What American foods do Europeans love?
Feb 6th, 2012, 10:35 AM
#63
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If anybody ever suggested that there could be a site that managed to combine opinions on maple syrup, the metric system and a comparative immigration policy study into one single thread I would have called him a liar. But then again there is Fodor's... where threads go where no one has gone before.
Feb 6th, 2012, 10:43 AM
#64
One trip, I bought three tins (shaped like a log cabin)
of our New England Maple Syrup. they were given to three
couples who live in different parts of France. They all didn't like it, too sweet for their tastes.
of our New England Maple Syrup. they were given to three
couples who live in different parts of France. They all didn't like it, too sweet for their tastes.
Feb 6th, 2012, 12:52 PM
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Peanuts are definitely New World, as are most beans. Also, tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers, chilis, sweet potatoes, and more. Honestly, I suspect we would barely recognize European cuisine from before the Columbian Exchange.
Feb 6th, 2012, 01:49 PM
#68
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to clarify: my purpose was to get a few ideas for some US items we have in that aren't as ubiquitous over there... It sounds like Maple syrup and peanut butter are pretty popular 
really enjoying most of the responses so far... i live in North Carolina where our BBQ is what we're famous for. i like to smoke pork and chicken over hickory wood and the iced tea is legendary (and very sweet). On a nice day marinated chicken quarters will be thrown on the grill with ice cold beer in hand... it's basted in tangy BBQ sauce minutes before they're finished and served with sweet corn on the cob & potato salad
just a peak at my grilling/BBQ on my fb page here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...3&l=7f3403574a
really enjoying most of the responses so far... i live in North Carolina where our BBQ is what we're famous for. i like to smoke pork and chicken over hickory wood and the iced tea is legendary (and very sweet). On a nice day marinated chicken quarters will be thrown on the grill with ice cold beer in hand... it's basted in tangy BBQ sauce minutes before they're finished and served with sweet corn on the cob & potato salad
just a peak at my grilling/BBQ on my fb page here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...3&l=7f3403574a
Feb 6th, 2012, 01:52 PM
#69
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Cigal, possibly the reason your French friends did not like the Log Cabin Maple Syrup (the kind that used to come in a cabin-shaped tin) is because it is not real maple syrup. In the past it was mixed/diluted with corn syrup, and lately with sugar to make the product. Some brands are even artificially flavored and have no maple syrup in them at all. Believe me, real, pure, maple syrup is quite a different thing from the imitations. It is usually thinner and not so cloyingly sweet. The real stuff here is not cheap.
Feb 6th, 2012, 02:42 PM
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Feb 6th, 2012, 03:34 PM
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In so many cases, the distinction between American food and "ERuropean" food is so unclear as to be meaningless. Just what is American food? Surf and turf (a nice t bone steak with grilled mushrooms and onions served with a lobster tail (perhaps from South Africa)? Is that "American"? Is a big mac American even though the cow is from Scotland or France? Are frankfurters Americans even though they are called wursts in Germany? But I'll tell you my own little story.
About five years ago, I was doing a coach tour (yes I know, they suck) and this particular tour that day was in Krakow in Poland. For those of you unfamiliar, the way these tours usually work in most any city is they give you a morning orientation tour in the morning as part of the included itinerary, drop you in the heart of town for lunch and then might have an optional tour in the afternnon. Anyway we finished the tour in the main square of Krakow, a beautifully restored town center by the way, and I was so impressed how the Poles have rebuilt their cdities, but anyway the tour guide, a local guide, is explaining lunch option there in the main square and the "wonderful" cuisine available. My stomach started turning and I said to him sarcastically, "yeah, yeahg, yeah and where is McDonald's?"
WEithout missing a beat, the guide said, right around the corner but you don't want to go there. I said why not. He said, you have no idea of what you're going to get. I said sure I do. So while some of the group went into the expensive Polish restaurants there in the square, I ent around the corner to Mickey D's. After using the free and clean rest facilitis found in most Mickey D's the world around (good to remember for anybody anywhere when nature calls), the place was jammed. I wanted on the queue, looked at the menu and despite the fact I didn't speak a word of Polish order a royal cheeseburger (known to most Americans as a quarter pounder with cheese as well as Brits), fries and a coke light (diet coke)...handed over my zlotys and got served. It tasted just as if I had ordered it in Chicago (it didn't taste like a NY Micdonald's because McDonald's restaurants in New York have special permission from the home office only to put ketchup on their pre pared burgers and cheeseburges not ketchup and mustard as in most every other place in the world)..
