# Foods Americans like that non-Americans find disgusting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054 "2015-09-21T01:22:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/61 "2015-09-22T02:13:15Z")
There were many “American” type foods that I had never tried until coming here. Actually Canada first then the U.S… Pancakes and PB&J are two, but what comes to mind for me is Rice Krispie Treats - which of course I pronounced wrong - Rice Kris-py Treats. And yes, I think they are just terrible. I never knew until much later what held the “rice” together, and when I found out it was melted marshmallow, I thought it was even grosser. By the way, I LOVE PB&J, but it took a while. Pancakes not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/62 "2015-09-22T04:34:08Z")
Is it true non-Americans also hate pop tarts? Also bread. Germans seem to only like hard breads and they hate soft american breads. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/63 "2015-09-22T05:10:09Z")
Dr Pepper’s, creamer instead of milk, super-dooper sized anything, Oreos, deep dish pizza, Pop-Tarts, macaroni & cheese, and burgers made from doughnuts. I am a defender of peanut butter and jam. Hell, I’ll even do peanut butter and honey. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/64 "2015-09-22T05:14:55Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I have heard that part of many Brits’ horror at a PB&J is that they’re under the impression we eat peanut butter and Jello sandwiches. > Any truth to that being an actual misconception? I’d be surprised if this were the case now, \*\*elfkin \*\*- but who knows? Frankly, my years of living in London proved to me that the Brits know nuthin’ about food. Except as a medium for chips. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/65 "2015-09-22T06:41:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The process is a trade secret, but experts speculate that the milk is partially lipolyzed, producing butyric acid, which stabilizes the milk from further fermentation. This compound gives the product a particular taste, to which the North American public has become accustomed, to the point that other manufacturers now simply add **butyric acid** to their milk chocolates.[6] Thanks for the wiki quote. Here’s mine: [QUOTE=Wikipedia, Butyric acid] Butyric acid is present in, and is the main distinctive smell of, human vomit.[8][9] [/QUOTE] Objectively, chemically, Hershey’s chocolate has this shit added to it TO MAKE IT TASTE MORE LIKE VOMIT. Americans, I urge you, stop eating Hershey’s. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/66 "2015-09-22T07:58:49Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I know that Indonesian cooking uses peanut butter a lot. No, that’s a gross oversimplification. I have yet to meet an Indonesian (and since I live in Jakarta, I know lots) who thinks American peanut butter is actual food. Equating Indonesian peanut sauce (saus kacang) with peanut butter is like saying that dumping a bottle of ketchup onto some cooked spaghetti is spaghetti Bolognese. Indonesians are very particular about their saus kacang and have strong opinions about which type goes with which food. We often order take-out chicken satay and gado-gado (a salad of mixed cooked vegetables) and both come with peanut sauce, but the sauces are different degrees of spicy, smooth, tangy, and sweet. They both begin with roasted fresh peanuts that are ground into a paste, so if you want to say “but that’s what I mean by peanut butter” then I’ll accept your statement as more or less correct. But Jif and Skippy are absolute no-nos from an Indonesian culinary point of view. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/67 "2015-09-22T08:29:23Z")
Good to see we got the peanut butter and corn on the cob myths out the way pretty damn early. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/68 "2015-09-22T08:36:18Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Is it true non-Americans also hate pop tarts? > > Also bread. Germans seem to only like hard breads and they hate soft american breads. American bread, like most American food, is seen as too sweet. Soft bread is pretty much everywhere in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/69 "2015-09-22T08:40:46Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > Dr Pepper’s, creamer instead of milk, super-dooper sized anything, Oreos, deep dish pizza, Pop-Tarts, macaroni & cheese, and burgers made from doughnuts. > > I am a defender of peanut butter and jam. Hell, I’ll even do peanut butter and honey. Oreos are everywhere as far as I can tell. I’ve never had much of an issue getting Dr Pepper either, although sugar-free is more problematic here in Sweden. Pop Tarts are available in some places in Europe, notably the UK. I was taught how to make mac’n’cheese in school in the UK in the 80s (good ol’ Home Economics class) ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/70 "2015-09-22T08:42:15Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > Dr Pepper’s, creamer instead of milk, super-dooper sized anything, Oreos, deep dish pizza, Pop-Tarts, macaroni & cheese, and burgers made from doughnuts. > > I am a defender of peanut butter and jam. Hell, I’ll even do peanut butter and honey. Pizza is something that’s done different in the US. I think what I ate was new york style which was really large slices that had to be folded in half to eat, no firmness to the crust. Horrible, oily, scant of topping, soggy apology for a pizza. I like Aussie style. Mind you, some of the gourmet and artisan style pizzas we have are just examples of people doing drugs and then putting all sorts of wierd arse things on pizza dough like artichokes and pesto. or putting party pies in the crust:dubious: huevos rancheros on the other hand, washed down with a bloody mary and a bottomless cup of that horrible coffee is food of the gods. (American coffee is truly awful, as is the creamer stuff but it does the job) ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/71 "2015-09-22T08:44:22Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > I bet you omitted part of the presentation. The proper way to drink root beer is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream floating in it. No, I didn’t. Actually, seeing a scoop of vanilla ice cream floating in it would have tipped me off. It’d have saved me a nasty surprise because there’s no way I’d have drunk cola with ice cream :D. