Any American meals that your european guests loved or hated?
Sep 21st, 2004, 09:16 PM
#21
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We had some friends visiting from England a few weeks ago and I made them my recipe from Le Grand Cafe for the cold soup and had Copper River Salmon and they were very impressed. Of course, they were from England, so I wasn't too intimated cooking for them (LOL) and believe me, that recipe from Le Grand Cafe is a real winner--how can you go wrong when the lst ingredient is a bottle of red wine! (Check it out...legrandcafe.com).
Sep 21st, 2004, 10:00 PM
#22
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I admit that I may have strange eating habits but in Italy I made my Italian friend green when he saw me mix up one of my favorite snacks.
Plain yogurt, raw oatmeal, sliced fruit and almond butter
He looked at me like I was nutty! I said, what, you don't eat health food in Italy?
He said the looks of it is making me unhealthy.
Plain yogurt, raw oatmeal, sliced fruit and almond butter
He looked at me like I was nutty! I said, what, you don't eat health food in Italy?
He said the looks of it is making me unhealthy.
Sep 22nd, 2004, 02:34 AM
#23
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Hamburgers. Even now living in the UK everyone loves my hamburgers. It's because they all buy those horrific frozen burgers that are half-filler, or these nasty things called spice burgers, instead of doing the hard work of patting together some mince.
Sep 22nd, 2004, 04:00 AM
#24
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Baked beans (with lots of brown sugar), cole slaw and bbq ribs are favorites of my friend from Germany. He also likes to buy Sam's Choice chocolate chip cookies; blueberry pop tarts and blueberry muffins. 
Oh, and loves KFC. LOL
Oh, and loves KFC. LOL
Sep 22nd, 2004, 04:14 AM
#25
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How many years ago was this, Anne ? I would be astonished if anyone in England in the last 30 years had not heard of or eaten chilli (as we spell it). Did they live somewhere really remote ? I had it for lunch in my office canteen only yesterday, although I'm sure it wasn't as good as yours !
Sep 22nd, 2004, 04:17 AM
#26
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Our German exchange student loved okra. She and all other Germans I know hate American white bread. As Suki said, who can blame them? One German friend calls it "Kaugummibrot" (chewing gum bread) because of the texture. He thinks it's really funny to form it into dice. Our exchange student also thought American milk tasted awful.
Sep 22nd, 2004, 04:25 AM
#27
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caroline_edinburgh: I was wondering that very thing myself!
nibblette: What?! I would suggest that had far more to do with the cooking and the fact he was probably trying to make you happy by looking impressed. We DO have hamburgers here (though tend to call them beefburgers) - and equally ann41, your reply refers to our 'laziness', not the fact that it's a traditional American meal. I imagine that there are plenty of Americans who can't be bothered to make burgers from scratch either.
Personally, my two favourite things that I had for the first time in the States were cornbread and red beans & rice. Of the latter I even get my friend who lives out there to send me the packet stuff over every now and again! I KNOW that it's not the real thing but I don't care - it still tastes damn good and unlike anything you can get here! As for cornbread, I've given up trying to make it - it always turns out dreadful!
nibblette: What?! I would suggest that had far more to do with the cooking and the fact he was probably trying to make you happy by looking impressed. We DO have hamburgers here (though tend to call them beefburgers) - and equally ann41, your reply refers to our 'laziness', not the fact that it's a traditional American meal. I imagine that there are plenty of Americans who can't be bothered to make burgers from scratch either.
Personally, my two favourite things that I had for the first time in the States were cornbread and red beans & rice. Of the latter I even get my friend who lives out there to send me the packet stuff over every now and again! I KNOW that it's not the real thing but I don't care - it still tastes damn good and unlike anything you can get here! As for cornbread, I've given up trying to make it - it always turns out dreadful!
Sep 22nd, 2004, 04:32 AM
#28
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Relatives from Switzlerand and Germany were bowled over by the local Dungeness crab we served them in Sequim, WA. They thought it was the best crab they'd ever tasted.
Re corn, they also didn't care for it UNTIL we sat them down, picked the corn straight from our own garden and immediately cooked it on the grill. They said they'd never realized how good corn on the cob can be. What passes for "corn on the cob" here in Europe is shrink-wrapped stuff, days, probably weeks old, and flavorless. No wonder they think it's fit only for animals. We're going to start growing our own corn next summer and invite our European friends to taste the real deal.
Re corn, they also didn't care for it UNTIL we sat them down, picked the corn straight from our own garden and immediately cooked it on the grill. They said they'd never realized how good corn on the cob can be. What passes for "corn on the cob" here in Europe is shrink-wrapped stuff, days, probably weeks old, and flavorless. No wonder they think it's fit only for animals. We're going to start growing our own corn next summer and invite our European friends to taste the real deal.
Sep 22nd, 2004, 05:55 AM
#29
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most of my spanish friends love spinach salad,and all other types of salad inventions, cheesecakes, all the different cookies and pies, dips for chips, frozen smoothie drinks..
and i cannot imagine them eating peanut butter.
it is the biggest complaint of my exchange students about u.s. food suggested to them for box lunches.
thanksgiving fare is also well apprecitated and most people did not know we had such a traditional menu and so elaborated.
sweet potatoes have gone over very well as have yummy scalloped potatoes.
and i cannot imagine them eating peanut butter.
it is the biggest complaint of my exchange students about u.s. food suggested to them for box lunches.
thanksgiving fare is also well apprecitated and most people did not know we had such a traditional menu and so elaborated.
sweet potatoes have gone over very well as have yummy scalloped potatoes.
