# What is the most unusual thing about the American diet to people of other nationalities? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980 "2012-02-15T23:44:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/161 "2012-02-17T00:01:49Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Was someone under the impression that the only cheese you could get in America is American cheese? Because I’m pretty glad that I don’t have to go all the way to Switzerland to get swiss cheese. Yes, I’m thankful for that! I love cheese and I eat it all the time, both imported and locally made. But I do **NOT** eat that “processed cheese product” crap that some people call “cheese.” ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/162 "2012-02-17T00:30:36Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Now I’m hungry for a port wine cheese ball. 🙂 > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > They’re pretty good, but I feel like I’m getting gout just looking at one. I think that tomorrow I will pick up some port wine cheese and slivered almonds to make a cheese ball over the weekend =) All the talk over on that cheese and wine thread makes me want one! > [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > And for the record, **alice\_in\_wonderland** , if I asked my husband to buy cheese, I would likewise expect him to bring home a block of cheddar, or maybe colby-jack. If he bought American cheese instead, I’d still eat it, but I’d say, “Next time, get _real_ cheese, please.” The default unspecificed cheese in this house is extra sharp cheddar, though brie is a favorite cheese as is a nice emmenthaler. I frequently add a piece of cheese to my lunch to serve as the protein. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/163 "2012-02-17T00:41:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Yeah I like Hersey too. Nothing wrong with milk chocolate. I like the darker stuff more expensive stuff too. No reason you can’t like both. It’s not the distinction between milk and dark chocolate that’s the key here. Hershey’s milk chocolate tastes rank in a way that’s distinctive from any other milk chocolate. It’s gamey. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/164 "2012-02-17T00:48:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s not the distinction between milk and dark chocolate that’s the key here. Hershey’s milk chocolate tastes rank in a way that’s distinctive from any other milk chocolate. It’s gamey. Funny, I don’t get that. I agree that Hershey’s isn’t the best chocolate in the world, but I think it’s okay. Doesn’t taste rank or gamey to me. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/165 "2012-02-17T00:50:00Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It’s also important to remember that those ginormous cups are filled almost completely with ice before the soda is poured. The amount of actual soda in one of them is surprisingly small. > … except that our sodas are also almost completely filled with ice, so you are still drinking more. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/166 "2012-02-17T00:52:42Z")
I’ve heard from foreign people from a variety of countries that Peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches are bizzarre. A filipino who tried it first as an adult liked it but found it weird. A lady from England finds them revolting because you don’t mix sweet and savory, supposedly. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/167 "2012-02-17T00:55:04Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > US peanut butter is too sweet for my taste, but maybe you have different kinds too? It does vary quite a bit from brand to brand. For example, even to my American taste buds, JIF is considerably sweeter than Skippy. I prefer the Skippy. > [@Aspidistra](#): > > Jello salad. I don’t know if this is exactly what you’re referring to, but one of the cruelest jokes (IMO) ever perpetrated upon my childhood self was the time my family was having dinner at the home of another family, and the hostess plopped down in front of me a blob of Jell-O with fruit inside it, topped with a big dollop of … mayonnaise. Imagine being a child thinking you’re about to scoop a big spoonful of whipped cream into your mouth, and it turns out to be something entirely different. I learned much later that some people actually consider the combination of Jell-O and mayonnaise to be quite “normal”. > [@SanVito](#): > > Also, how much processed food was about - I recall staying in a Marriott in Chicago where the chef making omelettes to order poured ‘egg mixture’ out of a carton. What, it’s too much trouble to crack an egg? As somebody else already mentioned, this is a food safety measure. As with ground beef, combining multiple eggs into a mixture risks spreading contamination to the entire batch (salmonella in the case of eggs). So some jurisdictions now _require_ the use of pre-mixed pasteurized eggs. > [@jz78817](#): > > Well, at least inside the city of Detroit [obesity from a fast-food diet] is a big problem. A couple years ago one of the comic books I read had a storyline that took place in Detroit, and the artist elected to draw every single background character with an absolutely _immense_ ass 😃 > [@Candyman74](#): > > Yeah, I’ll concur with that. A lot of it’s just the terminology, so I imagine once you learn it all you’re OK. I don’t know what half those egg choices mean, for example, but I’m sure they’re all perfectly normal things just called something else. • Sunny-side-up: Fried on one side, yolks unbroken • Over Easy: Fried on one side, yolks unbroken, then flipped and cooked briefly on the other side, then flipped again and plated. Yolks should be runny, as well as most of the whites surrounding the yolks. • Over Medium: Like Over Easy, but the whites should be fully cooked, • Over Well: Yolks unbroken, cooked hard all the way through. • Over Hard: Yolks broken, cooked hard > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > It is a cheese\*, at least it begins life as an honest to goodness cheese, made with real cheese methods, then gets melted, mixed with a few ingredients, pasteurized, and sold as a block of American cheese. This is in contrast to many American Cheese style individually wrapped cheese slices that are mostly emulsified fats and separated milk products styled to emulate a regular slice of American cheese. > \*It’s generally a rather bland cheese, you wouldn’t eat a chunk of it with a glass of wine. It’s a sandwich cheese, really, adds cheesiness without overpowering the other ingredients, and melts like a dream. The melting thing is the key. American cheese (and its variants) melt beautifully, which makes it well-suited to topping burgers and hot sandwiches. Real cheeses like cheddar and Swiss get all stringy when they melt, and the oil separates out of them, and they’re generally messy. And to my tastebuds, the flavors of cheddar and Swiss change dramatically when melted, becoming much sharper (to me, unpleasantly so). Also, the melting factor makes American cheese wonderful for making sauces; again, you don’t have to deal with the components separating in your sauce. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/168 "2012-02-17T01:04:20Z")
