# Surprised by American food **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668 "2007-03-20T03:15:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/181 "2007-03-21T23:49:40Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] I hate to sound stupid, but what else would you do with it? I realize it’s called a “sauce” but I can’t think of anything that you would put it on. [/QUOTE] As a kid, my favourite was potatoes and gravy with applesauce on top. Delish!! ---
**Author:** ![tiger\_lily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/96bed5/32.png) [@tiger\_lily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiger_lily)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/182 "2007-03-22T00:04:27Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] > [@Usram](#): > > Speaking of Cadbury’s, is it true, as Wikipedia claims, that Cadbury’s Flakes are only sold in the UK (I guess Ireland too) In fact, all European flakes are made in the Cadbury’s plant in Coolock, Dublin, Ireland (have a look at the label). It’s coz Irish milk gives the best texture. Not sure about the Aussie ones. [/QUOTE] I’m happy to say that a couple of my local markets stock food imported from the UK, including Flakes and Crunchies. Mmmm… ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/183 "2007-03-22T00:27:53Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] an American pizza 3) coleslaw on sandwiches [/QUOTE] This is a bit unusual here, but it’s delicious on turkey sandwiches. [This place](http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&q=sandwich+man&near=Delray+Beach,+FL&radius=0.0&latlng=26461111,-80073056,12470233843362360145&sa=X&oi=local&ct=authority) makes turkey sandwiches with coleslaw on them. They’re messy but SO GOOD. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/184 "2007-03-22T00:47:33Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Things I noticed while dining out in America (I live in Dublin, Ireland). 1. General lack of vegetarian options in restaurants. [/quote] This tends to vary by region. You go to someplace like Seattle or San Francisco and you’ll get plenty of vegetarian options. Someplace like Texas (outside of Austin) or New Mexico…not so much. > [@](#): > > Things my girlfriend (from Ohio) has commented on about food here. > > 1. Corn on salads, corn on pizza > 2. Irish pizza tastes better than American pizza > 3. coleslaw on sandwiches [New Jersey native]If your girlfriend’s from Ohio, by definition she has no clue about pizza. [/New Jersey native] ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/185 "2007-03-22T02:38:29Z")
[QUOTE=foolsguinea] In case it isn’t clear, Opal’s hatred of apples & fruit in general is at least somewhat atypical, rather like my personal dislike of “ranch” (actually buttermilk) salad dressing (or BBQ; I think my dislike of BBQ is something of an outlying anomaly). [/QUOTE] It’s only cooked fruit, and mainly because of the texture. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/186 "2007-03-22T03:40:12Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Things I noticed while dining out in America (I live in Dublin, Ireland). 1. General lack of vegetarian options in restaurants. \ Things my girlfriend (from Ohio) has commented on about food here. 1. Corn on salads, corn on pizza 2. Irish pizza tastes better than American pizza 3. coleslaw on sandwiches There’s alot of tinned corn used on cheapo salads here and on pizza. Apparently that isn’t common in America even in the corn belt. 😃 I don’t know whether it’s true that Irish pizza is better but we do have some yummy pizza here. Coleslaw on a sandwich didn’t strike me as strange but she said she’d never seen it. [/QUOTE] I attempted vegetarianism for a while. I don’t know how many times I’d order a salad, explaining that I was a vegetarian, and it would arrive covered in bacon bits (which was not listed as an ingredient on the menu). Or all the times I would be told that there were plenty of chicken or fish dishes on the menu. They’re considered vegetables, too. I never truly gave up seafood (because I liked it too much) so I at least had that option. You may have better pizza over there but I find that hard to believe if there’s corn on it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![2pelo\_honey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/ecb155/32.png) [@2pelo\_honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2pelo_honey)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/187 "2007-03-22T04:07:51Z")
[QUOTE=StinkyBurrito] Without mentioning pineapple and crazy concontions like mashed potato and lobster, I just don’t think corn is ‘Italian’ enough for pizza in most American’s minds. Every other regular pizza topping is fairly common in Italy (think peppers, onions, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms etc.) However, I see a corn pizza in my near future. I would guess a white/alfredo sauce instead of red, and maybe parmesean instead of provolone, some red peppers and garlic too? [/QUOTE] I’m still trying to figure out where the corn came from, but can only add this tidbit…if you’re going to try it, and are non-vegetarian, I would definitely go w/ bacon as a topping, too…ever have Corn Chowder??? It’s a heavenly combination!!! Especially w/ the white sauce, parm, and red peppers. Wait, and if you’re using an alfredo topping, you can use tomatoes as a topping…hmmmm…(homer gurgle) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/188 "2007-03-22T04:14:31Z")
