So, no? That was Germany 1940-1944. And 1871–1918. And 1618–1674. And technically 962–1618. And Germany is better known for its beer. I think all I’ve had is Kronenbourg 1664, which is pretty good if nothing special. But I would love to try others next time I’m at a specialty store.
I’m trying to figure out how this is a rebuttal to my point.
:smack:
I missed the post in context. Obviously, it is cheese being talked about.
This is a great post.
I don’t know, have people been saying that the food in America is typically as good as the food in Europe? And where in Europe are we talking about?
You mention France. I haven’t been there, so I don’t know firsthand, but isn’t France one of the most famous countries in the world for cuisine? Sounds to me a little as if you said, “yanno, the sumo wrestling in the US just doesn’t measure up to Japan’s.” Yeah, well, it’s a big club, isn’t it.
There are other countries in Europe that I think America probably compares with OK. Say, Croatia or Poland. Again, I don’t know first hand. I know that the UK supposedly isn’t a first rate chow destination.
I do know that American food typically isn’t any worse than what I’ve tried in Australia and Canada-- and for a lot cheaper than comparable meals in Oz. And, I’m sorry to say, I’ve had some overpriced, mediocre meals in Rome. I had a couple good ones too-- I just had to work at it. Oh, and they were terrible at sumo wrestling.
good cheese is expensive in the US. It’s just normal cheese in Europe. It’s expensive because it’s shipped a long distance and enhanced by placing it under a sign that says “gourmet”.
HOW DARE YOU QUESTION fumster’s WISDOM!!!
HE’S TRAVELED A LOT!!!
Never been to Croatia or Poland, but I have been to about a dozen countries in Europe. In my experience it’s hard to find a bad meal in Italy as long as you avoid the obvious tourist traps with prominent menus posted in English. Even in England, once known for it’s mediocre food, it was easy to find a pub that made a decent meal from scratch. Of course there were also a ton of Indian, kebab, and other ethnic restaurants.
As I said before, most Americans have never had decent food. Ask someone outside a large metropolitan area what their favorite restaurant is and they’ll likely say The Olive Garden. Next time you go to a pot luck look at the stuff people bring. It’s getting better, and if you know where to look you can get excellent food in the US, but it’s not the norm.
I grew up in the north east and I had no idea what barbecue was until I got down south. Now I can cook up a decent batch of ribs, but until I’d seen and tasted real barbecue I couldn’t have done that. I’d guess that most Americans have never had decent bread, butter, cheese, beer, or wine. I certainly didn’t growing up. There is just no comparison between a real croissant and those awful packaged ones they sell in the store here.
It’s not about fancy, expensive ingredients that are hard to find. Much of the great food of the world is based on tougher cuts of meat or other inexpensive ingredients; but you need to know how to cook them.
Heaven forbid that a thread comparing foods of different countries have people posting that have traveled.
Yeah, a dozen countries in Europe marks you as an expert, no doubt…
I think it was a Match actually. Or maybe that was in Paris? And I forgot about Spar (Despar) in Italy as well. My wife and I always make a point of going into grocery stores when on vacation; it’s a really interesting way to see how people there live differently- there’s a lot you can learn from how the shelves are organized and the product mix. Plus, we usually hook up local foods and drinks for taking with us and snacking/picnicking while we do our touristy stuff.
I wonder how much of that is more due to local distribution networks than any real Euro-snootiness about better produce and dairy/eggs. If I buy local/regional labeled stuff at the local groceries here in Dallas, it’s almost always better and fresher than the stuff from God-knows-where, but the local stuff is far more seasonal than the standard stuff.
I also wonder if price isn’t as much of a concern for Europeans. I just get that impression when I’m in European groceries. Here you can buy just about anything at a value price or a premium price, including staples like eggs, butter and meat. There, I think (but don’t know for sure) you just have eggs, butter and meat, without the option of having no-name, or choice, or “Rancher’s Select” (or whatever).
Some of you have seemed to miss my point entirely! I repeat: Americans are seen as rude, uneducated and uncultured BY OTHER AMERICANS when we complain that the food in furrin parts is not exactly to our liking. On the other hand, tourists in our country (USA) feel free to criticize our food to our faces and we (Americans) fall all over ourselves to appease them. I am curious as to why this is?
I firmly reject the premise that the US has nothing but crap food. I just as firmly reject the premise that some how, every other country in the world has nothing but affordable, high quality, organic food in every store and market. My own German Oma was a terrible cook, her best meals were brötchen from the bakery next door, and bread, cheese and wurst from the metzgerai a few door down. The stuff she bought was good, yes, but it wasn’t cheap.
