how.0 -
First thing I noticed, when I came to the U.S. is, that people often have only one hand on the table (of course, the one you hold your food with), the other hand is sitting on the lap. In Germany that is considered a bad manner. Also most people here in the U.S. eat while they watch TV, mostly in the living room, not the dining room. They hold the plate in their hands. Most restaurants have TV's hanging on a wall. I have never seen that in Germany, unless of course it is an American Restaurant. But with all the stuff swapping over the ocean, most likely it will be like that in the future, which is sad. Another thing, Americans love their ice in the soda. Something I never get used too. 0
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I'm in Ireland. I can't speak for the rest of the country but in my family:
- fairly bland food. I don't think I had spicy food other than pepperoni pizza until I was in my late teens
- cereal for breakfast, sandwiches and soup for lunch, and standard dinners such as meat & veg, lasagne, stir fry, spag bol, cottage pie
- on Sundays we have dinner at lunch time and it's usually a large, filling roast dinner consisting of beef/lamb/chicken with roast potatoes and roast veg
- desserts are for special occasions only. If we do have dessert on a normal day it's usually something like rice pudding. Desserts for special days are things like pavlova, cheesecake, chocolate fudge cake
- we do eat a lot of potatoes to be fair... my family would have potatoes in some form with most every meal- chips, mash, boiled, baked, roasted, frried, potatoe waffles, hash browns etc
Speaking of potatoes, being half russian we eat a lot of potatoes too. Funny thing happened when I first ordered mashed potatoes at a fast food restaurant near my university back in the days (we mostly eat home-cooked and when we do go out, I don't recall ever ordering mashed potatoes) it had this brown gloppy thing on top, which I learned later is called gravy. It was weird to me! The way my mom made mashed potatoes was plain old potatoes boiled with onion halves (which are then removed) then mashed with butter and milk. That's it.0 -
Balmos
Stuffed cabbage (or grape) leaves
Pickled anything
Pork or turkey jelly
Cozonac
Mititei
Guess the country 0 -
Based on the balmos, I might even guess the region...Balmos
Stuffed cabbage (or grape) leaves
Pickled anything
Pork or turkey jelly
Cozonac
Mititei
Guess the country
A few to add:
- sour cream, everywhere and on everything savory
- sour cherries, again everywhere and in everything sweet
- sour soups (really surprised me to find out it isn't a "thing" in the West)
- plum brandy, which goes by at least five different names and is gross in all of them0 -
Milk first and then the tea?! What is this blasphemy haha! I've had it hammered into me that milk first isn't worthy of being called tea0
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I am in Australia but my daughter is currently in America for 6 months.
She did notice that about bread in America, that it is much sweeter than here.
I'm not sure what else is different - I did go on an overseas tour of UK last year, cooked breakfast was included every day, and there were people from USA who thought cooked tomatoes were really strange. Not sure if this was just those individuals or cooked tomatoes are not done there at all.
In New Zealand, I ordered a salad sandwich and, as well as other things, asked for beetroot in it. They thought this was so weird.
Maybe it is just a normal thing in Australia?
on the pacific coast of america at least, I can say with certainty that cooked tomatoes are done here in many forms.. but what do you mean precisely when you say cooked tomatoes were considered an oddity? it might be the way it was cooked or served. as a rule, americans don't eat tomatoes just on their own. (some people do I'm sure) but it's not something you'd find in a restaurant for the most part. we toast /cook tomatoes on pizza, sandwiches, eggs, sauces, et cetera. in the south they fry green tomatoes.
I don't think America has much of a food culture left. it is a vast melting pot. in our family, we eat when we're hungry and the cuisines we grab from are multinational. our favorites are home made curries and south american styled dishes.
doh, I missed the part about it being a breakfast thing. yeah, some people dice them up into eggs but in any other form tomatoes aren't considered a breakfast food as a general rule.0 -
Hi,
I am not very far from your country, I am from Syria – Aleppo ( Now I live in UAE ), in Aleppo, we have very bad eating habits, we eat a lot of fat, a lot of meat…..
Breakfast usually include Dairy product with Arabic bread and tea and olive and olive oil along with tea.
Lunch is the worst story, we add a lot of sheep meat to our food, may be along with rice and bread ( we like bread so much, sometimes we eat it alone, and nowadays due to war circumstance it was the only available food for a lot families ), our cuisine include a lot of vegs but we cook all with meat.
After lunch, we like to drink tea, and some people like to eat some Arabic sweet ( Baklava ) after lunch.
