I think this perception by foreigners is based on the 1970s and 1980s. When I was living in the States then, even “sharp” cheddar was this horrible bland plasticky substance with almost no flavour, compared to cheeses from other parts of the world. However, I think that now, like with beer, independent producers and deli counters in supermarkets have recognized the gap in the market, and have revolutionized US cheese.
In fact, the nicest cheddar I’ve ever tasted - and this includes buying mature cheddar from the village of Cheddar in England, where it comes from - is the Extra Aged Sharp Cheddar from Sugar Bush Farm in Vermont. Utterly utterly delicious (and they do mail-order!).
Yes, definately. Not just beer and cheese, but also coffee, bread and a few other things. My wife has an elderly aunt who visited Seattle in the 70s, now shes the local village expert on how thin and watery american coffee is, how all american bread is fluffy and poofy with preservatives, etc. Of course, one can still buy all that shit if one wants to, but I havent had Kraft singles since I was a kid, Wonder bread either. And coffee is completely different.
In this particular guys case, he may have been an athlete or something. I cycle quite a bit, and tend to only eat one meal a day and a couple of snacks; and when I eat, I put it away.
About 15 years ago I cycled even more than I do today, and I was getting ready for a race with some friends with some serious money on it, so I was burning quite a few calories. Anyway, my wife and I were in some hash joint, and I had a huuge breakfast; 3 thick porkchops, heaps of hashbrowns, 4 pieces of toast, 4 eggs, milk coffee, juice. A huge heap on the plate. And some Dutch tourist lady asked if she could take a picture of the plate, cause she had heard americans ate alot but had to have a picture to take back and show her friends. She was being very politely patronizing, which is unusual for some europeans (cough). So I said, sure what the hell? She wanted an american-as-pig act, so like I always do I played it up even more and gave her what she wanted. I didnt bother to mention I probably wouldnt eat again until the evening of the next day, after going on a 100 mile bike ride.
Im not going to argue that in some places the portions arent huge; but this is largely an internal cultural thing, i.e not all places do it. There is a trend in San Fran now of little portions, but I cant stand those places as most of them are high-end, so you pay $30 a plate and walk out hungery. I dont mind getting a tiny little portion in the middle of the plate all decorated nice and pretty - as long as its an appetizer. If Im paying $20 plus, I had better not be hungry when I leave. Again though, I am completely aware of very large people who go to places that have huge portions; I dont blame the restaurant, I blame those who eat so much without doing anything to burn it off.
I think in most cases the huge portions are just a reflection of the american attitude of getting your moneys worth. I know there is no way Id ever leave a restaurant with food still on the plate (or anyone at the table if Im paying); if I dont eat it, its coming in a doggy bag.
Going out to eat in the US is sometimes an occasion. My Wife and I go out to eat perhaps twice a month. Admittedly, we live in the sticks, so once we are home, we are home and make dinner for ourselves.
I think that in the US we keep more food at home, and on hand. A 17 cubic foot refrigerator is pretty small by my standards (that’s what we have, I think). I think that many places in Europe get by with a much smaller unit. I don’t want to shop every day, and logistically we just don’t can’t don’t want to go out for dinner.
When, however, we go out we do like a nice sized plate.
enipla, are you claiming that Americans go out to eat less than people from the countries where the complaint that American portions are too large and that Americans eat large portions when they go out because of that? I don’t think that’s true. I think that Americans go out to eat more than people in nearly any other country.
WW: * I think that Americans go out to eat more than people in nearly any other country.*
Sounds plausible. I googled around on “food spending” and found figures saying that about 48% of US food expenditure goes for meals prepared outside the home, whereas the comparable figure for China is 15%. I’d guesstimate that most European countries would be somewhere between the two, towards the higher end.
Oh, Voodoochile, I forgot to mention. If you had told the Dutch tourist lady the 3 thick porkchops, heaps of hashbrowns, 4 pieces of toast, 4 eggs, milk coffee, and juice were free, you’d have seen a Dutch tourist lady with a plate as large as a truck-wheel and fighting to be first at the counter.
