That reminds me of a story I heard years ago:
A sales rep for Rowntree Mackintosh (The original manufacturer, before Nestle took them over) went to the US with several boxes full of tubes of Smarties. Customs checked them out and one of the colours was banned in the States, so the poor fella had to open each tube and take out all the red Smarties before they’d let him bring them into the country.
I’m not sure; strawberries do very well in our climate; the fruits offered for general sale tend to range from about 1½ inches to (occasionally)3 inches long with (although the smaller ones are better for flavour IMHO). Wild or alpine strawberries, of course, are tiny and intensely flavoured, but you rarely find these offered in the shops as they don’t keep for long after picking.
Circus Peanuts are probably non existant outside of the USA, everything else that’s been mentioned is somewhat available.
Saw a whole pile of M&M bags, made by Mars half an hour ago in my local smallish supermarket, so I would venture to say that M&M is not contraband here.
A note: All American foodstuffs you can get here is not for Americans living here. There are some, but the market is mainly Swedes (The most travelled people on the earth) who’ve spent time in the US. Now why anyone would buy Macaroni&Cheese at $4 for a small standard box is beyond me…
I eat macaroni cheese quite a lot but I always make it from scratch (well, from ingredients; I don’t actually make the pasta myself); is this uncommon in the USA?
Well, there are so many brands of mac & cheese in a box that I would venture a great many people make it this way, rather than doing it from scratch. Kraft now has “Easy Mac” which is basically microwaveable packets of macaroni & cheese. Personally, I find the cheese sauce to be artificial-tasting and prefer making it myself.
As far as “organized/civilized” countries go, I believe the U.S. is the only place you can buy an assault rifle or 50 BMG with little or no government interference. I also believe we’re the only country that has gun shows.
After reading threads on the English football league, the schools, and now foodstuffs, what we need is an “Ask the English guy” thread.
Any volunteers?
Assualt Weapons. Assualt Rifles are select fire and require a class three permit, while Assualt Weapons are semi-auto and scary looking.
I think Equipoise meant the strawberries didn’t grow so big.
Be Civil. 'E was wrong about the widesporeadness of foods from the “New World”. No reason to get prissy, jerk. Not everyone is intimately familiar wit the supermarket contents from Bankok to Berlin.
Many American type foods are spread all over certain parts of the world now. Corn is the biggest crop on the planet, outstripping even rice (though part of it goes to animal feed). I’m not sure how well many of those fruits would grow in Europe, but I presume they make do.
Grits are hard enough to find outside of the Southern US; good luck finding them in another country!
How common is American whiskey overseas? I’m curious.
Although bilberries may be smaller and tastier than domesticated blueberries, I’m guessing they’re about on par with US wild blueberries, which are also small and delicious. I have two friends who despised blueberries until I fed them some of my wild blueberry pie.
Daniel
American whisky is very popular throughout the world. I’ve seen Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam, and to a lesser extent Wild Turkey, pretty much everywhere I’ve ever been on the planet.
I had grits in NYC and they were revolting. I had them in Tennessee and they were still revolting, but not quite as bad.
Old Bay seasoning. It’s used mostly for seafood, but (since I’m a native Marylander) I use it in steak marinades, soups and all sorts of stuff. We’re moving to Australia in February and I’m hoping customs will let me bring a can in.
They were revolting in NYC because it’s not part of the south. Also, every Southerner knows that you don’t eat grits by themselves. You serve them with other foods. They’re like the food equivalent of glue. By themselves, they taste like wallpaper paste. But they compliment other foods so well. Cut a piece of link sausage and drag it through the grits, then eat it. Sop some up with your buttermilk biscuit. Stir in a little bit with your scrambled eggs and crumble some of the bacon on top. Or, put in some hot sauce, pepper, and LOTS of butter, or just mix in some sugar. THAT’S how you eat 'em.
Yeah, don’t be dissin my grits!
There’s a local hifalutin’ Southern restaurant called Tupelo Honey’s; if you’re ever in Asheville, NC, it’s worth checking out. Anyway, they serve damn good grits. I think they make them with half-and-half and white pepper.
Done right, they’re sublime. Just make sure that you don’t get instant grits: they’re from the same infernal Frankensteinian laboratory as instant mashed potatoes.