Amnestic: As an Englishman:-

Biscuits and Gravy: Not weird, just not had it. Looks like dumplings and some sort of stew-like sauce, which isn't weird at all.

Peanut Butter: Not weird, don't like the taste. My roommate consumes the stuff and loves it.

Bacon and Eggs: Part of a proper breakfast.

Pasta and Brocolli: Had that last night when I realised I had very little food in the flat.

Black Pepper: Not weird. Put it on a great deal of dishes.

Three Warm Meals: THIS IS NOT A FOOD. THIS IS A FOOD HABIT. Also, not weird.

Soft Bread: Staple food product. Also the quote they have is from a German and I'm fairly certain Germans have soft bread quite commonly.

Red Velvet Cake: I'll be honest, I've never heard of this before. Or I don't remember hearing about it. Either way, it doesn't seem terribly strange, just haven't had it before.

Mayo: Sandwiches, tuna, occasionally chips (that's British chips, not American chips)...yeah, I eat mayo.

Grits: Some sort of porridge? Never had it, not a huge fan of porridge dishes.

Huge Portion Sizes: THIS IS NOT A FOOD. THIS IS A FOOD HABIT. Also, a little weird to have constantly but whatever floats your boat I guess.

Salad Dressing: Not weird. Eat my salad with dressing.

Frito Pie: Basically crisps+chilli+cheese? Woulda thought that'd get soggy but hey, not that weird I guess.

Cheese: Are you farking serious?

Free Refills: THIS IS NOT A FOOD. THIS IS A SERVING OPTION.

Biscuits and Gravy: It's basically a butter-fried scone served with a thickened sausage gravy. It's entirely consistent with the world-view of a traditional English breakfast.

PB -- think Nutella made with peanuts instead of hazelnuts. Same concept.

Pasta and broccoli -- bland, but nutritious. I don't think anyone exactly likes it, but it beats starving.

Red Velvet -- It's a colored cake, somewhat between angel's food and devil's food in texture and flavor. Once you get past the color, it's just another soft cake.

Grits: varies in texture, but it's just a fried or boiled corn mash. Polenta is the same thing. If your culture has corn, it also has a grits-equivalent.

Frito Pie: Fritos are surprisingly substantial, damn near structural in nature. The outer layer of fried makes them almost water-proof. But yes, it's functionally a thick chili served over thick corn chips.

SlothB77: fries in honey mustard. stuff like scrapple and grits and sweet tea and chipped beef is foreign to northern americans. chipped beef is amazing on eggs.

Scrapple is Amish food. That's about as northern as cuisine gets.

topcon: That is an embarrassingly stupid article.

And the British guy saying he's surprised at portion sizes: Britain is every bit as fat as America is. So is Germany, and Australia, and several others now. America may have started the trend, but we're not gonna end it, by god.

Link (new window)

Link (new window)

"The German obesity rate is considered at the same level as with the American obesity rate."



Maybe, and England as well. But the "obese" there tends to be fat for sure, but nothing like American levels.

When I lived in Germany I saw one person who was "American level" obese, and she was clearly mentally disabled, and they tend to have problems with weight. Here, the fattest person I have seen looks like your standard Wal-Mart creature, but likely capable of moving a lot better as he was walking at a good clip without huffing.

Americans take obesity to "America FARK YEAH!!" levels.

OMG! Must have that sammich under "huge portion size"!

What is it, a giant reuben?

kbotc:

Tell that to the south. I can't believe how long I spent around Charleston, SC looking for some place that would sell asian ingredients. I think I checked six places, three grocery stores, three "international" food stores, and couldn't find anything for Mapo Tofu. It's only got two slightly "odd" ingredients ferchristsake! I live in a town in central IL and we've got four asian markets, three mexican grocers, and two "international" grocers. (One is mostly middle eastern, one is Indian subcontinent concentrated). That's on top of the three major chains in the area (For a town with a "metropolitan area population" of 210k, that's pretty good).