All around me sat locals..I was probably the only foreigner in the joint.
So the questionis or was, was I eating a Polish meal because after all the cow was probably from Poland or an American meal.
Most Europeans I have met try to tell you McDonald's food sucks but most of them are awfully crowded and when pressed, they will tell you how wonderful the service is (and the clean and free facilities also).
BTW is coca cola American cuisine?
About five years ago, I was doing a coach tour (yes I know, they suck) and this particular tour that day was in Krakow in Poland. For those of you unfamiliar, the way these tours usually work in most any city is they give you a morning orientation tour in the morning as part of the included itinerary, drop you in the heart of town for lunch and then might have an optional tour in the afternnon. Anyway we finished the tour in the main square of Krakow, a beautifully restored town center by the way, and I was so impressed how the Poles have rebuilt their cdities, but anyway the tour guide, a local guide, is explaining lunch option there in the main square and the "wonderful" cuisine available. My stomach started turning and I said to him sarcastically, "yeah, yeahg, yeah and where is McDonald's?"
WEithout missing a beat, the guide said, right around the corner but you don't want to go there. I said why not. He said, you have no idea of what you're going to get. I said sure I do. So while some of the group went into the expensive Polish restaurants there in the square, I ent around the corner to Mickey D's. After using the free and clean rest facilitis found in most Mickey D's the world around (good to remember for anybody anywhere when nature calls), the place was jammed. I wanted on the queue, looked at the menu and despite the fact I didn't speak a word of Polish order a royal cheeseburger (known to most Americans as a quarter pounder with cheese as well as Brits), fries and a coke light (diet coke)...handed over my zlotys and got served. It tasted just as if I had ordered it in Chicago (it didn't taste like a NY Micdonald's because McDonald's restaurants in New York have special permission from the home office only to put ketchup on their pre pared burgers and cheeseburges not ketchup and mustard as in most every other place in the world)..
All around me sat locals..I was probably the only foreigner in the joint.
So the questionis or was, was I eating a Polish meal because after all the cow was probably from Poland or an American meal.
Most Europeans I have met try to tell you McDonald's food sucks but most of them are awfully crowded and when pressed, they will tell you how wonderful the service is (and the clean and free facilities also).
BTW is coca cola American cuisine?
Feb 6th, 2012, 04:04 PM
#73
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I was at a Goethe Institute in Staufen, Germany, one year. The G.I. always has an international night, where everyone prepares and brings food of their native country.
One of my classmates was from New Mexico. She found taco shells, taco seasoning, some chopped meat that approximated hamburger, tomato and lettuce, and she made tacos. Tacos are pretty much always considered fast food in the States, and certainly aren't considered a culinary treat.
Therefore I thought was amusing that the two French women in the group absolutely LOVED the tacos and wanted to know how to make them.
One of my classmates was from New Mexico. She found taco shells, taco seasoning, some chopped meat that approximated hamburger, tomato and lettuce, and she made tacos. Tacos are pretty much always considered fast food in the States, and certainly aren't considered a culinary treat.
Therefore I thought was amusing that the two French women in the group absolutely LOVED the tacos and wanted to know how to make them.