Sep 22nd, 2004, 06:08 AM
#32
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I once made a 4th of July dinner for my French neighbors - barbecued pork (couldn't find ribs in the Intermarché and had to settle for what looked like thick slabs of bacon), baked beans, coleslaw, and corn on the cob. They loved the pork and baked beans, picked at the coleslaw, and refused to touch the corn - that's animal feed, not fit for humans, they said.
Sep 22nd, 2004, 06:19 AM
#33
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I'm really confused by this whole corn on the cob thing. We (I'm in London) eat it all the time - and I certainly always have done. I've never heard it referred to as animal food before.
For those of you who've encountered this rather strange phenomenon - do your friends eat corn that's NOT on the cob?
For those of you who've encountered this rather strange phenomenon - do your friends eat corn that's NOT on the cob?
Sep 22nd, 2004, 06:19 AM
#34
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An American friend who moved to Italy kept the tradition of American Thanksgiving. She would invite her new Italian friends over for roast turkey with all the trimmings.
The turkey was a great source of amazement. One large bird roasted is very unusual in Italy. She even had difficulty getting the butcher to sell one to her--he kept offering to cut it into smaller pieces, saying it would be no problem. The guests were amazed by the bird and also by a bowl of corn. As someone else mentioned, it's considered food for anmals in the form.
Italians who have visited me in the states just don't understand peanut butter--they find it disgusting. Toasted marshmallows puzzled some of them as well.
The turkey was a great source of amazement. One large bird roasted is very unusual in Italy. She even had difficulty getting the butcher to sell one to her--he kept offering to cut it into smaller pieces, saying it would be no problem. The guests were amazed by the bird and also by a bowl of corn. As someone else mentioned, it's considered food for anmals in the form.
Italians who have visited me in the states just don't understand peanut butter--they find it disgusting. Toasted marshmallows puzzled some of them as well.
Sep 22nd, 2004, 06:27 AM
#35
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I'm a European living in Canada, and I hate root beer, don't like peanut butter and don't like pancakes. Root beer tastes radioactive.
I also don't like that all the sweets are too sweet - the kind that give you a tummy-ache.
I love all the salads and the fact that you can get them as a meal. I love freshly-made chocolate-chips cookies and the thanksgiving tradition. I also love fried chicken, and also saltwater fish -- coming from a landlocked country.
I also don't like that all the sweets are too sweet - the kind that give you a tummy-ache.
I love all the salads and the fact that you can get them as a meal. I love freshly-made chocolate-chips cookies and the thanksgiving tradition. I also love fried chicken, and also saltwater fish -- coming from a landlocked country.
Sep 22nd, 2004, 06:29 AM
#36
Interesting thread...
Our spanish exchange student said we ate too much with sauces, and boycotted anything that wasn't plain and unadulterated. I never realized it, then stood back and looked at it from her point of view, and I guess we did (potatoes au gratin, chicken cordon bleu, spaghetti bolognese etc...)
My Irish SO, when he first came to the States in 94, hated sub sandwiches (long sandwiches on soft rolls like from Subway or Quiznos). We got a couple for a roadtrip once, he insisted on butter instead of mayo and still refused to eat his ham & cheese sub. Today, there are Subways all over Dublin and he takes one to work daily, with mayo. He also threw up over a Dunkin Donuts jelly donut...blasphemy!
Our spanish exchange student said we ate too much with sauces, and boycotted anything that wasn't plain and unadulterated. I never realized it, then stood back and looked at it from her point of view, and I guess we did (potatoes au gratin, chicken cordon bleu, spaghetti bolognese etc...)
My Irish SO, when he first came to the States in 94, hated sub sandwiches (long sandwiches on soft rolls like from Subway or Quiznos). We got a couple for a roadtrip once, he insisted on butter instead of mayo and still refused to eat his ham & cheese sub. Today, there are Subways all over Dublin and he takes one to work daily, with mayo. He also threw up over a Dunkin Donuts jelly donut...blasphemy!
Sep 22nd, 2004, 06:30 AM
#37
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I have a friend who has lived in London and now Barcelona, and she said everyone loves when she makes brownies, they have never had them before!!! And I know she said they don't have ranch dressing over there, so she always takes tons of those mix packets back with her!
Sep 22nd, 2004, 06:33 AM
#38
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My husband is from Scotland and he still can't seem to get over peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He absolutely loves them and went through a period when here to California 5 years ago where he ate them for breakfast lunch and dinner. He seemed equally enthusiastic about oranges from the backyard, 50/50 bars and RC cola. On the other hand, every chocolate he's ever tasted, besides See's gets the big American chocolate is crap lecture. "All sugar and wax, where's the chocolate?"
Sep 22nd, 2004, 06:34 AM
#39
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Tallulah: I think the corn thing is very regional. In the Dordogne, corn is grown exclusively to force feed the ducks and geese and is not considered food for humans. I thought I might try it out on the neighbors, but they weren't buying it. They don't eat corn off the cob, either, in general. Every once in awhile you'll see a "salade méxicaine" on a menu, and that's a signal that there will be corn kernels in it, but the locals would never order that.