None needed. Ive long since learned that for every patronizing euro visiting the US, theres a condescending american visiting europe. People are people.
That reminds me of when we were in London; a complimentary breakfast buffet at the hotel and a busload of elderly Russian tourists. You can imagine the rest.
What about the Co-op? I remember them having a rather different selection than Safeway/Giant. Of course all the organic labels made me want to wretch, but that’s another story…
I don’t shop at the Safeway very often and hardly ever at the Greenbelt Co-op. I think the Co-op has a rather small selection, although it’s slanted to more interesting stuff. The Safeway doesn’t have quite as large a selection as the Giant. Did you use to live in Greenbelt, kidchameleon?
Well, I don’t know. I was comparing myself (wrongly so) to Europeans. The US is HUGE compared to Europe and many, many people live in areas that are realitively sparesly populated.
These folks, like myself don’t just run out for a meal. When we do, it’s more of a production than just going down to the bar/coffee shop. From where I live, and many like me, it’s a big deal to go out just for food.
I don’t think that that is generally true of Americans as opposed to Europeans. Americans, I believe, eat out more than Europeans. In any case, most Americans live in big cities or the suburbs thereof. Finding a place to eat is not harder for most Americans.
I’ll add my two cents about portion sizes. I’m Canadian, so that still qualifies me as a foreigner. I had always been used to dinner in a restaurant, with maybe a slice of pie and a cup of tea for dessert. I’ve been here for six years now, and not once have I ever been served a portion of food that left room for me to have anything else. I’m one of those people who has one meal a day. Even if I’ve been ravenous, the “normal” serving of food is so large that often I can’t even get through it. Maybe the restaurants see it as value for money, I don’t know. I’m pretty sure it has something to do with why my in-laws are so large.
Well, when I visited Christian in Germany in feb I noticed a few things…
He fed me huge meals, every time I turned around he was tryng to feed me…he is worse than a friends jewish grandmother! A typical breakfast was 2 kinds of cheese, a brie and some fresh cows milk cheese, cream cheese, nutella, 2 or 3 different marmelades, caviar/cream cheese spread and lox/cream cheese spread, kalamata olives [once he found out I love them], fresh strawberries, grapes, whatever fruit took his fancy, hardboiled eggs [in bright colors, I want to be able to buy hardboiled eggs here=(] and a couple different sausages. This was at about 8 am. Around 11 or noon, weisswurst, pretzels and sweet mustard, or leberkaise with fried eggs and potatoes and onions, then more food at about 1600 -1700, and then dinner around 2100…<burp> I finally got him to make smaller portions for me, but damn! And is by no means anything close to fat…
His kitchen was larger than the normal, it was about 10 feet by 12 feet and had a 12 cubic foot fridge freezer, and he had a 9 cubic foot freezer in the basement storeage room. His village is seriously anal about sorting garbage, and they have to buy a special permit to throw away organic garbage. He shopped for fresh meats, fruits and veggies about every second day, and did a larger shopping trip on saturdays 2 towns over in Boblingen for the other stuff. He made his own bread in a breadmachine. He wanted to take me out to some place that made american food, but I convinced him that I would rather have his home cooking than stuff I get all the time at home, though we did do donner a few times because i love it and there isnt any near where I live in the US, I have to go to New Haven and it is over an hour drive=(Chris
Lots of cultures, and my all-American grandfather.
“Ice in the pop? That’s how they get you!”
I’m no foreigner, but when I was a littlun sampling the local food down south, no waitresses could coax me into trying the complimentary side of grits. Don’t worry, now I’m far more open minded, though I haven’t ventured so far as to try to find them north of the Mason-Dixon.
Of course, one can still buy all that shit if one wants to, but I havent had Kraft singles since I was a kid, Wonder bread either. And coffee is completely different.
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