Feb 6th, 2012, 04:10 PM
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I try not to eat Mcdonalds in the US because on the few occasions i have i've compared it unfavourably to Mcdonalds in the UK, when i took my DD to Krakow in 2007 we ate lunch at mcdonalds a couple of times and the one thing i liked most was that they included a piece of fruit with the happy meal (included in the price not as an extra)
In France and Germany however since the Euro stepped in i've found Mcdonalds hideously overpriced and local food is much nicer anyway (as well as cheaper), but sometimes fast food is great, especially when travelling with kids! (or when it's the only place you can find) on a trip to Hong Kong in 2008 Mcdonalds near the ferry point on Lantau was cheap convenient and they had the best chicken and sweetcorn
(included in the price not as an extra)In France and Germany however since the Euro stepped in i've found Mcdonalds hideously overpriced and local food is much nicer anyway (as well as cheaper), but sometimes fast food is great, especially when travelling with kids! (or when it's the only place you can find) on a trip to Hong Kong in 2008 Mcdonalds near the ferry point on Lantau was cheap convenient and they had the best chicken and sweetcorn
Feb 6th, 2012, 05:14 PM
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YeeHaw Cowboy1968---you said it all! I'm a new user on this forum so had no idea there was this much entertainment going on! So glad to see the snarkiness dropped out of the conversation. I live in the Detroit area---like most cities we have a Mexicantown, a Polishtown, a lot of transplanted Appalachian folks, a large Middle Eastern population and all the soul food ya want. Isn't it wonderful that we don't all want to eat the exact same thing----talk about a shortage, huh? For the real thing we drive to northern Michigan to get our maple syrup direct from the tappers. By noon tomorrow I'll be in Mexico, so y'all know what I'll be eating for the next week and what I'll be washing it down with
Feb 6th, 2012, 05:28 PM
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HG001London Thank you! The only food I truly miss when I travel is a real salad. I'm a native Californian and I've been used to having salad for dinner, as dinner since I was a was a small child. Not just that iceberg lettuce and old tomato either.
"Tacos are pretty much always considered fast food in the States, and certainly aren't considered a culinary treat."
A taco can be made fairly quickly but if you haven't had one that's considered a culinary treat, you've never had a real taco. The store around the corner from my house makes a taco that's worth a trip across town.
Take a drive through the Southwest Arizona and New Mexico and stop for breakfast. Hot biscuits with eggs.
Southern fried chicken, not KFC.
American Food is food of the world. People come here and they bring their food with them. Then everyone else plays with it and it becomes our own. Tex-Mex is a good example.
Our variations on German food are another excellent example. At one time (not long ago) about 70% of Americans could claim German ancestory. They had to get out when Germans went into their various snits.
It's true enough that much of the packaged food has lots of corn syrup. I don't eat packaged food. And you can find corn syrup everywhere.
"Tacos are pretty much always considered fast food in the States, and certainly aren't considered a culinary treat."
A taco can be made fairly quickly but if you haven't had one that's considered a culinary treat, you've never had a real taco. The store around the corner from my house makes a taco that's worth a trip across town.
Take a drive through the Southwest Arizona and New Mexico and stop for breakfast. Hot biscuits with eggs.
Southern fried chicken, not KFC.
American Food is food of the world. People come here and they bring their food with them. Then everyone else plays with it and it becomes our own. Tex-Mex is a good example.
Our variations on German food are another excellent example. At one time (not long ago) about 70% of Americans could claim German ancestory. They had to get out when Germans went into their various snits.
It's true enough that much of the packaged food has lots of corn syrup. I don't eat packaged food. And you can find corn syrup everywhere.
Feb 6th, 2012, 07:45 PM
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Guenmai: no, I didn't mean you. I meant the person upthread that said nasty things about American food. My posts placement under your's was just accidental.
LSky: one of our best eating trips was through Arizona. I went on Chowhound and got a ton of recs for local eating, and did we eat! Arizona/Mexican food is delicious..
Another great thing I had in Arizona (on our Apache Trail day trip) was a green chili cheeseburger. It was wonderful and I think I would spend a day getting out there again to just to have another one.
LSky: one of our best eating trips was through Arizona. I went on Chowhound and got a ton of recs for local eating, and did we eat! Arizona/Mexican food is delicious..
Another great thing I had in Arizona (on our Apache Trail day trip) was a green chili cheeseburger. It was wonderful and I think I would spend a day getting out there again to just to have another one.
Feb 6th, 2012, 07:54 PM
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American food has become quite creative far beyond surf and turf and burgers. And I do love a burger.
____
The next time you come to the states, try a good restaurant. I see the horrible places that visitors think are wonderful as enumerated on Trip Advisor.
But as I tell others, please continue to go to the bad places, it leaves more tables open at the good spots.
____
The next time you come to the states, try a good restaurant. I see the horrible places that visitors think are wonderful as enumerated on Trip Advisor.
But as I tell others, please continue to go to the bad places, it leaves more tables open at the good spots.
