Sarsaparilla is certainly in it, but the flavour that people object to is the wintergreen that’s in there. Not much used as a flavouring outside North America – in the UK you typically only find it in liniment and antiseptic ointment.
I did try some A&W just recently (I hadn’t even seen any since the 70s, so I thought I’d give it another shot) – I was expecting the wintergreen this time, so it wasn’t such a shock to the old taste buds, but good god, it’s far too sweet!
That even bothers some of us Americans. I like cheese myself but I don’t want it on everything.
Here’s the recipe for green bean casserole:
http://www.campbellskitchen.com/Recipes/RecipeDetails.aspx?recipeId=24099
I don’t know why anyone would particularly object to it, since it has no exotic tastes in it. It’s just green beans, mushrooms, crispy onions, and cream sauce, plus some black pepper and soy sauce, if desired. It’s just crap you have in your refrigerator anyway that you mix together to pretend that you know how to cook. It’s one of the side items that we have at events like Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
Have some polenta instead.
This.
(But grits do seem to be a little different than polenta. I’m not sure exactly what it is. I thought all grits were made from hominy, but apparently it can also be corn meal, which would make it that same as polenta, no?)
Yeah, in my experience, root beer really is the weird one, and most non-Americans reaction to it is similar to an average American’s reaction to, say, Marmite or Vegemite.
The Wonder-type bread does confuse a lot of people. I’ve seen similar types of bread elsewhere, but usually nowhere near as cottony soft. More like this.
And the giant portion sizes of many restaurants.
But, yeah, root beer seems to be the one that causes universal bemusement if not revolt.
Basic root beer flavoring is wintergreen (as you noted), vanilla, and spices/herbs. Spice can vary from brand to brand, but think cinnamon/cassia, licorice/anise (the Barq’s “bite”), ginger, sarsaparilla, horehound; I’ve even seen cayenne pepper, mustard seed, and clove in “gourmet” root beers. A&W has the strongest vanilla component among the big brands, one of the lowest and mildest spice components, and the wintergreen seems subdued as well. It’s practically a cream soda with a root beer component.
I thought sassafras was the base onto which all the other flavorings of root beer are added, no?
Alton did a whole show on grits/polenta. The way they are prepared is slightly different, but they are both same base ingredient.
I agree with the root beer people, even though I love the stuff. I’d also like to suggest scrapple and chitlins.
Not so much any more. It’s not even allowed by the FDA (supposedly a carcinogenic substance). There is usually a sassafras-like note in some brands’ “spice” components, usually artificial, but wintergreen is the primary flavor for the major brands. Kind of similar to how kola is no longer the base flavor for the big brands of cola (though you can find kola-based colas from smaller bottlers).
Canned tasting green beans, canned tasting mushrooms, soggy fried onions and canned soup.
:rolleyes:
You can obtain safrole-free sassafras extract these days which is supposed to be safe.
Frankly, back in the day when to get sassafras flavoring you had to uproot and entire tree and scrape the bark off the roots people didn’t consume vast quantities of it. So far as I know there is no documented case of a human getting ill from sassafras, but with modern industry able to harvest and concentrate vast quantities, and the propensity of people to overdo anything and everything, maybe the current situation is for the best.
>sigh< I do like real sassafras tea…
Coffee in gravy? I’m an American and that sounds disgusting.
I think that’s a miscommunication. I’ve never heard of coffee in gravy. IOr the reverse.
Try red eye gravy.
Huh. Still tastes very sassafrassy to me, whether real or artificial. What do they make filé powder of these days?
Ah, never mind, I think I figured it out for myself. It’s sassafras leaves, so not the same part.
The Chinese don’t consume dairy… milk, cheese, butter, etc.
For thousands of years, through evolution, has caused pretty much the entire population to be unable to process dairy products.
+1 for grits and spaghetti (individually, not together).
I have no earthly explanation as to why people dislike grits - both sweet and savory.
Spaghetti though, the canned stuff, to people not raised by it is just unbearably sweet. Bewilderingly sweet. Not just to people who have tasted the good stuff either. I know people who have never had spaghetti of any sort taste the canned stuff - even badly made restaurant stuff - and recoil at the sweetness.
You won’t see this reaction towards a slice of lasagna.
Good stuff!