Dinner, it’s either looks like breakfast or lunch, and some time it’s a mix of both, and it’s also very familiar to go to fast food in dinner, fast food like ( Shawerma wrap ) ( Fried chicken ) …….0 -
Based on the balmos, I might even guess the region...Balmos
Stuffed cabbage (or grape) leaves
Pickled anything
Pork or turkey jelly
Cozonac
Mititei
Guess the country
A few to add:
- sour cream, everywhere and on everything savory
- sour cherries, again everywhere and in everything sweet
- sour soups (really surprised me to find out it isn't a "thing" in the West)
- plum brandy, which goes by at least five different names and is gross in all of them
Agreed about the plum brandy, and I love sour cherries and visinata. You'd be off with guessing the region I'm more in the piperchi / cheese pie / fish / baclava area. 0 -
It's interesting to see how people in different places eat differently. When I first visited the US I had to search very hard for a brand of bread I liked because most varieties tasted "too sweet" to me, which where I come from is almost unheard of, unless it's some kind of sweet roll or fluffy braid. I also remember the American family raising their eyebrows when I made a sandwich that only had some cheese with a whole tomato on the side. This was an eye opener for me.
Where I live, lunch is usually the biggest meal where most of the cooking takes place and it's usually around 4 or 5 pm. Dinner is usually pretty light, since you're already overstuffed after a late lunch.
Sandwiches are rarely more than 2 ingredients plus bread, often just some kind of spread on a piece of bread. Mostly cheese, deli meat with cheese or greek yogurt, greek yogurt with some mint, hummus, hummus and falafel.. etc
Speaking of yogurt and greek yogurt. Even though sweetened and flavored yogurt exists, it's treated like candy. I have yet to see sweetened or flavored greek yogurt, not even vanilla! Yogurt in all its forms is considered a savory food here, usually eaten with certain dishes. Greek yogurt is more of a sandwich spread or a breakfast dip (with olive oil). Always plain, always full fat and always savory.
The traditional breakfast has fried eggs, diced tomatoes and cucumber sticks, deli meat or luncheon, cheese, several dips (all eaten with pita and some dipped in olive oil), and a small cup of black tea (most often loose leaf tea boiled in water, but teabags are becoming more common)
Traditional lunch has some kind of protein, most often from an animal source (lamb, beef or chicken), rice (steamed, plain or with fried vermicelli), and some cooked vegetables in some kind of broth/tomato sauce. This meal is usually the most fatty and filling.
Dinner is either like breakfast or each makes their own sandwich.
When people visit, it's customary to serve tea or turkish coffee and fruits.
Tell us about the eating habits in your country / house.
You sound Greek are you? I am half greek and my family ate like you just mentioned above0 -
Texas
Beef, beef, and more beef, with a side of pork, preferably brisket with a side of sausage.
Tex-Mex foods like tacos, enchiladas, and always served with refried beans.
Chips and salsa all day long.
I could go on and on about desserts like banana pudding, peach cobbler, and fried ice cream.
My particular area of Texas has a lot of German food, too, so I am frequently eating schitzel and spoetzl (sp?).0 -
I'm American. Our culture is taking food other people make, adding fat and sugar and shoveling it in by the pound.
Slightly more seriously I'm in the glorious Pacific Northwest, we have...microbrews...and...um...yeah I think that's pretty much it.Well I'm in England, and I can honestly say in my opinion...there is no solid culture here! It's such a muli-cultural country that there's a little bit of everything.
I have a co-worker who lived in England for a bit, he mentioned the crappy English food to one of his friends there and she objected, then took him to a bunch of food places and had him try the great food they had. He didn't tell her that she hadn't taken him to a single place that serves actual ENGLISH food.
I've heard the joke made that England HAD to found an empire just so they could get decent food.
as far as foods we have here in the pacific northwest, we have a lot more than microbrews. We have some very fine Washington made wines, Coffee, Fresh fish, upscale markets..this is something that I personally really have missed when I've lived in other parts of the states. I really took that for granted. I always assumed that other locations had such exotic and high quality ingredients available when they didn't. I think that means that as a culture here in the pacific northwest we do tend to appreciate those things (exotic and high quality ingredients) and use them in our diets. Soon we will be able to add marijuana as a spice heh0 -
Oh wow, now that you mention it, I totally do that and never realized it!My contribution is less about food and more about silverware. I'm in the US. Many of us do this weird cutlery dance thing when cutting food with a knife.
We'll hold the knife in our dominant hand, the fork in the other, with the back of the fork facing up. We'll cut what we're eating, put down the knife, switch the fork to the other side, turn the fork so the back of it is facing the plate, stab the food and shovel it in. People in other countries apparently don't switch hands or turn the fork around.
If you're in the company of an American while they eat, look out for the silverware dance. I wasn't even aware that I did it until someone else pointed it out.
I'm in the Chicago-area and I think our big thing here is the pizza argument (deep dish is better blah blah blah) and Italian beef sandwiches.
As far as the American bread goes, I agree. I don't like the super soft bread that most brands make; it's weird. I prefer Ezekiel bread because it's not sweet and is hearty. Could be the equivalent of UK whole meal bread...?
The OP mentioned the cheese sandwich. Nothing wrong with that - I do it, too, and have done it since I was a kid! I would put my tomato in the sandwich, though, instead of on the side. Cooked tomatoes are also not weird.0
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