Intl Food Talk
 

I always feel upset when people talking like we are good food deprived in US.
I am strongly disagree and just want to say it out loud !

I am wondering, though what Europeans, whos food "obviously" better think about our food. Ever heard them talking ?

I mean we have enough Europeans here, would you, guys speak up, please :)

I'm an American who has lived all over the world, in Italy for the last 13 years, with lots of trips to the US. So I guess I'm entitled to an opinion on this.

The Europeans you refer to may be out of date or eating at the wrong restaurants. There is lots of good food in the US today, even in the supermarkets, I suppose because many Americans are learning to appreciate it. The same can be said about the English, who used to have a terrible reputation where food is concerned. There is also lots of bad food available in the US (and the UK); in my experience, you really have to go out of your way to eat badly in Italy.


best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

http://www.straughan.com

Of course America now has the likes of Alain Ducasse, and all the fusion food of California. It does have undoubtedly excellent food, in the major cities. However, lets take Italy, even a tiny village with maybe a rustic restaurant will offer finer quality food than its US counterpart.

Traditionally, all haute cuisine has originated in Europe which has a much longer culinary tradition, especially France, which has always taken food exceptionally seriously.

Well, they do have better chocolate and cheese!

Actually, I don't hear people saying that. We must hang out in different circles.

Keith

Thanks, feeling better already

Well, you asked for it...

I wouldn't dream of comparing "European" food with American food, as there's no such thing as European food.

The French and Italians have a genius for stuff that's so often excellent it is truly shocking (and rare) to find mediocre food - raw or in a restaurant - in their countries. Though buy anything in an Italian supermarket with the "Star" brand, or a pre-wrapped sandwich in a French convenience store, and you'll see how, when they feel like it, the French and Italians can produce some of the world's worst food too. And the food on their trains and planes is dreadful.

But that's rare. These two countries (and arguably Belgium, though food there's often a bit rich for me) are matched only by Hong Kong and Vietnam in the near-impossibility of finding anything other than excellent going on stellar restaurant food.

Germany, Holland, Scandinavia and the UK are pretty much like the US. There's some excellent restaurants, a lot of really lousy restaurants and if you look hard you can get good-quality raw material in the markets and supermarkets. But most of what's on sale you really shouldn't feed your dog on.

If I had to generalise, I'd say that you can generally rely on US restaurants to give you a good time. You can't rely on them to give you good food (any more than you can in most of Europe).

And if the US wanted to do one thing to improve its relations with the rest of the world? Outlaw the practice of waiters introducing themselves, describing menus with their bizarre pronunciations, interupting my conversation with nonsensical questions about how I liked the food, and giving me the bill before I'm ready. In other words, a law that taught American waiters that service is what the customer wants.

And this customer, almost every time he eats in your fine country, finds service in American restaurants is a disgrace.

You asked...

I LMAO, flanneruk !
It IS very annoying, isn't it, when they do ask you "how are you guys doing" every time they pass by and trying to wrestle plate from you even after you said "I am still *working* on it" (sound kind of stupid).
I remember waiting for my mignon at the wedding, finally seeing it and DARN ! was invited to dance.
When I came back after 1 dance - my gorgeous juicy fillet was GONE ! Bummer :)

You dance during the meal?!!!??

That says it all!!

Hi ziana,

Food in the US, in some ways, has gotten much better over the last 50 years.

I remember when tuna noodle cassarole with cream of mushroom soup and canned fried onions on top was considered fancy food.

However, bread is nothing like it used to be. Western Europe has much better breads.

OTOH, pizza is a lot better.

OK, how about our BBQ ?
Cheesesteaks ?
Hoaggies ?
STEAKS of all sorts, shapes and forms ?

And lemme tell you, I doubt if any Italian makes better pizza then my local Pizza shop - my apology then.:)

I though so :)))))

Here in Naples, Florida we've enjoyed a real burst of new and exciting restaurants over the past few years. We've gone from a steak and salad bar location to a place with a number of exceptional restaurants.
The other day at Starbuck's I overheard some loud-mouth tourist saying, "these people think they have good restaurants. There's not one place to get a decent meal in Naples." Some people are idiots. I too have heard that "there is no such thing as true Italian food in the US", or "you'll never get a creme brulee in the US like you can at any cafe in Paris". Hogwash!

And for that matter, many US restaurants are run and chef-staffed by Europeans.

Haven't y'all ever lived in or traveled to the American South? That's where you'll find the country's true culinary tradition.

Believe me--if you eat poorly in Texas, Louisiana, or the South Carolina Lowcountry, you're doing something wrong.

Some comments about food: Have eaten some outstanding food in US (what can compare with a freshly steamed lobster on the beach), had wonderful food in London despite the bad hype and had several meals in Viet Nam and Cambodia that were downright scary due to lack of refrigeration. Heard from many people that the food in Turkey is great and had one good dinner in 3 weeks, despite seeking out the 'best' restaurants. Some places worlwide are great for food, some for scenery, museums and people watching and if you're lucky you get all of the above. Isn't that why many of travel?