Oh, and filipinos waitstaff at restaurants also are baffled by wanting more than two small sized pieces of ice with your drink. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/169 "2012-02-17T01:49:16Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > Oh, and filipinos waitstaff at restaurants also are baffled by wanting more than two small sized pieces of ice with your drink. A friend of mine from Texas came to the UK and ordered a Coke. What he got was some lukewarm generic supermarket cola that came to the table without ice in a glass that was scarcely bigger than a shot glass. He took a sip then asked the waitress for ice. She took the glass into the kitchen for about five minutes and returned it with one solitary cube floating in the middle of it. I was so embarrassed. BTW I agree with **Duke** about the greasiness issue: I think American fast food is actually less greasy than British. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/170 "2012-02-17T02:46:51Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > A friend of mine from Texas came to the UK and ordered a Coke. What he got was some lukewarm generic supermarket cola that came to the table without ice in a glass that was scarcely bigger than a shot glass. He took a sip then asked the waitress for ice. She took the glass into the kitchen for about five minutes and returned it with one solitary cube floating in the middle of it. I was so embarrassed. This is almost exactly the story my dad told of trying to order (iced) tea in the UK in the early 1950s. He was so cute as he acted out the szzzzzzt of the solitary cube melting in the hot tea! BTW, he always told this as a story laughing at himself, not the poor baffled waitress who had no concept of ice tea in the American South! ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/171 "2012-02-17T03:28:16Z")
I’m surprised this hasn’t been mentioned yet but root beer is generally unknown outside of the US and the usual reaction from foreigners is something like “WTF would anyone drink this medicinal tasting shit”. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/172 "2012-02-17T03:39:01Z")
A&W Root Beer (plus ice cream!) is unknown? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/173 "2012-02-17T03:45:42Z")
Our high school German exchange students spat it out, cursing and declaring “You beer tastes like bubble gum!” ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/174 "2012-02-17T03:47:19Z")
Yeah, root beer is a uniquely American thing. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/175 "2012-02-17T04:07:25Z")
I was once treated to dinner by a Vietnamese guy. He had been here going on 20 years but somehow had never heard of, or tried, root beer. So when I ordered one he ordered one too (after explaining to him it’s not actually beer, but just another pop). I ended up finishing his because he could stomach about a thimble full before declaring it “too sweet to drink”. I’m American, I have ever tasted something and thought it was “too sweet” a handful of times in my entire life. I enjoy foods cooked the international way (i.e., without a ludicrous amount of sugar and processing) but I also enjoy stupid sweet American foods as well. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/176 "2012-02-17T04:10:34Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > A&W Root Beer (plus ice cream!) is unknown? Pretty much. Though there are A&W outlets I’ve seen in Thailand and Malaysia. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/177 "2012-02-17T04:13:24Z")
In Taiwan, sarsaparilla drinks have been popular for a while I believe, and that’s more or less equivalent to root beer AFAIK. The local brands are less sweet than A&W, though. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/178 "2012-02-17T04:18:49Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Pretty much. Though there are A&W outlets I’ve seen in Thailand and Malaysia. Root beer–and A&W–is quite well-known (and enjoyed) here in Canada. When visiting a new A&W in Toronto recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were giving away small, stuffed [Root Bears](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%26W_Root_Beer#The_Great_Root_Bear). I haven’t seen him in years, but he’s still around, I guess; helping folks discover A&W and its root beer. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/179 "2012-02-17T04:23:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s not the distinction between milk and dark chocolate that’s the key here. Hershey’s milk chocolate tastes rank in a way that’s distinctive from any other milk chocolate. It’s gamey. It also has a foul, waxy yet grainy texture. The flavor is dull and yes, I too find it slightly ‘off’. It tastes like cocoa shell garden mulch smells. I thought I didn’t like chocolate for years as a kid because Hershey’s and their ilk was all I ever tried. I love milk chocolate actually; prefer Swiss. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980/180 "2012-02-17T04:52:16Z")
One more person agreeing that fish and chips from a chippie are grease-soaked. I will eat practically anything (even mushy peas), but I had to peel the batter off the fish to choke it down. Way more grease than any American fast food I have ever had. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-unusual-thing-about-the-american-diet-to-people-of-other-nationalities/612980.md?page=10)