Hershey’s is horrible.
I’ve seen marshmallow fluff at the supermarket my whole life. But I’ve never seen anyone actually eating it.
Different tastes. I’m not starting a Hershey’s vs Cadbury’s squabble but many Hershey’s products are delicious. Plus Cadbury’s chocolate is terrible in S’mores.
Having lived in the UK for 16 years now, here’s what I find weird when I go back to the US even though it used to be the norm for me.
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Portion size. What I get in a US restaurant is two to three times the size of a normal meal for me at home. I’d take it home but the extra is mostly fries and garlic bread. Also, at McDonalds a UK Large drink is a US small. US large drinks come with optional diving boards.
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It’s all starch and fat. The last time I went back we visited the bastion of culinary greatness that is Olive Garden. They serve a giant plate of hot cheese. Giant. Just cheese. As a starter.
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Supermarket selection - two things here.
One - the sheer diversity of products on offer is staggering. You remember that scene from Moscow on the Hudson where Robin Williams’ character, used to Soviet-level scarcity, walks into a US supermarket and is so overwhelmed by the choice that he passes out? I feel like that when I shop in the US. The cereal aisle alone could fill an entire average UK Costcutter.
Two- it’s all crap. If you removed all the heavily processed snacks, ready meals and other convenience foods you’d lose about 90% of the store content. Outside the produce aisle it’s hard to find anything healthy to eat, even including the basic meat and dairy sections.
You can of course eat healthily in the US but they don’t make it easy.
As of 2008, up to 75% of the hamburger patties in the US had some ammonia treated beef in it.
Well, at least inside the city of Detroit it’s a big problem. partly due to the lack of actual grocery stores. convenience stores everywhere, but few actual grocers. When Kroger bought the remnants of Farmer Jack, they opted not to keep the store on Jefferson in Detroit. Caused a minor kerfluffle.
question can’t be answered as written. is what generally the case? How was it “visually unappealing?” Was it worse than the average curry which looks like it was scooped out of a used diaper? what tasted bad about it?
Confession time: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are very rare where I am living overseas. So occasionally I’ll buy some sticks of dark chocolate and dip them into a jar of peanut butter.
I can’t speak about Miami, but I suspect the reason you couldn’t find at least the canned, peeled tomatos in Philadelphia was because the supermarkets you tried weren’t in the right neighborhood. Someone said earlier that there really isn’t an standard American diet, and that person was right. If I go to a supermarket in a Chinese neighborhood, I’ll find products used in Chinese cooking. If the supermarket is in an Italian neighborhood, I’ll find ingredients used in Italian cooking and the canned tomato products will include peeled, crushed,and puree, along with paste and sauce although I won’t find that much variety in a non- Italian neighborhood
Actually it turns out, I was thinking of the port wine cheese spread.
Haha, I do understand, obviously what people bring back are the things that to us are the most outrageous. And as I said, I genuinely enjoyed it 
If you come back from the UK you might bring back Marmite, and everyone would hate it. Or strong salty licorice from the Netherlands.
There’s a reason for this… most people don’t know but actually a Hershey bar was good chocolate once upon a time, then recently they started using inferior ingredients to save money. there was a thread about in GQ recently I think, but I can’t be arsed to find it.
I’ve never liked Hershey’s. And according to a book I read about the Hershey-Mars rivalry, there are people who believe that Hershey’s off putting flavor is the result of their use of spoiled milk.
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.
As an American who cooks mostly from scratch, often out of my own backyard garden, I have to agree with you. When I eat processed or restaurant food I, too, find it oddly sweet. And often way too salty.
Some restaurants use carton eggs because, at least in theory, you can serve out more consistent-sized portions, eggs being a little variable in size, and because it’s often pasteurized, reducing the chances of food-borne illness which can result in large lawsuits. Of course, this leads to the question of “why don’t you produce eggs in a manner in which contamination is less likely to start with?” but that might be more expensive, and we can’t have that!
Those tiny Kinder bars also work well. I mean, so I’ve heard.
No. There is nothing normal about piling fruit on a plate with spaghetti.
How about cold pizza? I had a classmate from Peru convinced that eating cold pizza was a put on, we were saying something totally ridiculous to see if the foreigner would buy it.
Not really, but I occasionally like a decent port wine cheese spread. It can be very nice as a cheese ball rolled in slivered almonds as a party contribution with some nice stone ground wheat crackers.
Well, the tax amount depends on the state, here in Connecticut I believe it is 7% of the total bill is tax, so you sort of mostly double the tax and then add a little more until it evens out the bill, so $10.00 + $0.70 = 10.70+$1.40=$12.10 + another $0.90 to make it an even $13.00. It is theoretically either 10% or 20% of the base cost without the tax. They have little wallet cards for figuring out the tip for math impaired people like me :smack:
You grow up eating it? 
No the meat and dairy aisle are not all crap. I think you may be referring to yoghurt for the dairy aisle? You can get plain unsugared unflavored yoghurt in the US, not going to run to the fridge to look to see if I have any but Brookstone is a common north east brand and it is made with whole milk and yoghurt culture. No sweeteners, texturizers or anything like that. Meat is meat. A slab of cow, pig or lamb is pretty much universal. Veggies and fruit are also pretty universal, a tomato or apple is the same everywhere. And dry goods like flour, rice, barley or lentils are the same everywhere. True they do not make it easy for people in the depressed inner city to eat healthy easily, but here in the suburbs we have a good choice of groceries.
Hey, some of us like vegemite, promite, marmite and such … though I do agree that doublezout tastes like ass …
That reminds me: a friend from Venezuela thought I was playing a prank on him when I offered him a glass of water from the faucet - and was horrified when I proceeded to drink a glass of it myself. Even after me explaining that it was totally fine and I’d been drinking it my whole life, he still couldn’t bring himself to drink it. He believed me; he was just too grossed out.
I have to agree with doreen in that it must have been due to where you were. if I go to the supermarket (Detroit area) I can find tomato sauce (puree,) tomato paste, canned whole tomatoes, diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, and “crushed” tomatoes (whatever that is.)
Same in New York, Ann Arbor, MI, Southern Virginia and every other place I’ve lived. The “fancy” stores have the fancy grade imported from Marzano, or Pomi tomato sauce base in the carton, but you can get tomatoes as puree, dice, whole peeled (I’m not certain I’ve ever seen whole unpeeled tomatoes in a can), or crushed at almost any grocery store, as well as “plain sauce” (no spices, just cooked extra smooth tomato puree). “Rotel” tomatoes - which are diced tomatoes with green chiles - used to be a regional specialty along the Mexican border but now are available in many places.
I cannot imagine going anywhere in the US and being unable to find the large (28 oz) can of crushed tomatoes. It’s a staple item. I wonder if you were looking for smaller, single-serve size cans, and were unable to find them. THAT I could see.
As an American, I’m offended that it’s called “American” cheese. As a cheese lover, I’m offended that it’s called “cheese.” Velveeta is equally disgusting, but I’ll concede that it’s occasionally useful for sauces if you’re in a hurry.