Eh, you Euros corrupted me during the seven years I lived there. 
I’ve always hated ketchup on nearly everything, particularly fries (chips). I started with the mayo/fries thing in Germany, and when I lived in Belgium, I became hopelessly addicted. Those are, hands down, the best goddamned frites in the world. Bar none. Nothing I’ve ever had in the states or anywhere else compares with them.
I don’t understand the disgust at fries with mayo. Don’t you people ever eat potato salad?
Nope. A few weeks ago, I had lunch with the president of my company’s Asia Pacific region. He was describing how completely different the cultures are in the various countries he leads business in, and the things he’s had to do with clients in order to keep relations running smoothly. My favorite example was of eating live octopus in Japan. He put one in his mouth and missed a tentacle, which grabbed his nose. He also said he could feel all the little suckers on his tongue and the roof of his mouth. He really embellished on this, thanks to my stricken look. Great.
Yes, thank you! Like the Belgians us Dutchies love mayo with our chips (fries to the Americans). In fact, I kind of find them fairly pointless without even.
Worked in a chipper for a while here in Ireland and they have some odd ones like chips with curry sauce (the packet thin brown sludgy stuff) and plastic grated cheddar. Poor chips. 
Actually, no, I can’t stand potato salad. 
The only way I can eat mayo is with tuna. I’ve never been able to stand any other food that has that as an ingredient.
In San Francisco, I lived in a residential hotel a few doors down from a neat Indian grocery named Bombay Bazaar. Half of the store closed down for a short while, and, when re-opened, was an Indian ice-cream parlor. There were quite a few strange flavors, but the only one I remember specifically was rose ice cream - I asked someone what it tasted like, and they said “delicate perfume.” Bleargh!
George
Potato salad and tuna salad are ingredients within a matrix of mayonnaise, just enough to hold it together. This is acceptable. But to use mayo as a dip, or sauce? un-freaking-acceptable. My gramma used to cut up a banana into a bowl of mayo and eat it. Scarred me for life.
George
I used to live near a wonderful Indian grocery store in college, where the jolly proprietor spoke highly of the Indian ice cream flavors. He pretty much forced me to buy a saffron-pistachio ice cream, and while it wasn’t bad, I can’t see ever switching from strawberry for it… or ever trying it again, for that matter.
I must confess, I too have been known to occassionally put mayo on my fries, much to the disgust of my American friends. It too is a habit I picked up in Europe. However, I still think the English have it right with putting malt vinegar on their fries. Even though I like mayo better than ketchup on my fries, my problem with it is that it’s just too heavy paired with them. Vinegar is much nicer, and I especially like that noxious cloud of gas it produces when you sprinkle it on hot fries.
I’m also not sure why most Americans find mayo that weird on fries. I’ve seen plenty of people dip 'em in Ranch dressing (what the hell don’t people put that disgusting sludge on these days?) so why not mayo?
And head cheese is good. 
One thing I’ve always wanted to try is eyeball tacos. Yes, you read that right. Apparently, there used to be a guy at the Maxwell Street Market who sold this delicacy, but I haven’t seen him around the last few times. Apparently, he’s started up his own restaurant somewhere in Chicago. I’ll find those eyeball tacos yet.
BAND NAME!
I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.
I live a pretty tame life; the grossest thing I’ve ever seen anyone order was calamari from Olive Garden. That crap smelled like the bottom of a chicken slaughterer’s dumpster in August. Blech.
I don’t care for mayo on fries (or anywhere else), but I absolutely fell in love with Dutch fries when I found out I could get them with peanut sauce. Peanut sauce makes everything better. Except my cholesterol levels.
Most Americans equate ‘dipping’ with ‘inundation’, and ‘sauce’ with ‘food swimming in rancid cheese glop’. A judicious dip of a fry in mayo, or a sprinkle of malt vinegar is disgusting, whereas drowning a plate of fries in a disgusting tomato/sugar mixture is somehow considered a gourmet delight. I just don’t get it. Cretins all!
Pretty much half the stuff from the staff canteen qualifies.
I used to make fun of people dipping fries into mayo, until I went to Roy Rogers. They have this horseradish sauce and I mix 50:50 of it with ketchup to dip my fries into. It tastes great, and it recently struck me that the sauce is primarily mayo. Fries also go great with creamy honey mustard.
But you haven’t really lived until you’ve had “patat speciaal”. That’s French Fries with mayo, curry ketchup and diced onions. Even better is “patat oorlog”. That’s fries with saté (peanut sauce), mayo and diced onions. Holland and Belgium really are French Fry heaven (not surprising, considering the Belgians invented them).
Indian ice cream - khulfu, IIRC - can be pretty darn good if you get the right kinds. I remember trying Mango khulfu at a multicultural festival a few years back and it was very tasty.
Mayo is Satan’s semen. Period.
Personally, I like cheese on my fries.
Is it better than goat’s head soup? :rolleyes:
I was told that it contain more goat parts than just the head? :dubious:
Let’s just say the lesser choice parts. :eek:
I freely admit to dipping my french fries in mayo, but what I really love is McDonald’s fries (the really limp, greasy, salty ones) dipped in Sweet and Sour sauce. It’s wrong, but it’s good.
The ketchup stories reminded me of something that happened while I was working at a fish and chip shop. This was not something that someone ordered. In fact, it was a very slow day, and no one was ordering much of anything. So the cook decided that he needed a pizza. He decided, in fact, that he needed to make a pizza. Now, the dough was no problem - we had flour and eggs and milk and all the rest of it. However, we didn’t have any mozzarella, so he chopped up a few slices of American cheese instead. Then, of course, there was the sauce problem. So he used ketchup instead. I don’t remember the meat that was on the pizza - I think I’ve blocked it out. When it was all over, he asked me if I wanted any. I declined.
Also, I love calamari, but calamari at the Olive Garden? Ew!
Your ex reminds me of an article I read a few years ago about how much more people used to use butter…not only would they put it on potatoes and vegetables, but they also put it on steak, and would have put butter on butter itself, if the intricacies of the butter-butter interface could be mastered.