That’s true, Tom Tildrum, but I suspect that in the foreign countries where a rather inauthentic version of American food is served the following is true: There is a significant but minority group of people who have triedand liked the American item in the U.S. or at one of the few places in that country that serve an authentic American version of the item. They agree among themselves that the bastardized version served by most places is an abomination, and the people who like it are provincial. Then there is the majority group of people, who if they try the authentic American version of the food would dislike it. They ignore the minority group who they consider to be snobs. In other words, it’s just like it is in the U.S., with a minority of authenticity lovers and a majority of people who prefer the adapted versions. I didn’t say the thread wasn’t entertaining. I said that I think that the posters here seem to be too certain that foreigners serving bastardized American food don’t know what authentic American food is like.
Tell me you did not take the beetroot off the burger!!! Heretic 
I’m not American so not sure how ‘authentic’ it is, but there is a restaurant in Brisbane called the Blue Smoke BBQ cafe. The owner is an ex-pat American so I presume it’s reasonably close to accurate. The food was delicious in any case, BBQ ribs, chicken wings. Yummo. Damn, I’m hungry now. 
Egg on a burger=okay. Egg mixed in with the meat=fail, unless a meatloaf sandwich is what you’re hankering for…
Yes, yes I did take the beetroot off. I’m sure beetroots and fried eggs are worthy burger toppings, but I don’t eat eggs and I just wasn’t in the mood for beets.
On that same trip, I had Mexican food in Torquay, Victoria (Las Olas). They made a pretty decent chicken taco. I asked the owner if he had heard of “fish tacos”. He thought fried fish and cabbage wrapped in a tortilla would be a hard sell down under. (this was several years ago, things may have changed since then)
Chefguy: “Egg on a burger=okay. Egg mixed in with the meat=epic win, unless a meatloaf sandwich is what you’re hankering for…”
Corrected your post 
An egg cracked into the mince along with my other secret ingredients is essential to a good rissole/hamburger patty.
How else do you ensure the meat binds together? (I’m genuinely curious - if you don’t use an egg how do you make the mince bind so it doesn’t fall apart when cooking?)
I’ve mentioned this in a previous thread, but when I moved to Budapest in 1998, there was a place not too far from my flat in the 13th district that advertised authentic “Chicago-style wraps.” As I actually hail from Chicago, this intrigued me. What the fuck is a “Chicago-style wrap?” Apparently, it’s something akin to a burrito, stuffed with meat and mashed potatoes. It was just a textural mush, devoid of any flavor. Yuck.
There was also a 50s-style American diner, with an interior decor of all the stereotypical 50s American kitsch you can imagine: an Elvis statue, a jukeboxe, a larkspur blue '57 Chevy model, decorative neon signs, Marilyn Monroe posters, etc. For all the effort they put into researching their furnishings, they did not spend any on the menu, as the signature 50s diner item–the hamburger-- was served as an open-faced sandwich. No top bun included. There’s absolutely no reason for this, as, at the time, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and Burger King, all had a visible presence in the city (Wendy’s has since closed), so it’s hardly like the average citizen would be unclear on the concept.
That’s alright, it’s a bit of an acquired taste I understand. But having grown up with it, a burger is just not quite right unless it has beetroot on it. I presume it does a simliar job to the pickles you find on (or served with) American burgers - a little bit of vinegary goodness.
Gotta agree with Chefguy here. Egg in burger = fail. If you add breadcrumbs make that epic fail. Unless, as he says, you’re going for a meatloaf sandwich.
How do you make the mince (ground) meat bind? You just handle it as little as possible, until it gets to the shape you want, and grill or griddle it. There’s nothing you need to do to make it bind. What kind of mince are you using that it doesn’t hold together? Or are you adding a bunch of ingredients to the meat? My burger is just meat (70-80% lean), shaped, salted and peppered, and cooked.
Game, set, match.
If someone is calling it “mince”, he must be a furriner and god only knows what the hell he’s grinding up and calling hamburger. What the hell is mince: a gay cow? 
Hamburger with binders is meatloaf or some other slightly compressed ground meat dish (kofta or meatballs come to mind).
Mince is similar to your ‘Ground Beef’ I guess except without the hooves and horns thrown in to pad it out. (Which by the way - What the hell is ‘ground’ beef? the stuff that fell on the ground at the abbatoir?:p)
Yes I do tend to add some stuff, usually onion, and capscium occasionally (bell peppers? I think).
I never add breadcrumbs into the burger, but do often roll in breadcrumbs - although only ususally when making rissoles (big meatballs? maybe) not when making burger patties.
Oh and sorry to the OP - getting a bit OT here
WW: I don’t think we’re saying that “them thar furrin’ types shor are stewpid fer gittin’ our burgers and fries wrong!” I think we are comparing foreign attempts at making American cuisine to the original, as was done in the OG thread etc. It doesn’t matter if the person adapted “our” cuisine to the locals’ taste. Just as in OG et al, the cuisine is not authentic.
Enough of the obvious. Moving on:
Iceland–The Burger Joint. That is its name. Stringy, dry beef, very soft dinner roll type bun. The “fries” were made from Icelandic (or perhaps imported from EU) potatoes–not Russets. The burger was ok. The fries did not taste like fries. They weren’t soggy or underdone or bad, they just didn’t taste like American “french” fries. The Coke tasted the same. (I ordered a small and got–surprisingly enough–a small from my childhood, back when smalls were small, that is, about 6-8 oz).