I live in Birmingham, AL. We have at least 5 different Asian groceries stores within 10 miles of me. Sounds more like a Charleston problem than a Southern one.

Grits are nasty, and I feel bad for that person that had just pasta and broccoli. I may not go 5 dishes, but crimeny, I at least have a protein, a starch and a veggie.

//Fed Kielbasa, sauerkraut, peas, mashed potatoes and gravy to a Chinese friend of my brother's that was touring America. He said he liked it at least.

One all-American food I would like to try is the Southern vegetable called "ramps." Sounds like it would be very tasty.

As for salad dressing, I have recently discovered a very easy one.

1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Mix till smooth and mix into green salad with tomatoes and chopped avocado. YUMMY!

///that is all

Take a look at a Chinese restaurant menu. With the exception of the "crab rangoon". Can you find any dishes with cheese in them?

I live here in America and I still don't get grits though I did come from the north. Sweet butter mush yuck give me hash browns

They disrespected Frito Pie

Game on, biatches, now you gots to die

I don't know what it is, but I never enjoyed what we (americans) eat for breakfast. When I was last in germany, I took a picture of what I actually want to eat:

(click to see higher res)

Barely pictured to the left: a basket of fresh bread, not american-style white bread.

smimmy: kbotc:

Tell that to the south. I can't believe how long I spent around Charleston, SC looking for some place that would sell asian ingredients. I think I checked six places, three grocery stores, three "international" food stores, and couldn't find anything for Mapo Tofu. It's only got two slightly "odd" ingredients ferchristsake! I live in a town in central IL and we've got four asian markets, three mexican grocers, and two "international" grocers. (One is mostly middle eastern, one is Indian subcontinent concentrated). That's on top of the three major chains in the area (For a town with a "metropolitan area population" of 210k, that's pretty good).

I live in Birmingham, AL. We have at least 5 different Asian groceries stores within 10 miles of me. Sounds more like a Charleston problem than a Southern one.

It's not a Charleston problem either. The stores aren't well advertised, but they're there if you look for them.

Do you know the way to Mordor: One all-American food I would like to try is the Southern vegetable called "ramps." Sounds like it would be very tasty.

Unless they are different from WV ramps, they are just a variety of wild onion. Not all that remarkable.

I don't understand "squishy" bread either. I'd much rather have a nice crusty piece of bread. But that comment was from a German. I don't "get" any German food besides sausage. The best thing to eat there is Turkish food. Have you ever had German salsa? DON'T

A truely strange food: the Moco Loco.

These are an invention of Hawaiians, and is probbaly the direct cause of about 50% of the obesity problem on the island where I lived for a couple years.

Baiscally, take a bed of white rice, put a hamburger patty and a fried egg on it, and cover the whole thing in brown gravy.

It's actually quite delicious, but one "mini"-loco from the college cafeteria was enough to feed me for pretty much the whole day.

Also I never quite got over the spam sushi, spam musubi, and hot dog musubi from 7-11.

Cheese?

Mayo (it is french) so is dressings. Blame the french

I have to agree with them on the Mayonnaise. Who the fark thought that shiat, or any salad dressing, tasted good a dam hamburger. Not to mention butter, I mean really a butter burger? Because a fast food hamburger just was not greasy and unhealthy enough.

Buy some fresh hamburger and form it into a patty with a little egg to keep it together and some onions if you like them. Grill over open flame. Add lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and cheese if you like.

If you don't usually eat hamburgers at home it will be the best dam burger you have tasted in a long time.

bobbette: You're not correct. Most Asian adults, like almost everybody who isn't of northern European descent, don't have lactase
It's not

Some degree of lactose intolerance, sure. But the idea that the vast majority of people outside North America don't eat dairy products at all, is, as I said, complete crap.

If it makes any difference, I've heard a lot of diary products such as cheese and ice cream has less lactose than milk, so there are people who can't drink milk but who still eat cheese. I don't really know or care about the details. All I know is, cheese and ice cream are eaten in every city of the world by the natives living there.