Everyone seems fixated on cheese, but Americans regularly buy and consume cheeses other than Velveeta but that aren’t ungodly priced imports, either. Regularly, I buy Havarti, sharp cheddar, whole milk mozarella, pepper jack, Asaigo, Parmesan, and domestic swiss. I’m not ashamed of any of them.
Still, my original question is: why do visitors to the US (seem to me) to feel free to openly criticize our food for being different? I , for one, would never dream of going to Spain, for example. and spend the next two weeks trashing the food** to Spaniards**, no matter how much I disliked it.
Jeez, I’d reject those premises too if anyone had actually said them.
The US doesn’t have “nothing but crap food”, but good food isn’t the norm like it is in many other parts of the world. If someone can’t find decent food in Spain it’s probably because they don’t know what to order. On the other hand, I can easily imagine someone having a crap food experience in the United States. I have them all the time.
Imagine someone from Spain asking Joe, average American where to go for dinner. If he’s lucky, he’ll find someone to direct him to the little Mexican restaurant that makes its own tortillas, or the barbecue joint where the pit master has 20 years of experience. It’s more likely, IMHO (since that’s the forum we are in), that he’ll be sent to The Cheesecake Factory. It may have happened, but I can’t remember a local sending me to a crappy restaurant when I have been travelling outside the US.
I’m not sure why people are so defensive. There are many things about the United States that are better than the rest of the world, food just isn’t one of them. On the other hand our national park system, Broadway plays, the scenery in the South West, and the quality and variety of music are amazing.
I happened to buy eggs yesterday, from the supermarket closest to my house; I’m currently in a small city in Spain, part of Barcelona’s Metro area. It’s a coop, and they favor using other coops for their “white brands”. It’s an medium-sized supermarket; bigger than an American convenience store but smaller than an American supermarket; there’s a parking garage but it fits something like 12 cars, most shoppers go on foot (if you’re taking the car to shop, you’re probably going to one of the hipermercados, which are the size of American supermarkets).
Choices included their white brand eggs (all from farmer’s coops, but each box does not say from which specific one), all L or XL sized, in boxes ranging from 1 to 3 dozen;
eggs from two well-known factory brands, in M, L or XL, by the dozen;
free-range eggs, sizes S, M and L, by the half-dozen;
bio, sizes S, M and L, by the half dozen.
That’s the ones from hens, they also carry these tiny ones but I’m not sure what the birds are called in English, I think they’re partridges.
Cub Mistress, ANYBODY who complains constantly about the food when traveling abroad is seen as an uneducated, stupid moron by their hosts, as some people have already replied. Did you think only Americans had the Power of Rudeness, or the Ability of Stupidity, or that it was the rest of the world who thought so?
If a Frenchman tells me that Spanish bread is subpar, I’ll tell him he’s right. If he tells me there isn’t any good food in Spain at all and depending on what mood I’m in, someone may need to call 112 about a woman half-dying of laughter.
Re. fumster’s last post:
I’ve had Americans [del]send[/del] bring me to a place which wasn’t a chain or a mall, but it was my coworkers in Philadelphia, on a mission to teach me “what Philly steak is about”. Turns out I’m a heretic and I like mine with mushrooms, the horror (hey, since it’s one of the items being offered, I am not the only heretic!). But in 5 years of being there, it was the only time… Visiting foreigners who lived there, the food would most likely be home cooked; visiting Americans, there was one time it wasn’t (French toast for lunch; we did get takeout for dinner). I’ll admit that I do feed takeout to my visitors on occasion, but not for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
48.5 of the American states agree: WTF is “real” Philly cheesesteak? Cheez Whiz on that? Are you serious?
Point conceded - I overlooked the ‘less than 2%’ marker.
I do believe the labelling standards are, in practice, substantially the same, but this example neither supports or disproves it.
Which, of course, is because of the German heritage of the area.
I’m sure this has been hashed out already but the stereotype of tourists complaining about local food as I understand it is someone afraid of trying something new. To quote The Simpsons “You flew halfway across the world to Japan just to go eat at America Town?!?”
This is different than someone complaining about the quality of local food.
My mom was from Germany so all my life I heard about how horrible Hershey’s bars were, or how disgusting Velvetta is, or how US margerine and butter just don’t taste right, or how US beer and wine sucks, generic white bread sucks etc. To her credit she was right on all accounts though.
She certainly is!!!
Having lived in Germany I miss the quality and variety of the food the Germans eat.