Their soft serve ice cream (like DQ) is also a bit off (probably due to their wonderful cows. Icelandic cows make the most delicious butter anywhere), as is the chocolate sauce they dip it in–it has such a mild chocolate flavor, they might as well skip it. Their hot dogs* also taste a bit off, but that’s because they use some mutton in the mix. They’re good; they just lack the same flavor of American hot dogs. They most likely have less salt, too (and less fat).
Any European cookie that calls itself a chocolate chip cookie. I have yet to find one that is as good as the ones in any American mall (I’m thinking of Mrs Field’s here. I have never seen a Mrs Field’s in Europe, but I haven’t been back since 2004). IMO, Europeans, even Brits, have a very different idea of dessert than Americans. I prefer our ridiculous excess in this area.
BTW, Iceland served up a delicious pizza margarite (sp?) for me–crisp, good acidy tomato-y sauce, nice spices and great cheese.
*not sausages. They are advertised as hot dogs. I dislike relish, so I couldn’t speak to the condiments.
I was staying in the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem, and for dinner they were having internation theme nights. American Food Night was… odd. IIRC, the main course was a weird spicy shepard pie thing.
In 1979 I was in London with some friends and we decided to check out a place we’d heard of that was supposed to have “authentic” Chicago-style Pizza. The walls were covered with Chicago street signs and CTA stations signs and there were TVs showing tapes of baseball games (can’t remember if it was the Cubs or the Sox). We got to talking with some guys at the table next to us who were from Manchester, and when they found out we were actually from Chicago they asked us if the pizza was anything like real Chicago pizza. As I remember, it was, except that the sausage had a different flavor, probably because it wasn’t spiced the same.
eleanorigby, notice the tone in many of the posts in this thread. Many of them are indeed very close to “them thar furrin’ types shor are stewpid fer gittin’ our burgers and fries wrong!” And this is quite typical of threads like this on the SDMB about things that are basically just personal taste. A lot of people think that it’s necessary (and that it’s hilarious, to judge by the smilies they throw in) to imply that anyone who disagrees with their own tastes is stupid or crazy or lacking in taste buds or something.
Kyrgyzstan - both the Hyatt, and a small place called “The American Pub” have banana splits. Instead of choclate, strawberry, vanila icecream put between a length sliced banana with topings I get three scoops of vanila with bannana slices around the edge. It was good icecream, but not what I was hoping for.
Also this is another country that does the cucumber instead of pickles on hamburgers. Also I have seen sliced hard boiled egg on hamburgers. They also put peas in their sandwidches. Even if it isn’t the same as the US I have found the changes are pretty good. Pizza is done just like the US here at the places I have tried. They do offer some strange toppings I have yet to try.
While in Korea I always got a chuckle when going to Outback, and seeing it advertised as “An American Steakhouse” then going to the US where it is advertised as “An Australian Steakhouse”. Kimchi served with everything. I enjoy it, but it was a little strange to get a hamberger, fries, and a side of kimchi. There is an awsome italian place outside the main gate at Osan off to the right on the second floor. I don’t know how authintic it is, but it was good.
-Otanx
Kimchee… Korean Ketchup.
Senf… German Ketchup
Curry Sauce- English Ketchup
Mayonaise- Belgian Ketchup
Fish Sauce- Thai Ketchup
Miso- Japanese Ketchup
Guacamole- Mexican Ketchup
…etc.
I’m sure there are a lot more, if you would care to name them?.. Even in '80’s Europe it was fairly difficult to find a bottle of real American Tomato Ketchup. European varieties are pale knock-offs.
GreedySmurf: It is a violation of our rules to modify anything within the quote-tags, other than standard editing (ellipses, square brackets, etc.) For full details, please see: FAQL Rules for Posting on the Straight Dope Message Boards and note Post #11 in that thread: Can I modify other poster’s quotes?.
I have removed the quote-tags in your post (#65 in this thread) and replaced them with quotation marks. When you want to paraphrase someone, or to amend their words to something completely different, that’s the way to go. When you use quote-tags, others have the expectation that you are quoting exactly.
No warning this time, but please don’t do this again.
OOOOR, like other typical threads on the Straight Dope, someone comes in that’s overly sensitive to the topic. 
There is one store here that carries American ketchup, but $5 a bottle is a little too pricy for me. Local ketchup has no salt, tastes a little strange. I just do without.
-Otanx
The only ketchup I’ve seen here in Korea (and honestly, I haven’t been looking very hard) has been at McDonalds, Burger King and Lotteria (a local chain that beats the pants off them quality-wise). Most Korean restaurants have a red pepper paste that’s a general purpose condiment, especially for soups (as in “Let’s Manhattan up this chowder!”).
I know the pizzas here are off because they cater to local tastes, not to mine, as well they should. Still, it’s sad that the best pizza I’ve been able to find so far reminded me of the best frozen pizza I ever had in America. Hot dogs are sold spiral-sliced and on a stick; I’ve given up on trying to find hot dog buns.