I have no idea, really, why people want to cling to this myth, but it's annoying.

As a Chinese growing up in Hong Kong and then moved to Canada:

Biscuits and Gravy: not weird since we had these in KFC.

Peanut Butter: Not weird.

Bacon and Eggs: Not weird, but I can see these being weird if not influenced by the British.

Pasta and Brocolli: only these? at least put some tomato or alfredo sauce in it...

Black Pepper: not weird.

Three Warm Meals: not weird.

Soft Bread: not weird.

Red Velvet Cake: not weird. love red velvet.

Mayo: love mayo, especially with fries (or fish and chips), or fruit salad (scared one of my Caucasian frds, mixing mayo with fruit)

Grits: huh? what's this? I guess this is weird then..

Huge Portion Sizes: i suppose...

Salad Dressing: it's a bit weird at first... Actually it's the whole raw vegetable thing.. as Chinese says, it's like cow eating grass... the only raw lettuce in HongKong would be on a BigMac, and I don't like BigMac for exactly that... took about 5yrs to get used to having green salad with ranch or caesar, another 5 for vinegar and oil... just starting to get used to wild salad after almost 17 years...

Frito Pie: no idea what this is.. doesn't look too appetizing.

Cheese: again.. took 5 yrs to get used to having real cheese.. another 5 to start actually enjoying it... The only cheese I had in Hong Kong was either on a pizza, or in McDonalds... and I always tried to pick out the cheese and pickle from a hamburger.

Free Refills: doesn't exist in HK, but I can get used to it...


Some other things I found strange when I first moved here
-Shepherds Pie - had it in some sort of organized trip with inclusive meal... it felt like left overs from the previous days stuffed under mashed potato... I remember I was thinking "these cheapos.."
-BBQ Ribs - In Asia we like the meat firm and stick to the bones... Westerner like it tender and "fall off the bone".. my dad still hates them..
-Cookies - again we liked it hard and crunchy... Westerner like it soft and chewie..
-Soup for meal - soup is not a meal....still is not...
-Pickled egg - still haven't tried it... but then Chinese has thousand-year egg.. guess we are even..

d_the_sandman: No matter where you go, there's always a tourist industry to provide westerners with all the comforts of home. I'll grant you that.

I'm not talking about what tourists eat, nor am I debating what is or isn't traditional. I'm talking about what the locals eat. It may be more popular in major cities, it may be something older people don't go in for, you may not see it in tiny rural villages, but if you go to Beijing or Seoul or Bangkok or any other decent-sized city in Asia, you will find locals eating ice cream.

NotARocketScientist: I dip my fries in 1,000 Island dressing. It's beyond farking awesome.

1000 island dressing is a sandwich spread. Put it on a bun with pastrami and sharp cheddar!

ranch dressing is good on sweet potato fries, but not regular ones - BBQ or steak sauce for them.

I didn't understand why they only served noodles (pasta) & green cauliflower (broccoli) for dinner.

This IS bizarre. I've never seen anyone serve that as a meal.

Not bizarre at all. You'd have a bit of olive oil, real butter, garlic, and parmesan on it, of course, but it's a lovely meal. Reasonably healthy, not very expensive, and easily scaled to accommodate unexpected guests. I have yet to find someone who wasn't pleasantly surprised by the taste. Works well with fresh asparagus, too. Makes your veg friends happy as well unless they won't eat butter, and honestly it works just fine with good olive oil. I just prefer the butter and a LOT of garlic.

Mind you, I usually make some spicy sauteed shrimp (with red pepper flakes and garlic and oil) or chicken breast to have with it, but not always.

Beerguy: [captainraoul.com image 500x344]

At Lambert's in Sikeston, MO you can get a cigar with one of their meals.

ciberido: I defy you to name one country on this Earth that does not have ice cream.

CasperImproved: Ethiopia

"As one would expect, Ethiopians do not eat many desserts, however, through the influence of the Italian occupation in the early 1900's, Gelato and Ice Creams have made their way to the diets of Ethiopians in the larger towns and cities. Along with the Pasta and Pizza houses, Gelato is quite common."

http://www.ethiopiadownunder.com.au/photos/custom_004.htm

Next?

