Make that Hubba Bubba. :smack:
Lots of Americans emigrate but these are almost universally middle class, working professionals. Poor Americans almost never emigrate and so there is never a pool of American cooks to provide a coherent, native based cuisine.
In heavily filled expat areas, “american” food will often be cooked by a native who only has a very sketchy idea of what they’re doing and has probably never tasted genuine American food.
Like someone mentioned above, the closest you’ll probably come to middle or (arguably) even lower class Americans clustered abroad is around US military bases. As a former Army brat, I can report that (in Germany at least) most of your American food needs are satisfied on base. There’s often a Burger King, an Anthony’s Pizza, a Robin Hood Deli, plus the mess hall and the officer’s club. So maybe that is broadly representative of American food. As far as what the local Germans cook off base to serve their American clientele, I seem to remember a few odd fried chicken shacks that never came close to the American version, and a Subway Sandwich knock-off right off base that was pretty good.
True enough. In Budapest, there was a (failed) American 50s-themed diner that served open-faced hamburgers (?!?!?) as part of its standard menu. By the Arpad Bridge subway station, there used to be a place called Chicago Wraps which prided itself on serving “authentic Chicago-style wraps.” I’ve lived in Chicago almost my whole life (minus my European sojourns) and I’ve never heard of a Chicago-style wrap. It was basically a burrito with mashed potatoes replacing the beans. Very boring texturewise, and not terribly tasty. Oh, and many pizza places served something called “American pizza,” which was a regular pizza with corn as a topping. WTF?
One wonders if anyone ever even bothered to research what Americans eat.
However, the one expat run American restaurant business I know of is a little Tex-Mex joint called Iguana. They easily had the best Tex-Mex I’ve had anywhere in Europe, even including stuff like homemade chorizo and real pico de gallo on the menu. Not that it’s hard to make either of those, but if you get salsa in Europe, I’ve found it’s usually some spiced ketchup concoction.
Also, for some strange reason, you can find Philly Cheesesteaks that are passable, and even Buffalo-style chicken wings if you look hard enough. Sometimes, the locals do get it almost right, but most of the time, it seems you end up with shit like open-faced hamburgers and corn on your pizza. (And, of course, we Americans are just as guilty of crimes against ethnic cuisine).
If you want one company’s perception of American cuisine, check out Eddie Rockets (worth clicking for the cheesy jingle), an “American” diner chain in Ireland (and now one in Liverpool, UK). It’s got an early-60s vibe with booths, jukebox selectors, and retro posters. The menu [pdf] comprises burgers, chilli con carne, hot dogs, fries, burgers, tuna melts, nachos, burgers, hot dogs, burgers, and burgers.
Than must be the Irish version of Johnny Rockets.
Interesting. I don’t know how it tastes, but the food on the menu looks pretty spot on. Except that we don’t eat onion rings with garlic mayo, and most American diners wouldn’t bother to specify “Dolphin Friendly” Tuna Melts.
If this really is the Irish version of Johnny Rockets, you’re exactly right on both points. It’s ranch dressing with the onion rings, and no mention of “Dolphin Friendly” tuna. I think the Dolphin is where you get the true American flavor. Too bad for the Irish. 
The Germans, Czechs & Poles who settled Central Texas definitely influenced Texas Barbecue. Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh explains it:
http://houstonpress.com/Issues/2000-08-24/news/feature_full.html
The African-American element is definitely more basic & the European influence can be over-emphasized. Walsh also wrote “Barbecue in Black and White; Carving the racism out of Texas barbecue mythology.” www.houstonpress.com/Issues/2003-05-01/news/feature.html
I doubt that barbecue came from the plantation. Did the owners offer large cuts of meat to the slaves? No, they gave them odd bits of the animal; add greens, cornmeal, beans & rice–and you get Soul food. (Although poor whites ate about the same.) Perhaps barbecue only happens when you’ve got enough meat for a celebration? Like cabrito over coals. Or roast suckling pig stuffed with crawfish–those Louisiana folks…
(This only applies to Texas barbecue. Keep me OUT of the interstate barbecue wars. )
Even in the US, those are hard to come by. I’ve found a grand total of one place outside the Delaware valley that serves something that’s almost a Philly cheesesteak (the roll isn’t quite right, but for the rest, it’s a little above median for typical places in Philly), and they just call it a “cheesesteak” and swear up and down that it’s not Philadelphia style (I guess it was just independent invention of a good idea).
But the number 1 defining factor of American food is American corn. You seldom see it at all anywhere else, and when you do, it’s always used in completely different ways than it is in America (like the pizza pulykamell mentioned).