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/72 "2015-09-22T09:29:10Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > Do you mean the loose meat sandwiches Roseanne sold in her restaurant? Because loose meat sandwiches ≠ sloppy joes. I guess I do then but it’s no improvement it still sounds suspiciously like the result of some kind of alimentary accident ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/73 "2015-09-22T09:33:27Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > Hell, I’ll even do peanut butter and honey. In addition to tasting great, it has the side benefit of keeping the peanut butter from sticking to the top of your mouth! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/74 "2015-09-22T11:30:30Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Thanks for the wiki quote. Here’s mine: > > Objectively, chemically, Hershey’s chocolate has this shit added to it TO MAKE IT TASTE MORE LIKE VOMIT. Americans, I urge you, stop eating Hershey’s. From the very cite you reproduce, Hershey’s doesn’t add it to the milk chocolate\* – it’s a result of the processing of the milk. \*although wiki claims that other US chocolaste makers do simply add it. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/75 "2015-09-22T11:52:01Z")
This is probably best suited to Cafe Society. I’ll relocate it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/76 "2015-09-22T12:31:29Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > That marshmallow **Fluff** they had at Aldi once. The only time I’ve seen that stuff in the wild, I was helping a friend pick up a piece of heavy furniture he had found on Craigslist. The seller was a very, very large woman who ate Fluff from a jar with a spoon while watching us move the dresser. There was another jar on top of her tv, and a third on a bookcase. It felt vaguely like performance art. ---
**Author:** ![HowSoonIsThen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@HowSoonIsThen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HowSoonIsThen)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/77 "2015-09-22T13:22:56Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I have heard that part of many Brits’ horror at a PB&J is that they’re under the impression we eat peanut butter and Jello sandwiches. > Any truth to that being an actual misconception? As a child that’s what I thought. Same with jelly doughnuts. I can’t remember if I was disappointed when I found out the truth. Considering I was never big on peanut butter, I probably didn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/78 "2015-09-22T13:36:58Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Is it true non-Americans also hate pop tarts? > > Also bread. Germans seem to only like hard breads and they hate soft american breads. They hate wonderbread type loaves cuz they taste like cake, too sweet and the texture is all wrong. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/79 "2015-09-22T13:38:23Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Oreos are everywhere as far as I can tell. > I’ve never had much of an issue getting Dr Pepper either, although sugar-free is more problematic here in Sweden. > Pop Tarts are available in some places in Europe, notably the UK. > I was taught how to make mac’n’cheese in school in the UK in the 80s (good ol’ Home Economics class) Then it’s good to see so many places with food Americans like that non-Americans find disgusting 🙂 > [@stui\_magpie](#): > > Pizza is something that’s done different in the US. I think what I ate was new york style which was really large slices that had to be folded in half to eat, no firmness to the crust. Any slice of anything that has to be folded in half is alright by me **stui** …bring _awn_ the pesto and them artichokes… Forgot about the coffee. Which reminds me of the beer. Not really two things you want to think of together. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054/80 "2015-09-22T14:36:48Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Sometimes fancier cheeses just fuck up a perfectly good recipe for no good reason. The same is true for American Cheese in general (really only Kraft American cheeses). American Cheese melts very well and is the best choice for all but the fanciest cheeseburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. There are things like party dips that you can make with blocks of Velveeta that fail miserably when you try to substitute anything else. Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas just aren’t quite right if you use real cheese. They may taste really good, but there’s something off about them- it’s as much texture as flavor. You have to use some kind of processed cheese- usually plain American cheese is what’s commonly used I think, maybe Velveeta in some places. That gets me to thinking maybe I should bust out the sodium citrate and stick blender and make my own processed enchilada cheese… I recall a British girlfriend really not liking US bread or chocolate- to the point where after we’d broke up, and I was going to the UK, she still begged me to bring her back some UK chocolate. She also had a sort of unreasonable prejudice against US wine, claiming that no California wines match up to French or Italian ones. I tried to tell her that yes, on average, the French and Italian table wines are better than their California equivalents, but that once you get out of the table wine category, many CA wines stack up quite nicely vs. their European rivals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-americans-like-that-non-americans-find-disgusting/732054.md?page=5)