Portion sizes is spot on -- but it's not a weird food, just a strange habit we have here. A normal portion of red meat is supposed to be the size of a deck of cards, but at the restaurant a block away from me they have some steaks that are 1" thick and as large as the plate it's served on. ONLY $30. WHAT A DEAL FOR THAT 28oz. of meat, GIVE ME IT ALL!!!! OM NOM NOM!

Louisiana_Sitar_Club: "Mayonnaise! People put that on everything, some even dip their french fries on it!! Yuck!!" -- Pat, Mexico

STFU, Pat from Mexico. Mexicans love it so much that it's more apt to be on their corn than butter is. Don't give me that "Ew, I don't understand American's and their mayonnaise!" crap.

My fiance is Mexican (from Pachuca), and yes, mayo, lime, chili on corn on the cob is a staple. Mayo is found in many other dishes as well, but usually in combo w/ other ingredients.

Polenta and grits are very different foods. Polenta is corn meal mixed with water and allow to congeal. In Missouri we call it mush. Grits are made from hominy. Corn that's soaked in lye till it swells. The hominy is then dried and ground to make the dry grits. Later the grits are cooked like a breakfast cereal. Thou a better way to consume hominy is to cook it in bacon drippings.

sandi_fish: StoPPeRmobile: [www.dutch-food-online.com image 400x334]

I saw that in the Netherlands. It was for breakfast, I believe. I think I even tried it. I can't even biatch about it, it's chocolate.

Yep. Some butter the bread.

woodstock827: -Cookies - again we liked it hard and crunchy... Westerner like it soft and chewie..

just like our poop!

I'm off to get a frito pie right now!

SlothB77: fries in honey mustard. stuff like scrapple and grits and sweet tea and chipped beef is foreign to northern americans. chipped beef is amazing on eggs.

When I was living in Mongolia I have a Czech friend who invited me to dinner. We went to Bohemia in Ulaanbaatar. I didn't know anything about Czech food, so I asked him for advice. He suggested I try the svíčková na smetaně, because "it is a really authentic dish, and I want you to get a taste of Czech food." So I ordered it, and it was delivered to our table a few minutes later. "Yes," he told me, "this is a very traditional Czech food." After the first bite, I started laughing. He asked me why, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that svíčková tasted almost exactly like cream chipped beef.

I like that there are no complaints about hamburgers. Makes me want to go get one now that I think about it. I know some Korean guys that looooooooove hamburgers.

r1niceboy: Never ask for ice cubes in France unless you watch them pour some Evian into an ice tray. I once asked for ice and got these brown ice cubes. The tap water is nothing short of sewage unless you're in the Alps. That's why they drink so much wine. Belgium, however, has great tap water and will happily give you all the ice you could ask for.

This is good advice for any country whose tap water you wouldn't want to drink. You have to avoid anything with ice in it (unless it's "special" ice made from bottled water). You should also be careful about eating fruit or anything else that's been recently washed and not carefully dried off, if you don't trust the water. Depending on how cautious you want to be (everyone must decide that for themself), that's a LOT of delicious food and beverage you may be missing out on.

I remember how longingly I looked at lassis being made by street vendors in India because I didn't want to risk them. They're made by mixing yoghurt with water. The yoghurt is safe enough, but the water mixed in could be a big problem.

/finally took the plunge
//sweet, sweet lassis

Americans are completely ignorant when it comes to cheese.
A world of flavour awaits them if they ever decide to venture past canned/processed/spray cheese (...and I include Moneterey Jack in that grouping).

It was years ago, and I remember one of my co-workers used to take a few from the breakfast table and keep them in his bag. We'd bring those home from Holland, along with the great teas.

"Mayonnaise! People put that on everything, some even dip their french fries on it!! Yuck!!" -- Pat, Mexico

I actually learned that one from the Netherlands.