Interestingly, some of the “bacon bits” that you can buy at the store are actually a soy product and don’t have any meat in them. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/189 "2007-03-22T04:55:18Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] **Quiddity** is probably talking about the American chocolate bars that are readily available in Canada - Butterfingers, Hershey’s, etc. These are truly crap, and don’t hold a candle to their Canadian counterparts (Crispy Crunch, Dairy Milk, etc.). [/QUOTE] Exactly. I can’t personally believe that Americans can survive without Caramilks. Right there’s a crime against humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/190 "2007-03-22T05:01:28Z")
[QUOTE=Ogre] Huh. They’re kinda all over the place here. I was in a convenience store this morning, and the Ghirardellis were up front, next to the register, in the impulse-buy section (y’know, next to the novelty lighters, the meth pipes with the fake roses stuffed in them, and assorted other bric-a-brac.) [/QUOTE] I looked at CVS today. No Ghirardelli chocolate there. Kit Kat, M&Ms, Snickers, Crunch - the usual suspects, but not Ghirardelli’s. I would go to Cardullo’s in Harvard Square for Ghirardelli’s - they have all of the exotic chocolates from the UK as well, and I’d get a Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut instead! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/191 "2007-03-22T05:15:15Z")
Corn on a pizza is bloody delicious, well on an Irish pizza it is. Corn, onions, peppers, and tomatoes mmmmm to be sure to be sure. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/192 "2007-03-22T05:17:31Z")
By the way as nice as UK cadbury’s is, Irish cadbury’s chocolate is better for some reason. Must be something to do with the milk. American chocolate, Hershey and the like tastes like the cheap chocolate they used to put in chocolate cigarettes and the like here back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/193 "2007-03-22T06:34:05Z")
Apart from Flake, I actually find Irish Cadbury’s too cloying. The UK dairy milk is much smoother and less “sticky” IMO. Agree about Hershey. It’s absolutely foul. I don’t even think they should be allowed to call it chocolate, when they export it at least. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/194 "2007-03-22T06:49:34Z")
Nah Irish wins. Celtic Tiger choctastic! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/195 "2007-03-22T07:43:19Z")
I know woman who came to the U.S. from Ukraine a couple of years ago. She fell in love with peanut butter - so much so that when she went home to visit she took jars of it with her to give as gifts. She also went gaga for macadamia nuts. The idea of eating cold cereal for breakfast (corn flakes, for example) seemed strange to her at first, but she got used to it. On the other hand, she thinks the pork products in this country are awful. She told me our ham must be made out of plastic. She did seem to like the boudin blanc I cooked for her family, though. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/196 "2007-03-22T07:45:08Z")
I live near the Ghirardelli factory. You might think it would smell good, but usually it smells like burnt chocolate. I figure a lot of chocolate spills onto burners and other machinery when it’s in a liquid state. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/197 "2007-03-22T08:04:56Z")
I grew up in VT, and briefly lived in NY, and have never heard of maple syrup with peanut butter. Sounds like blech to me, and I like both maple syrup and peanut butter. And maple syrup on bacon and sausage is the best. And it should be noted that not _all_ of us like our bacon cooked to the point where it can only be identified by dental records. I like mine mostly soft, with a couple of slightly crunchy parts. Unless it’s going in a BLT, then it has to be pretty crispy. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/198 "2007-03-22T08:49:26Z")
[QUOTE=Sofaspud] One thing which I haven’t seen mentioned yet, which I _think_ is a uniquely American food, is fried catfish. Mmm. Now THAT’s some good eatin’. [/QUOTE] It’s very American, certainly, but hardly unique. I can even get fried catfish at our local chippie. I don’t, of course, because they deep-fry it in heavy batter, which completely knackers it, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/199 "2007-03-22T11:39:22Z")
[QUOTE=WotNot] It’s very American, certainly, but hardly unique. I can even get fried catfish at our local chippie. I don’t, of course, because they deep-fry it in heavy batter, which completely knackers it, if you ask me. [/QUOTE] What about the quintessential Southern batter for catfish, i.e., corn meal, salt, and pepper? It’s a very light batter and very crunchy. If the catfish is fried in a shallow skillet, then the part that touches the metal is caramelized, and the fish is awesomely tasty. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668/200 "2007-03-22T13:16:21Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] What about the quintessential Southern batter for catfish, i.e., corn meal, salt, and pepper? It’s a very light batter and very crunchy. If the catfish is fried in a shallow skillet, then the part that touches the metal is caramelized, and the fish is awesomely tasty.l [/QUOTE] Not cornmeal, no – it’s not something we use much of round here – but I’ll give that a go. I generally just coat them in seasoned flour and shallow fry them. Incidentally, the catfish that’s popular here is [pangasius,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridescent_shark) which is apparently sold in the US as “swai” or “basa”. I’ve no idea how it compares for flavour with American catfish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprised-by-american-food/396668.md?page=11)