That’s interesting. While I am aware of the Central and Eastern European traditions of smoking meat, I never really equated it to barbecue. All the smoking I’ve seen in that part of the world tends to be long, cold smokes, usually with a curing componen: stuff like smoked ham hocks, smoked sausage, smoked bacon, etc…, which is quite different than the warmer barbecue smokes which are not made for preservation so much as they are for flavor. I have never encountered anything that resembles American barbecue, beit beef or pork, in Poland, Germany, or the Czech Republic. However, I do concede that it may well have been an influence on American BBQ, although the final form is quite different than what was being done in the motherland.
I may be wrong about this, so I’d be curious to hear what other posters have to say.
Eddie Rockets, HA! I remember reading an interview with the founder, Niall Fortune, who said he’s been chased out of many a Johnny Rocket’s for photographing inside without permission. He was quite meticulous about getting exacting details. Their slogan is: “We didn’t invent the hamburger… we just perfected it!”
Mockingly I’ve suggested a new slogan: “We didn’t invent Eddie Rockets, we just adapted it!”
Returning to the “What do Europeans do with ribs?” question: often they make a crown roast or standing rib roast out of them. Like a roast turkey, this makes a nice centerpiece as well as a nice meal.
Like corn, peanuts are used very differently inside and outside the US. Outside the US, peanuts seem to be used in main dishes (pad thai, peanut butter soups and such–mostly spicy–in some African cuisines) or are hardly eaten at all. In the US peanuts are ubiquitous as snacks and sweets, and pretty much nonexistent in main courses. Peanut candy, except for the Snickers bar (originally made with almonds), peanut butter candy, and peanut butter sandwiches are AFAIK almost exclusively American things.
Joel Glenn Brenner’s *The Emperors of Chocolate * tells how the Mars brothers (of M&M/Mars), who were raised in England, repeatedly refused to market peanut-butter M&Ms and other peanut-based candies because they couldn’t see why anyone would want to buy them; instead they kept trying to introduce hazelnut chocolates in America, and Americans kept refusing to buy them. Hershey eventually beat Mars to the market for PB M&Ms, in the form of Reeses Pieces.
Google for glorified rice salad recipe and you’ll find lots of them.
Basic ingredients are cold cooked rice, whipped cream, marshmallows, pineapple bits, and various types of fruit or dried fruit. Sometimes nuts like almonds or walnuts will be added.
Oh yeah, German/Czech/Pole influence on Texan culture is so widespread that it’s easy to miss sometimes. Even in Mexico they have German influence on things like their music (Mexican Polka is, of course, distantly related to German Polka, having come to Mexico via the aristocracy in the 1800’s, hoping to emulate cultured Europeans as many Americans did (ie: “It’s all the rage in Paris!”). At least in the part of Texas I recently lived in (central/south), lots of places that sell Kolaches, sausage, etc., and Shiner Bock is of course the beer of choice in Texas, unless you’re some collar-popping Halo-playing frat kid who drinks Natty Light. 
(That said, I prefered Corono Extra or Lone Star, but whatever). Also, let’s not forget Oktoberfest, a celebration of something involving polka, cheese, beer, sausage, beer, and beer.
I’ve been told by many an older wiser Texan that the BEST stuff you can get from a smokehouse is a sandwhich made from the various scraps and left-over bits of meat from the various briskets and such. Also harder to get since you have to both wait until they’ve cut up enough other meat to HAVE the scraps, and you have to ask for it before someone else does! It’s very VERY tasty, and probably not even vaguely resembling Kosher for those who care.
Wait… you say “Texas barbecue” as if anybody else has barbecue as part of their cuisine. :dubious:
Also, on that note: regardless of what the guy Ron White ran into in Cincinnati may have thought, you can’t get Chili in the US outside of Texas either.
It’s my understanding that the origin of the word “Barbecue” comes from the native caribean indians, Barbicoa. The purest, most simple and some say the best form of barbecue is pretty simple… you take an otherwise tough animal like a goat or wild hog and you cook it whole for hours in an open pit of coals… over a greenwood or iron grate. Back in the day when it was time to butcher your mast fed hogs (in the south there was a tradition of free range hogs being allowed to fatten on forest mast) you’d have a big party… cook one and have a pig picking. There are still a few restaurants out there that continue to offer pig picking. I do think pork and goat barbecue is the original form, beef came later as the west opened up. I think you take that kernel of tradition and over the years add some African American influences in spice rubs and sauces, central European smoking techniques (and other kinds of meat, like sausages) to it and you get modern American barbecue. I’d say barbecue in all it’s regional variations is one of our oldest and best cuisines.