I disagree abut the Southern culinary tradition - I have traveled in Georgia and South Carolina on business and have had the most miserable meals imaginable - everything greasy, full of cholesterol, cooked to the consistency of pap and almost completely tasteless. And grits - what's with that? (A sort of Wheatena like your mother tortured you with as a child?) In one highly recommended pancake house they didn't even have butter or maple syrup - only margerine and some brown sweet stuff. Ick! That said, I'm sure that there are some good restaurants in all cities - but outside of New York and San Francisco (in both of which it is still perfectly possible to get really terrible food) I order defensively (what would it be hardest for the chef to ruin?) even in the "best" but usually only the most expensive - restaurants.

I have only ever had one bad meal in Italy (in Venice - which I think is a function of being overrun by tourists who don;t know any better), have never had a bad meal in Belgium but have had quite a few mediocre ones in France. I agree the rest of Europe is more similar to the US - a mix of excellent, good, pleasant, pedestrian and poor -but our lows seem worse then theirs.

And sorry - while barbecuing a steak in the backyard may not taste too bad it does not qualify as cuisine.

I live in Belgium; food here is indeed nearly always good, but also its very conservative; fine if you want dover sole or steak au poivre, but try to find a decent curry in Antwerp! And you DO NOT always eat well in France.
Some of the best food I've had has been in New York and California (not in Georgia, where I also lived, but this was 20 years ago, so things might have changed there!). Not having a 'cuisine' of your own allows you to borrow from other's more easily.
What I don't like about US restaurants is that service is often too fast; and they take plates away while not everyone in the party has finished eating (even in expensive restaurants this happens). No lingering over a last glass of wine at the table.

Ahhhh, the food debate continues.

There are many issues at hand here. The first that I've noticed after traveling extensively and having worked in the fine dining business half my life is that there is a radical difference between eating out and dining out. My experience is that many, many Americans eat out because they need to eat and either can't or don't feel like cooking. Another issue is that Europeans tend to eat out more often. Their kitchen's are smaller and often will entertain out rather than cook in (I know these may be gross over-generalizations so don't jump all over me)

The dining vs. eating out issue also contributes to some of those long lingering dinners we love in Europe. Other issues are, the waiters in the US basically work on commission, if I can put 25 people in seats instead of 18 every night I make an extra $15K a year in tips! If I were to be paid a salary as in every other country, what's my incentive to move people along or get them out early? Also, the smoking in restaurants extends the evening (not that that's such a good thing). I've actually been fired for delivering what I'll call European service. I think some American's have gotten so used to waitstaff interruptions, squatting to take an order, auctioning off food when delivered, etc. that they somehow feel they aren't being "waited on" if the waiter is only around when something's needed.

Believe it or not, many European chefs are actually jealous our the product we have to work with in the States. Granted, we'll never have the cheeses of Europe due to silly pasteurization rules but even there we are starting to have a lot of great cheeses being made in the States. Part of that problem is cultural, how many of us are willing to pay the $12-20 for a good cheese plate in this country? Between the carb crazies and the fat crazies, the restaurant throws half away. Not a huge incentive to put out a great product. Also, most of us eat too much from a portion standpoint and value quantity over quality. Just go into any national chain and you'll see what I mean. When was the last time you saw a chain restaurant in Europe?

Also, it's much more expensive to run a restaurant in the States although our product costs tend to be a bit less except for wine which is marked up to generate a huge percentage of the restrateur's profit.

That being said, there is a lot of great food in this country and it's getting better all the time. Ask a chef in Paris about the lobsters available in New England, the endless seasons of great produce, the quality of our beef, etc.. Ask them if their clientele would allow them to do fusion along side a coq a vin?

There's great food here and great food there, great food, great food everywhere! Search it out. When you find it go back and also tell your friends. Try the specials, ask for something special, they'll love you!

Well, now I've got to sharpen my knives and prep for dinner. A simple monk fish with mushroom sauce tonight . . .

Via con dios,

Brian

I agree that there's a lot of good--and quite a bit of great--food in this country. Quality ingredients and sensitive, skilled preparation are not exclusive to any one continent.

Last night we headed out to a restaurant we had never heard of (my husband won a gift certificate). It was deep in the heart of a rather gritty, working-class neighborhood.

It was fabulous! We went against my little rule of "never order fish/seafood" on a Sunday, and I am so glad we did. I had melt-in-your-mouth seared scallops in a balsamic reduction as an appetizer, my husband had mussels and clams in a garlic-sherry cream sauce. The shrimp in my pasta entree was tender and sweet. The only non-seafood item ordered--my husband's chicken with olives, capers, tomatoes--was equally satisfying.

Couldn't tell you about desert, because we had no room for it. In fact, they had to wrap up my entree for me to take home.

We left divinely satisfied and our bill was $44 (it was a BYOB so we brought our own wine).

So whether you're here (US) or there (Europe), take a chance occasionally. Try something new, eat somewhere without a reco, maybe even some place that isn't listed in Zagat's.

Tulips, I agree with you that it's hard to find a good curry in Antwerp. A curry is not what I would call a Belgian specialty! On the contrary, it's completely opposite to our Belgian taste and that's probably why these restaurants are not popular overhere.
I think you will admit, though, that traditional Belgian food is, in general, very good.

What I think is best in the U.S. is Salads. We had a whole garden full of ved as a kid and I only ever ate home grown tomatoes. They are probably all GM now but they were yummy then. There is more choice in supermarkets but there is the population to support this.

Saying this I never ate good natural cheese untill I moved to europe.

The U.S. does good middle priced meals which is hard to find in Dublin for the same prices and variety.