I_Am_Weasel:
Oh, and spray cheese.

Spray cheese, while terrible, is a also a hilarious testament to our state of technological evolution. We are advanced, because figured out how to can and aerosol the flavor of cheese. For this reason, I cannot hate it.

Pat and Joselyne ain't from Mexico. Mayo and salad dressing are used all over Mexico.

SlothB77: I saw this in a German supermarket. Because we definitely put beans and corn on our pizza's:

Oh my FSM... I hoped/prayed that corn on pizza was limited to Asia

The horror, the horror....

For really awesome Frito Pie,forget the Hormel & get some Cin Chili.

/Frito Pie was invented at the Woolworth's on the Santa Fe Plaza
//You Texans can claim you invented it,but us New Mexicans know the truth

:D

northguineahills: My fiance is Mexican (from Pachuca), and yes, mayo, lime, chili on corn on the cob is a staple

And it's delicious. And I don't even have to drive my lazy ass anywhere to get it. Homey just cruises up and down the block with his cart every weekend. For the kids, it's the ice cream truck song that gets the blood pumping. For me, it's the little (ding ding ding ding).

a9735z: Yea the bread thing is pretty funny actually. Most bread is pretty god awful in America.

GymnasiumPants: Americans are completely ignorant when it comes to cheese.
A world of flavour awaits them if they ever decide to venture past canned/processed/spray cheese (...and I include Moneterey Jack in that grouping).

I honestly don't get what it is with Americans and cheese, bread, and beer. It's not like it's that hard to get good bread, good cheese, and good beer in the USA. But most Americans eschew the good stuff and go for Wonder bread, American cheese, and crap beer. It can't just be money.

You wouldn't even have to take a separate trip to a cheese shop or bakery. You can at least get decent bread, cheese, and beer, in almost any grocery store. So if it's not about money and not about convenience, then why do Americans keep buying the junk?

For all the folks ignorant of the joy that is chilli pie. For a quick introduction just visit your local Sonic drive in. Sonic Frito pie is like McDonald's burgers. Gives a good start point and a hint of what's out there. If your area doesn't have a Sonic why do you live there?

quietwalker: I don't know what it is, but I never enjoyed what we (americans) eat for breakfast. When I was last in germany, I took a picture of what I actually want to eat:

[i.imgur.com image 492x369](click to see higher res)

Barely pictured to the left: a basket of fresh bread, not american-style white bread.

As much as I love my toast, hashbrowns, bacon, eggs, and coffee I actually prefer a traditional Scandinavian or German style breakfast. Just as filling but nowhere near as "heavy."

ciberido: a9735z: Yea the bread thing is pretty funny actually. Most bread is pretty god awful in America.

GymnasiumPants: Americans are completely ignorant when it comes to cheese.
A world of flavour awaits them if they ever decide to venture past canned/processed/spray cheese (...and I include Moneterey Jack in that grouping).

I honestly don't get what it is with Americans and cheese, bread, and beer. It's not like it's that hard to get good bread, good cheese, and good beer in the USA. But most poor Americans eschew the good stuff and go for Wonder bread, American cheese, and crap beer. It can't just be money.

You wouldn't even have to take a separate trip to a cheese shop or bakery. You can at least get decent bread, cheese, and beer, in almost any grocery store. So if it's not about money and not about convenience, then why do Americans keep buying the junk?

fixed that for you. Poor people who want quantity over quality buy that crap. Those of us who are able to pay a bit more eschew those things because we can.
it's about both cost and convenience. when jenny trailerpark and her swarm of younguns trundle into the super walmart, they want to get as much as they can for their money... white bread, shiatty beer... pre-packaged cheese* slices.

I don't eat much cheese, but I avoid "american" cheese altogether. On a sandwich, I go for muenster, provolone, or pepper-jack
sliced loaf bread is another thing I avoid.
I don't remember the last time I drank "american adjunct lager". You're more likely to find something by Red Hook, Dominion, Starr Hill, or Sierra Nevada in my fridge than anything else.